Mudhole Mahi Prospecting

[Gerry Zagorski]

Sadly I’ve not had much of a opportunity to use the boat this year but hope to try and change that... No secret I love Mahi fishing so that’s where I’m going to set my sites in the coming weeks. It looks as if the conditions are lining up as well...Water temps have creeped up into the high 70s and some of the recent satellite shots it looks as if the dirty water is clearing out as well..

Plan is to start doing some prospecting over the next few weeks as time and conditions allow so stay tuned here. Hope some others will join in to share information and or buddy up on the water.

[shrimpman steve]

Bring the magic flying mahi rod!!!

[Fortunate Son]

Paying close attention, I want to try this.

[Scott D]

They were in the glory hole last weekend (chickens) but inshore of that the water was very dirty. Keep an eye on the chlorophyll shots

[Flygaff]

Stopped by the Chicken, Glory, and other places on Tuesday. 79.4 degree clean water. Found no mahi. I was surprised. everything looked so good. Whales, Porpoise, Tuna, & Turtles.

[Fishin Polski]

Do you need a deckhand? I have experience!

[Gerry Zagorski]

Been watching the Choloro shots where we target them which is the Northern 1/3 of the mudhole and that water has cleaned up some as you'll see below. The area I circled was all dark red and brown just a few days ago. This shot is courtesy of www.ripcharts.com, a sponsor of our site...


Should only be a matter time until they start taking up residence on the pots...

And Polski when we are ready to go and have some room, I'll be sure and reach out...

[Brewlugger]

I like to pull a Wahoo lure in the mix when trolling pots. It has paid off a couple times for us. Good luck out there Gerry.

[Jarhead]

I miss the blue water

[Fishin Polski]

Thanks Gerry.

[Gerry Zagorski]

I like to pull a Wahoo lure in the mix when trolling pots. It has paid off a couple times for us. Good luck out there Gerry.

What are you trolling for the Wahoo Brew??

[Brewlugger]

We pull something that that runs under the spread on the short flat a marauder or a big braidrunner and on the same side we pull a big jet or a shute and bally on the long flat or short rigger. The few that we have caught usually hit the jet or shute but we have never got them without a lure running deeper under the spread nearby. We did get a nice mako on the braidrunner a few years ago. It doesn't happen often but catching wahoo while pot hopping is a nice bonus.

[Gerry Zagorski]

We pull something that that runs under the spread on the short flat a marauder or a big braidrunner and on the same side we pull a big jet or a shute and bally on the long flat or short rigger. The few that we have caught usually hit the jet or shute but we have never got them without a lure running deeper under the spread nearby. We did get a nice mako on the braidrunner a few years ago. It doesn't happen often but catching wahoo while pot hopping is a nice bonus.

Thanks for that Brew. Gonna have to give that a shot... I wonder if some of the deep divers like a stretch 25 would work?? Are you running it back further in the spread or tight to the boat like you typically run your flat lines?

[Jigman13]

Watch your speed with marauders, stretches and xraps. Too fast and they wont run true. Too slow and the rest of the spread suffers. And throttle back when retrieving those divers otherwise theyll rocket outta the drink and injure someone.

Flatlined about 50' back. Let's them get way down. Stretches and xraps might need hook and split ring swaps, too.

[Brewlugger]

Watch your speed with marauders, stretches and xraps. Too fast and they wont run true. Too slow and the rest of the spread suffers. And throttle back when retrieving those divers otherwise theyll rocket outta the drink and injure someone.

Flatlined about 50' back. Let's them get way down. Stretches and xraps might need hook and split ring swaps, too.
This is true, although I have had no problem with the Marauder they can easily be adjusted to track true CD plugs can be more difficult and they pull hard. Really anything bigger that runs deeper should be fine. I run my short flat 30 to 50ft back and just try to get something below 6ft. At the very least I feel doing this helps attract/tease up the Mahi too. I like the Braidrunner the best they can be trolled fast but they will chafe through a mono leader in no time also try to rig your plug or whatever on wire or cable. It's always a longshot for Wahoo up here but like I said it has paid off for us and I feel running a bigger lure has helped us with the Mahi. I hope you get one that would make my day.

[fishy]

Was out there Saturday nothing but dirty green water and bonita lots and lots of little bonita that water cleans up there is a lot of bft munchies around the ledge

[Brewlugger]

We ran out to a chlorophyll break near the chicken today. We were jigging for tuna and I saw a nice Mahi swim by us. I'm hoping the water pushes in soon.

[Billfish715]

[QUOTE=Jigman13;534382]Watch your speed with marauders, stretches and xraps. And throttle back when retrieving those divers otherwise theyll rocket outta the drink and injure someone.

Those deep divers can inflict lots of pain and ruin the day ( or more) when they come out of the water on the retrieve. Put the engines in neutral or slow down to almost a stop while reeling them in. They become dangerous projectiles if you don't. One such lure, with tuna grade, reinforced, extra strong trebles shot back at me while I was retrieving a line. I had bad communication with the bridge and we never slowed down enough. That miscommunication sent me to the ER to have the hook cut out of my hand. Fortunately I got my hand up in front of my face or things could have been much, much worse.

The doctor in the ER had to get surgical bone cutters, (much like long-handled bolt cutters) to cut through the hook's steel shank. Lesson learned........the hard way.

[Capt. Lou]

Running the plugs I’ve always rigged with 3’ of 150# seven strand wire . The wire allows the plug to run deeper and Prevents bite offs if a wahoo hits !
If you run mono or wire chafing gear is preferred .
Those inshore plugs weren’t designed for this fishery . Wahoo are incidental catches very lucky if u get one inshore , that being said many years back we fished a heavy weed line at the 30 and got a huge wahoo , white and yellow
The wahoo tad under a 100#’s it all of these fish hit a ferro jet !
Many years most of us pulled lures , offshore , some Bally’s n split tails but not like today ,practically no jigging or bar fishing occurred . Daisies were the ticket bait rigged or plastic worked well on occasion .

[Brewlugger]

Looking at the Sat shots. Looks like some nice clean water pushed in all the way to monster ledge. It was dirty there last week. I'm thinking there should be some Mahi on the pots along the west wall of the mudhole.

[Gerry Zagorski]

Looking at the Sat shots. Looks like some nice clean water pushed in all the way to monster ledge. It was dirty there last week. I'm thinking there should be some Mahi on the pots along the west wall of the mudhole.

Saw and was thinking the same thing Brew :D. Would love to see some better water to the west and the north of the Monster though... Way more pots there and the last 2 years we didn't get squat at the Monster... All our fish were to the west and north.

Shot below with the Monster circled courtesy of www.ripcharts.com

[Kilnfish]

Was out 7/26 started trolling about 10miles north of mud hole. Picked up a small king mackerel. Water was 75 and clear blue. Headed northeast 10 miles near a weather bouy. Water was 77 degrees greenish but very clear, It was loaded with chicks. Couldn’t get them to bite. Tons of bait around, flying fish, small tuna seen jumping. Don’t know what I’m doing wrong. But threw everything at the mahi and they wanted nothing to do with it.

[Bent Rod]

This is what I have been doing the past two weeks. Work the pots on the east side of the mud hole or West side below shark river . Look for clean water.
Troll feathers 1 ft off the pots . If you hit have them. Head back and work them with spinning gear. There out there along with Cobia ! The ugly the pot the better,

Good luck !

[Kilnfish]

This is what I have been doing the past two weeks. Work the pots on the east side of the mud hole or West side below shark river . Look for clean water.
Troll feathers 1 ft off the pots . If you hit have them. Head back and work them with spinning gear. There out there along with Cobia ! The ugly the pot the better,

Good luck !

I did troll around the bouy and one took half of my ballyhoo. I was thinking about putting my speaders with feathers out but never did. One thing that really surprised me is the communication on the radio, guys giving their location out. That seems to never happen in the jersey waters. Lots of life out there, seems to be the right spot at the right time.

[Gerry Zagorski]

Was out 7/26 started trolling about 10miles north of mud hole. Picked up a small king mackerel. Water was 75 and clear blue. Headed northeast 10 miles near a weather bouy. Water was 77 degrees greenish but very clear, It was loaded with chicks. Couldn’t get them to bite. Tons of bait around, flying fish, small tuna seen jumping. Don’t know what I’m doing wrong. But threw everything at the mahi and they wanted nothing to do with it.

Had that happen to us once and it was suggested to throw top water poppers at them. Sounds like you were in the right area with blue water, seeing all that bait and flying fish. Haven’t seen the flying fish in quite sometime.

Based on your description seems like you might save been around the LI Weather Buoy??

[Brewlugger]

Had that happen to us once and it was suggested to throw top water poppers at them. Sounds like you were in the right area with blue water, seeing all that bait and flying fish. Haven’t seen the flying fish in quite sometime.

Based on your description seems like you might save been around the LI Weather Buoy??
They get lockjaw sometimes. We had some days they wouldn't budge off the pots for anything. Someone told me they will never pass on a filefish bait? Never tried it myself.

[Capt. Lou]

Sometimes u can get them to eat killies !

[Kilnfish]

Had that happen to us once and it was suggested to throw top water poppers at them. Sounds like you were in the right area with blue water, seeing all that bait and flying fish. Haven’t seen the flying fish in quite sometime.

Based on your description seems like you might save been around the LI Weather Buoy??

Yea that sounds about right. I’d have to look at the chart plotter to confirm. I’m pretty sure it was the LI weather buoy. The water was greenish but very clear. Loaded with mahi. This was also my first time using roffs. They give too many locations. But they did have the water color dead on.

[dfish28]

Deep diving plugs that troll true to 11+ knots- the Nomad DTX minnow- carried by many of the sponsors on here- check our those babies! You won’t be disappointed

[Gerry Zagorski]

First hint of any blue water I've seen in the Mudhole in a long time just showed up in today's shot at the Glory Hole. I hope it creeps further north like it usually does... Never had much luck at the Glory.

[Gerry Zagorski]

Check out this 66 Pound Mahi caught here in Jersey!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWNgo6AYj4I

[fishy]

Awsome

[dfish28]

Awesome bull! had one like that in the DR wish I had a reliable weight!

[Gerry Zagorski]

Got a report from my boat neighbor when he got back in on Thursday trolling and potting... He started out in the northern areas of the Mudhole and ran as far south as the Monster and only had bluefish on the troll and small ones at that. Nothing potting..

Said there wasn't many pots wherever he went and that water was on the dirty side.. That report clinched my plans for Friday and I decided to stay home...

Thursday's satellite shot agreed with him... Conditions have gone downhill from earlier in the week, at least in the northern areas... Real crappy water moved into the northern areas, probably as a result of the storms that blew through on Wednesday and the run off...

Looks like it's going to be a while till conditions improve, at least up north.

[tjd24]

My buddy & I are planning to try the NE part of the Mudhole then search S along the edge middle of next week. Maybe the Weather buoy, too. I hope we can find some clean & warm water.

Past trips we trolled bonito, blues & spanish macks.

Hope it clears up.

[Gerry Zagorski]

Good luck TJ.. Hope it clears up some too.

[jh2214]

Gerry, I am gearing up to make my first outing in a new vessel -- 2019 Cape Horn 22 offshore. I am prepared to run out to Mudhole/Arundo area with a few buckets of peanuts and a well full of lives; get my feet wet as I normally do not fish more than 6 miles from the coast. I've scoured this site for your tips and advice which has been a great help. Hope the water improves by this weekend and weather plays ball.

[Gerry Zagorski]

Best of luck JH and hope some of the things posted here help you.

[Brewlugger]

We started at the AP today but it seemed pretty dead so we hit the west side of the hole and pot hopped toward the barn. We had some good mahi action today on the troll and the chunk in clean green water. I heard of a few gaffers caught by others but it was all chickens for us.

[tightlines]

We where at Glory Hole Saturday, Water was fabulous. Mahi all over pots. Nice size up to 24" Great fun

[wyldbillnj]

A couple buddies of mine and my daughter were at Monster ledge on Sunday with a nice catch of mahi....all chickens. First time out and learned quite a bit. Had one on the troll hit a ballyhoo and one runoff on cedar plug...felt more like a tuna strike. Actually broke the damn hook at the plug. Planning on another trip soon...it was a fun day and looking forward to it again.

[Jigman13]

Wahoo!!!

[wyldbillnj]

It made a strong run right away....and no acrobatics.

[bunkatabunka]

Anyone have an updated report? Want to get a trip in soon on a friends boat. No clue where to go

[Gerry Zagorski]

Bad news is I have no reports to share since I've been out of town for a week but the water looks really dirty right now on the sat shots I've been seeing...

Good news is I've had great Mahi fishing in years past all through September as long as no major storms come though the area..

Dying to get out there too but will be waiting for the conditions to hopefully improve....

[bunkatabunka]

thanks for the response

[Gerry Zagorski]

Got a nice clear sat shot today and the water in the Mudhole has cleaned up A LOT!!

Was thinking I might try Saturday but I’m not big on fishing weekends...

[wyldbillnj]

Were headed out on Sunday. Going to give it a shot in the MH

[Gerry Zagorski]

Were headed out on Sunday. Going to give it a shot in the MH

Good luck Bill.. Hope you find them!!

[wyldbillnj]

Looking at the forecast now....10-15 NE to E....eh.

[Gerry Zagorski]

Looking at the forecast now....10-15 NE to E....eh.
Mmmmmm..... Dats not good :(

[wyldbillnj]

Nope.

[Brewlugger]

Me and my boss fished the Mudhole southeast of MI today. We caught lots of chicken Mahi and one False albacore all on the troll. Almost every pot we hit held some fish,. We just didn't get any bigger ones today and we limited our catch after we put a few on ice.

[Gerry Zagorski]

Fluked this morning with Jarhead and Sven of the Hook. Crappy Fluking conditions and they weren’t cooperating so decided to check some close in pots since it was really flat and sniff around.

Water was not blue but nice and clear.. I read pretty much 78 degrees the whole time we were out there...

Lots of Mahi on the pots but only 4 chickens took the hook. We had live Peanuts but they wanted nothing to do with them... Dropped down some metal and let it sink to get the 4 we got.

[wyldbillnj]

I knew we should have went out for Mahi.

[Gerry Zagorski]

I knew we should have went out for Mahi.

Yep, it was like a lake out there..Very easy to stay on the pots and good to see some clear water for a change and it’s was 15 miles from the tip of the hook..

[wyldbillnj]

If I knew I had the gas and some extra bait...thats where I would have headed to those pots. Dammit...lol

[xperks22]

Has anyone tried recently ?

[Njbillfish]

Fished today (Sunday). Most pots had none. Some had a bunch. Most were small 15-18 inch mahi. Fished the area around the oil wreck.

[xperks22]

Were they chewing ? I heard from a couple people they experienced lockjaw ?

[wyldbillnj]

I was out there yesterday....Monster Ledge area. Great day on the water...but lockjaw for the fish. Sucks when you see them swimming around the boat and they pass everything up you throw at 'em. Picked up 13 of them...mostly smaller ones and a few throwbacks. Saw Albies busting in the same areas as well as a HUGE cobia looking around. That damn fish didn't want to chew either! Guess it was a better trip than if we went fluke fishing!

[xperks22]

Anyone gonna give it a try this weekend ? Not sure if they are still there. Looks like all green water in the mudhole.

[Gerry Zagorski]

Anyone gonna give it a try this weekend ? Not sure if they are still there. Looks like all green water in the mudhole.

The water color has been about the same for 2 weeks now and temps remain in the low 70s... If you have favorable wind and sea conditions, I would go for it and I think you'll get some.

[wyldbillnj]

Ill be out there again this weekend I think.

[xperks22]

Struck out today. Pot hopped from Arundo to Monster Ledge. The pots were clean nothing on them. Water was 69.5 degrees.

[Brewlugger]

Me and a couple friends ran about 30 Se of MI this morning. There wasn't much happening so we ran about 10 more miles and managed to put together a catch. The fish were a little finicky. Alot of chickens in the Mudhole for us this year but I'm not complaining. We ran back inshore and got a couple Lobsters too.