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