Latest posts

Pelagic longlines targeting mahi mahi incidentally hook olive ridley sea turtles at roughly 9 per 1,000 hooks in Costa Rica, plus silky and thresher sharks. Here is what the data says, why trolling avoids the problem, and how mitigation works.

Read more

No U.S. mahi mahi stock has a completed formal population assessment. NOAA lists status as unknown for the South Atlantic and not subject to overfishing for three Caribbean complexes based on 2022 data. Here is what that actually means.

Read more

Juvenile mahi mahi, or peanuts, are identifiable by a rounded head and weight typically under 10 pounds. Regulations on keeping them vary sharply by region, from a 20-inch Florida Atlantic minimum to no state limit in the Gulf or Hawaii.

Read more

Hawaii mahi mahi fish nearly year-round but peak September through May, with fish growing from 10-15 lb in March to 40-50 lb by May. Here is where to fish around the islands, the 2024 license requirement, and what a typical trip looks like.

Read more

Spotting a productive weed line comes down to reading visual cues: a color change, weed density, circling birds, and floating debris. Here is how to actually find and work sargassum lines from the boat, not just why fish gather there.

Read more

A productive mahi mahi spread runs 4 to 6 lines at 6 to 8 knots, staggered from 30 feet to over 150 feet back. Here is exactly how to build that spread, position each line, and adjust it for sea conditions.

Read more

Rigged ballyhoo behind a small skirted head in pink/white or blue/white accounts for most mahi mahi caught trolling. Here is a breakdown of every productive lure type, why mahi mahi respond to bright colors, and how to match lures to conditions.

Read more

Mahi mahi season peaks whenever warm current pushes closest to shore in a given region: June-August in Florida, spring in Hawaii, December-April in Costa Rica. Here is a region-by-region breakdown and how to read conditions within each window.

Read more

A good mahi mahi charter produces 4 to 20 fish a trip, mostly schoolies, with tackle and bait included. Here is what a typical trip looks like and what separates a well-run operator from a mediocre one.

Read more

The best mahi mahi grounds share two things: warm current and floating structure. Here is a region-by-region breakdown of Florida, the Gulf, Hawaii, Costa Rica, Baja, the Caribbean, and the Indian Ocean, with peak months for each.

Read more