Mudhole Mahi

[Gerry Zagorski]

Although the Mudhole satellite shots showed dingy water, I was itching to get out and could not pass up the opportunity yesterday with the great weather window we had....

Me, Bill and Matt started off on the north western edge throwing spearing and live peanuts at the pots with nothing to show for it so we picked and went on the troll to cover some ground... Nothing on the troll either so lines in and we steamed SE to the Monster Ledge.

On our way we spotted a very concentrated line of pots but committed to running to the Monster we pressed on with a mental note to come back to them later on the way back home.

The water at the Monster was a green/grey and actually worse then we encountered to the north but we stuck with the plan to troll the edge to the south with no love trolling or pot hopping. We did pick up one small bonita pot hopping.

We picked up and ran back north and west to the pots we spotted before and decided to spend the rest of our time pot hopping. First few strings of of pots were vacant as we did some slow passes throwing Spearing at them... Next set of pots Bill throws a live peanut and hooks up immediately with a decent 7 or 8 pounder...

We think we've finally found them and wouldn't you know it the wind starts honking...Tried to tough it out but the wind made it very difficult to continue to pot hop so we decided to troll the area to no avail and headed back home in some sloppy following seas...

Based on my last several trips with nothing on the troll, pot hopping is way more fun and productive so next time out maybe we pot hop the whole day.

For those of you new to pot hopping for Mahi, you need the right conditions...
Best days the winds are 10 knots or less and seas 2 feet or less. This not only allows you to set up near the pots easier but lets you peer down into the water so when you throw a handful of bait to tease them off the pots you can see if anyone is home and commit to that pot or move on to the next.

All in all still a fun day on the water and at least we know they're home and have a good place to start next time...

[jmurr711]

I been waiting all Summer for this :)

[dfish28]

No outfits lost? That is a big bonus... way to get it done, the little help I may be able to give from my time out there, inshore mahi seem to only bite the wwwb for some reason, unless it's just coincidence, but 95% I have got are wayyy back in the spread 100 yardish or more never right... and most will hit a small silver and black chain that Dave from the reel seat carried, can't say if he has them now, the bullet head chain, quite small, but productive-very, if I did it again, I would go get more of them.

[Gerry Zagorski]

No outfits lost? That is a big bonus... way to get it done, the little help I may be able to give from my time out there, inshore mahi seem to only bite the wwwb for some reason, unless it's just coincidence, but 95% I have got are wayyy back in the spread 100 yardish or more never right... and most will hit a small silver and black chain that Dave from the reel seat carried, can't say if he has them now, the bullet head chain, quite small, but productive-very, if I did it again, I would go get more of them.

We did manage to loose a few lures when we trolled a little too close to a pot but no outfits :)

We did have a way way back, a bird with a small green machine... What are you running on your way way back??

[hartattack]

Stuffed Mahi - nice ! You got the appetizer now go back for dinner :cool:

[JDTuna]

No outfits lost? That is a big bonus... way to get it done, the little help I may be able to give from my time out there, inshore mahi seem to only bite the wwwb for some reason, unless it's just coincidence, but 95% I have got are wayyy back in the spread 100 yardish or more never right... and most will hit a small silver and black chain that Dave from the reel seat carried, can't say if he has them now, the bullet head chain, quite small, but productive-very, if I did it again, I would go get more of them.

Might be coincidence because I have had the opposite experience. I catch mahi throughout the spread and I've caught them on the flatlines very close to the transom.

[Gerry Zagorski]

Might be coincidence because I have had the opposite experience. I catch mahi throughout the spread and I've caught them on the flatlines very close to the transom.

What are you trolling JD??

I'm trolling 2 six inch rainbow spreaders on the inside out rigger clips, they are closely followed behind by islanders or melton cherry jets on the outside riggers. I run a way way back down the center usually a bird followed by a green machine and I run 2 flat line cedar plugs in close off the transom line clips. No meat on anything... Only thing I've raised on the spread inshore were skippes and that was on the way way back....

Thanks

[Joey Dah Fish]

I only have one word for you Gerry. Tennis :p

[squan63]

Thx for detailed report.Went between oil wreck and arundo yesterday hit probably 15 or 20 pots on west side in between trolling and not even a chicken came up.put go pro down about 8 feet water looked dingy.should have left at 1 instead of 2 ride home was like a benny hill skit getting soaked.

[shrimpman steve]

I only have one word for you Gerry. Tennis :p

Bahahaha that's my line:D

I'm sorry I wasn't there :(

But you went out and came back safely I'm sure you had lotsa laughs so sounds like a nice day on the water!

Miss ya bud

[Gerry Zagorski]

Thx for detailed report.Went between oil wreck and arundo yesterday hit probably 15 or 20 pots on west side in between trolling and not even a chicken came up.put go pro down about 8 feet water looked dingy.should have left at 1 instead of 2 ride home was like a benny hill skit getting soaked.

Yes we left around 3:30 and it was a interesting ride home... Had to slow down a bit and put the trim tabs down but we slugged thought it pretty comfortably. The one thing I really do like about our boat is the deep vee hull. A bit tender when you drift but you can run in pratically any seas you'd consider fishing in.

[Gerry Zagorski]

Bahahaha that's my line:D

I'm sorry I wasn't there :(

But you went out and came back safely I'm sure you had lotsa laughs so sounds like a nice day on the water!

Miss ya bud


Yeah miss you too Shrimpy... Was a fun trip in spite of the poor fishing. Just nice being out of site of land and a being a bit more on edge knowing you might catch or see something you wouldn't inshore. I always enjoy my time out there.

[JDTuna]

What are you trolling JD??

I'm trolling 2 six inch rainbow spreaders on the inside out rigger clips, they are closely followed behind by islanders or melton cherry jets on the outside riggers. I run a way way back down the center usually a bird followed by a green machine and I run 2 flat line cedar plugs in close off the transom line clips. No meat on anything... Only thing I've raised on the spread inshore were skippes and that was on the way way back....

Thanks

I run spreader bars on the short riggers, ballyhoo ( with joe schutes or islanders) on the long riggers (including a wwb for tuna), a bird and chain down the center and I alternate the flatline baits depending on the day. Ive caught mahi on small jets and even plugs on the flatlines. I try to keep the jets in the clean water right outside the wash and adjust the distance based on speed/sea conditions until they pop and produce a long smoke trail. Theres a lure made by C + H lures called a rattle jet that ive caught some nice mahi on while flatlining it.

[Gerry Zagorski]

Thanks for those tips JD..... Going to have to mix my spread up and try some different stuff and maybe add some meat to the spread. Always learning and I enjoy that process as well..

[Jigman13]

There should always be meat in the spread. We run 36" spreaders on the inside riggers, ballys on the long riggers with a 3-5oz schute. Corners and flats get a mix of green machines--weighted, daisy chains, singles, X-raps or bombers, and/or zuker feathers. We also run WWB off center rigger. Heaviest schute and horse bally. We'll run a 3rd spreader down the middle too if conditions are right.

Now I need to get offshore lol

[Gerry Zagorski]

There should always be meat in the spread. We run 36" spreaders on the inside riggers, ballys on the long riggers with a 3-5oz schute. Corners and flats get a mix of green machines--weighted, daisy chains, singles, X-raps or bombers, and/or zuker feathers. We also run WWB off center rigger. Heaviest schute and horse bally. We'll run a 3rd spreader down the middle too if conditions are right.

Now I need to get offshore lol

So do you put meat in your spread when targeting Mahi??

[Walleyed]

So do you put meat in your spread when targeting Mahi??

That just begs for a off-color response.