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dolphin fishing
May 07, 2010

10 Deadly Dolphin Rigs

Keep these proven mahi fishing tricks handy in your offshore arsenal.
By George Poveromo
Related Tags: dolphin fishing, Fishing Tackle, How To Fish, rig fishing
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10 Deadly Dolphin Rigs

5. Live Weed-Line Baits      

When angling pressure or a full moon keeps dolphin from feeding, try using their natural forage. That is, use a bait quill rig to acquire several of those banded rudderfish and other small specimens that cling tightly to weeds and debris. These comprise the dolphin's natural forage and often produce when "import" baits, such as pilchards and sardines, fall short.

Drop these baits into a five-gallon bucket of seawater to keep them at the ready. Then impale one on a 2/0 or 3/0 live-bait-style hook that is rigged to a 20-pound-test fluorocarbon leader and a light, 8-pound-class spinning outfit. The light outfit pitches the bait a fair distance, and the light hardware lets it swim enticingly.
 
 

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from Adventure-Ocean on 05.09.13 at 10:11PM ET.

Thanks for the lure tips. Like you I've spent my life fishing Mahi Mahi. I lived on Guam over 40 years and was a charter captain for 30yrs. Every year was a different run. Some years we caught fish using anything. We couldn't sell them because everyone had them. Some years we'd try every action lure or freshly baited hooks or whatever and couldn't get much of a bite going. Some believed in 3 yr. 7 yr or even 10 year cycle. What have you learned over the years of catching Mahi?

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from marlow (not verified) on 08.04.12 at 4:10PM ET.

Good day. I've also been doing that for years. I was also in the same position. there were layers of dolphin and they weren't hitting anything. I thru everthing at them. Pilchards spoons cut bait even sprayed the water with the wash down hose. I couldn't believe how many dolphin their was. My friend thru a old bass plug and landed 1. I then put a shrimp on a hook pitched it out there and the dolphin came out of the water after it. We landed so many. I never informed any1 about my little trick until reading your article.

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from dolphin (not verified) on 04.18.12 at 10:18PM ET.

What lure is the one mentioned under small trollibg lures?

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from Storch (not verified) on 01.24.12 at 1:32AM ET.

Hello :-)

My first encounter with Dolpines was at Kay Biscane in the seventies.
Mr. Cook from the local Church of Christ took me first bass fishing into the Everglades and then a friend of him took me with his boat dolphine fishing.
We started early in the morning and after I caught a triggerfish, that ran like crazy, wie drifted along the sargassum weedbeds looking out for dolfines.
We caught a few small ones. I was fascinated by the golden glittering rainbow colores of this "Liberaces of the Sea".

Next fishig trip after years of savings was to the Bahamas and Key West.
I think it was at Nassau were we trolled for Dolphines. Vorgive me, it is now more than 40 years ago.
I caught some big eye tuna and some gorgeous bull dolpines. It was great.

I wanted so badly to live in such a fishing paradies.
I even bought me a nor-fin fly reel and a fenwick flyrod 10 weight.

Instead of my favorite destination in Florida we moved to Texas.

Breckenridge and lake Hubbard-Creek-Lake. Fishing was tough for me there, and later in Abilene Texas at Lake Fort-Phantom.
I took me two year to learn the local tricks and fishing locations.
Instaed of Dolpings I was happy to catch a bunch of sandbass and crappies.

I got a Bachelor at Hardin Simmons and a Masters at University of North Texas, all that did not enable me to go back to Florida where my enthusiasm started. I met Stu Apte, Lefty Krey and most of the fishing hall of famers in the Forth Worth Fly fishing Club. Thousand times thanks to the club!

I still love the dolphines and dream about them like Santiago in "The Old Man and the Sea" was dreaming about the Lions in Afrika.

Tight Lines Friends. Catch one dolpine for me and unhook him in the water.
He ist much too pretty to dye in a fishbox.

Bob

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