Mudhole Mahi

[Gerry Zagorski]

Finally got out yesterday and steamed 30 miles SE to the east wall of the Mudhole. Found some cleaner water, some pots and put our lines in and trolled down the line for a few hours without a touch and no signs of life. Pulled in the lines, steamed another 20 miles SE, lines back in and still no love except for a pair of Skippies.

Decided to change tactics, pull in the trolling gear and go back to where we saw the most pots and switch over to pot hopping with bait. Turned out to be the right move because the first pot we baited Mike pulled a nice 10 pound Mahi off of. Spent the rest of the afternoon hopping and stopping and never put the trolling gear back in the water. I think we wound up with 7 or so with the 10 pounder being the biggest.

What a gorgeous day to be out there, flat clam, nice blue water, cold beer, great friends and a few Mahi for the grill.

[SPEARFISH]

Good stuff.

[River Rat]

Nice job G... glad you got some!

[dfish28]

It's always good when a plan comes together !! Way to go guys!

[MVP]

Way to Make it happen and get a few in the box.

[Hunter 2]

Thanks for the report. What was your setup when you say baited the pots?
I've been casting small Bucktails tipped with bait from a distance.
I hope to head out soon
Thanks, Eddie

[Gerry Zagorski]

Hunter - we were using some fairly light spinning poles, same stuff you'd use inshore for Striper fishing....We were pitching a mix of dead Mullet and Peanut Bunker we had cast netted the day before. No weight, just a hook.

We'd throw a few at the pot to get them excited and see if anyone was home and then throw a hooked bait.

You don't need to be concerned about pulling right up to the pot so you don't need to cast from a distance... These fish are not boat shy. One of the fish we caught we had on the line 2 times before we finally got her .. First one she wrapped around the pot, 2nd time she ate another bait right along side the boat and spit it and the 3rd time was a charm. Cool thing was seeing her right along side the boat and pitching the baits right to her.

Fun stuff.

[Gerry Zagorski]

PS none of the fish we caught were in the deep. They were all caught on the drop off leading into the deep and the water there was much cleaner up and out of the deeper water.

[xperks22]

Nice Report !! What size/type of hooks and leader do you prefer for pot hopping with bait ?

[Scott Free]

I'm glad you had a great fun and successful day Gerry. Your reports and advise are inspiring. I'll have to plan on getting out there in the next week or two.

Tight Lines

[Gerry Zagorski]

You can use 4/0 - 7/0 hooks Gami Octopus or Circles.

Braid is fine but I would put on a 3 foot 20 - 30 pound mono leader.

Lots of people also using 1/2 ounce bucktails with smaller baits like spearing and the extra weight of the bucktail helps casting.

If you are using larger baits, weight is not needed.

Bait runner spinning reels work nice.... Cast out, click your bail over, put in bait runner mode and wait for the run.

[Waresthefish]

Are you saying you needed to go 50 miles out before finding the fish? Thanks for the info

[Gerry Zagorski]

Are you saying you needed to go 50 miles out before finding the fish? Thanks for the info

We went as far as 50 miles from Sandy Hook but all the fish were around 28 mile mark.

If you are running out of Belmar or Manasquan it's more like a 20 mile run from those ports.

[shrimpman steve]

Very nice

[Hunter 2]

Good info,, Thankyou

[FlukeU2]

Hey Gerry nice catch!!! Did you fish the area that you posted a pic of the map previously?? I'm going out fluking tomorrow but if it's flat calm out there I'm thinking about making a run to find some pots. This will be my 1st time. I think I understand what to do to catch them based of your other posts with explanations.

[Gerry Zagorski]

Can't recall the picture of the map you were referring to. Check your PMs.

[Joey Dah Fish]

Well done Gerry and the fellas!!!!! No reports of any knives in the bucket?

[dales529]

Well done Gerry and crew. Not easy this year finding those inshore Mahi. And I am sure no metal touched the deck:eek:

[Jarhead]

That had to be one of the top five weather days of the year for going offshore. Water ski flat conditions with a friendly little breeze and low humidity. Just perfect! Fishing blue water for the first time, I was surprised that I could see the fish flashing around the pot line several feet below the surface. And what a fun fish to catch, especially on light gear. Thanks Capt. Gerry for putting us on the fish. I'm hooked on mahi :D:D:D:D
My advise to first timers... take your pictures as soon as you get them out of the water and under control as their colors fade quickly. Good luck!

[xperks22]

Thanks Gerry i appreciate it.

[DEEP POCKETS]

Congrats on a great trip Gerry, that's the one you have waiting and planning for:)

[Gerry Zagorski]

That had to be one of the top five weather days of the year for going offshore. Water ski flat conditions with a friendly little breeze and low humidity. Just perfect! Fishing blue water for the first time, I was surprised that I could see the fish flashing around the pot line several feet below the surface. And what a fun fish to catch, especially on light gear. Thanks Capt. Gerry for putting us on the fish. I'm hooked on mahi :D:D:D:D
My advise to first timers... take your pictures as soon as you get them out of the water and under control as their colors fade quickly. Good luck!

Thanks Arty and a pleasure having you on board.

Hard to believe we have such clean blue water and Mahi close in to our shores and most years its much closer then it is now.

A good pair of polarized sun glasses like Costas are a must if you want to cut the sun glare on the water and see the Mahi.

Very cool to see those fish light up in the water and even better when you can see them take your bait.

[Gerry Zagorski]

Just got a text and pictures from a friend of mine who's buddy was out on Friday and had over a dozen Mahi, 2 were 20 plus pounders. All in the Mudhole pot hopping with bait on jigs and surface poppers.

[squan63]

Thx for the report
Headed out this am fog cleared before shipping lanes
Was out there this morning had some small ones casting artificials then bite died trolled over to arun do and up hole zero action on that guy shooting handgun at who nos what on big sport fisherman