The sweetest thing

These days, catching a nice feed of offshore bottom fish has become a tough job. Professional trap boats and netters have scraped the barrel in many areas, and the days when you could bring home a nice-sized snapper or teraglin for dinner without even trying have all but gone.

We seem to be fishing longer and harder for a feed of fish than ever before, and many anglers have had to change their techniques and fish smarter to get something edible and have some fun while they're at it.

One species that's always been a popular target off the east coast is the mahi mahi or dolphin fish, and now more and more anglers are hearing about them. Often I get asked by novice anglers: where do you find mahi mahi and how do you catch them?

I must admit, mahi mahi are a really strange fish, and they are one of the fastest growing in the ocean. Their amazing growth rate is fuelled by a voracious appetite, and there's not much this fish won't eat - or try to eat.

I'll never forget the first time I fished over in the beautiful Cook Islands. We were livebaiting a 3kg yellowfin tuna for a marlin around a FAD (Fish Aggregation Device) in very deep water about a mile off the island when the bait was hit. The crashing strike was absolutely awesome and we thought it was from a marlin until we saw a 25kg monster mahi mahi come hurtling out of the water. Big bait, big fish!

WHERE TO LOOK
Mahi mahi are caught in all the tropical and subtropical ocean waters of the world, and off the east coast of Australia they can be found offshore as soon as the water gets up to about 20°C.

Although these fish mostly cruise the warm blue currents, they can often be found in dirty bluey-green conditions providing the bait supply's there. They grow to about a maximum weight of around 40–45kg and the bigger fish are often loners or found in pairs.

Smaller fish up to 5kg or so tend to school in large numbers and their favourite haunts are around any kind of floating object, such as FADs, fish-trap floats, logs and other debris. NSW Fisheries has established several FADs along the coast off many of the larger townships, and these are proving invaluable for attracting this species. The co-ordinates for these FADs can be found on the NSW Fisheries website.

TECHNIQUES & TRICKS
Catching mahi mahi can be a lot of fun. They are a very aggressive fish and because of their superb colouring and streamlined body, they look spectacular as they jump about.

There are many options to take into consideration when trying to catch these fish, and often you can simply troll a bunch of small to medium chrome jet-head type lures past a floating object and have all of them attack at once.

Sometimes you'll catch a few immediately, yet when you make another pass they'll totally ignore your spread of lures. If this happens, the next option is to drift and cast small lures to the floating object, such as chrome metal slices or soft plastic baits.

The idea is to retrieve them quickly. Try this method along the surface, and if that doesn't work let the lures sink deep. Quite often these fish will hit them on the drop or as you wind up from the depths in an erratic stop/start fashion.

Sometimes mahi mahi will wise up completely and turn off artificial lures and jigs just as quickly as they decided they liked them. This is when you have to change tactics again, and natural baits - both live and dead - can often come into their own.

Drifting past the floating structure with small live baits, such as yellowtail, slimey mackerel or even little mullet, will get them back on the tooth. One trick with live baits is to rig them through the head, as often the drag in the water from the boat moving with the current or wind will make the bait spin and die quickly.

The best way is either to make a little Dacron string bridle looped through the eye sockets, or to push the hook up through the roof of the mouth and out in front of the eye sockets. Rigged this way there is less resistance on the bait and they will swim and survive for longer - until they're eaten, of course! 

RIGS & GEAR
When mahi mahi attack the livies it's always with speed and aggression, and most times they'll simply hook themselves. You must be prepared to tighten the drag quickly when you feel the first bite.

If you're not in a position to catch or keep live baits, the second-best option is fresh pilchards. Use the baits whole with a double-hook rig. It's not a bad idea to cut up some pilchards into cubes as well and toss them over for berley.

This method usually turns them on, and again the strikes are like lightning. I always fish the dead baits with the reel in gear and the drag set on strike. They usually hook themselves.

Mostly around FADs and fish traps, mahi mahi only average around a kilo or so and you can fish with light tackle and enjoy the fight. At times you can strike a run of larger fish, but even when they're up around 5–8kg you can handle them easily with lines from 4–6kg.

Probably the most versatile tackle to cover the most popular mahi mahi techniques is a good-quality threadline outfit: something like a 3500 or 4500 Shimano Baitrunner reel matched with a longish rod between 2.3 and 2.6m. The extra length can really help in the casting department when throwing unweighted baits.

SLIPPERY DEVILS
The one thing you will find out pretty quickly about mahi mahi is that they're wiggly, slimey buggers - and in most situations, its best to use a long-handle landing net to secure them boatside rather than a gaff.

You will certainly need a long-handled fixed gaff for a big one, though. And they can be difficult to handle on a gaff as well because of their wild gyrations.

You can grab smaller ones firmly at the back of the head around the gills to unhook them, but decent-sized ones go nuts when hauled over the gunwale and laid on the cockpit floor. A good-sized fishbox filled with ice and covered with a lid is an ideal way to deal with them until they settle down, but bleed them by cutting right through the throat latch as soon as you can.

MAKE A MEAL OF IT
As a rule, mahi mahi are excellent eating, but occasionally you can find one has an unusually bitter, tainted flavour. Yellowtail kingfish are another species to which this can happen, and studies have found that this is caused by a minute parasite that gets into the flesh of these pelagic fish.

In the case of mahi mahi, though, I have only ever encountered it a few times in more than 30 years of offshore fishing, so the chances of getting a crook one are really pretty slim.

I always fillet, skin, de-vein and bone these fish. They can be cooked a number of ways. The most popular practice seems to be deep-frying in a batter of flour, egg and breadcrumbs. They are certainly sweet on the tooth!