Relying on who you ask, my efforts to catch mahi mahi on the fly was both to problem myself as an angler or an try to get some further room on my father’s small heart console. Regardless of the purpose, I’ve discovered {that a} fly rod might be key when coping with typically finicky mahi. The power to current a smaller-profile imitation implies that fly fishing for mahi-mahi can outfish extra conventional strategies.
Including a fly setup to the small-boat pelagic hunter’s arsenal is a should as a result of there are a lot of instances when the fish are lower than cooperative. When attempting lobster pots which have already been hit, a typical prevalence for Northeast weekend warriors, each little benefit could make a distinction to entice pressured fish.
Rods and Line
Many anglers could also be overwhelmed by the intricacies of fly fishing, however it helps to appreciate that it may be as easy or as advanced as you make it. I didn’t exit and purchase a brand new setup after I started going after mahi on the fly. I bought an intermediate fly line, matched it to a 9-weight rod that I’d beforehand used for salmon, and started my enterprise with a rod I knew would work. Ideally, an 8-weight is the only option for the world we fish, the inshore to midshore lobster pots, and if you’re dealing solely with chickens on the nearer grounds, you may get away with a 7-weight. Any succesful rod with an appropriately matched fly line works since lengthy casts aren’t crucial. I take advantage of a 9-foot rod, however anyplace within the 8.5- to 9.5-foot vary will do, and there are occasions an 8-foot would have been useful on a packed boat.
Line is what I feel issues most, so guarantee you could have a great saltwater fly line. I favor an intermediate line in case I wish to fish deeper, however a floating line works as effectively. I take advantage of Rio Intermediate Striper and a well-tapered 7- to 8-foot fluorocarbon chief … there isn’t a want for a loopy lengthy chief. The shorter chief makes casting from a ship simpler, in addition to when coping with fish. I typically scale all the way down to 12-pound take a look at, and after I do, I all the time add a small part of thicker 15- to 20-pound fluoro in entrance of my fly to guard it from a bigger fish’s sharp enamel. Most instances, nonetheless, it’s not essential to go that gentle, and 15- to 20-pound take a look at does the job. With the shock-absorbing motion of a fly rod, you may successfully struggle mahi on lighter line, which might provide the higher hand when fish are chief shy.
Flies
Just like your rod and reel setup, fly choice might be as difficult as you need, with numerous saltwater patterns out there to select from, however I strongly advocate conserving issues easy. When pot-hopping for mahi, I carry simply two patterns in a wide range of colours—Surf Candies and Clouser Minnows. I normally use a 1/0-size hook, however someplace inside that vary is ok. I’ve discovered that brighter colours work effectively, like fluorescent pink and chartreuse.
If the objective is to maintain my fly nearer to the water’s floor and close to the pot longer, I take advantage of a neutrally-weighted, epoxy-coated Surf Sweet as a result of the shimmer from its resin gives an additional enticement. When attempting to get my fly a bit deeper, and even forged and strip the world across the pots to see if there are mahi cruising round, I flip to the heavier Clouser Minnow. Its heavy, dumbbell-weighted eyes ship the fly down, and its slick profile cuts by the water with ease, permitting me to fish with an aggressive retrieve in a unique water column.
Casts and Retrieves
When you’re located with a rod, reel, line, and a few flies, now comes the enjoyable half: casting. Buying the fundamentals from working towards in your yard is simple to do, and I like to recommend studying that approach as a substitute of on the water. There are a couple of casting changes that may enhance success; as an illustration, taking pictures out the road along with your back-cast to the pot could make punching by wind simpler. Additionally, reap the benefits of false casts to reposition your self so as to land the fly subsequent to the lobster pot.
Not like spin fishing, when you see your lure would possibly tangle across the flagpole of a pot’s buoy, take your forged again. I discover this to be a significant benefit contemplating I’ve gifted my fair proportion of lures to lobster fisherman after snagging their ropes.
If the boat is positioned effectively and I can land my fly proper on prime of the construction, I all the time start with a really quick retrieve, typically even skimming the floor of the water. This is identical factor I do with an epoxy jig or different well-liked mahi spinning lures. If there are energetic fish, they nearly all the time react to the lure ripping previous them. If a fish crushes the fly on the preliminary quick retrieve, nice! Strip-set that hook and get the fish within the boat.
As a rule, you’ll discover a swirl or wake behind the fly from a fish that turned its head, otherwise you would possibly see one observe your lure to the boat. Recast subsequent to the pot, however retrieve slowly this time, with intermittent bursts of velocity. This can assist you to keep shut sufficient to the floor water column, the place most fish are, and likewise close to the pot longer than these utilizing heavier epoxy jigs. Protecting the presentation proper subsequent to the pot provides you a lot larger alternative within the strike zone.
Pot Hopping
Mahi circle lobster-pot buoys as a result of they provide safety from predators and a provide of small bait to eat. If they will keep away from leaving the buoy, they’ll, so the longer you retain the fly inside a couple of ft of the pot, the larger the possibilities of hooking up. Typically, after I’m the one angler on board who’s excited by fly fishing, the opposite anglers will chum the world and draw the mahi off a pot and across the boat. This makes issues straightforward for me since solely quick casts are wanted and the fish are aggressive as they compete for the chum.
There are occasions after we discover an space with many pots shut collectively and drift complete squid at totally different depths by the world. When doing so, I forged, profiting from the intermediate line’s capacity to sink, and let loose line because the boat drifts. I then use the heavier Clouser Minnow to get my lure sinking and fish an erratic retrieve, repeating the method till I hook up. It may be a win-win for each a fly and a spin fisherman as a result of the motion of the fly attracts mahi from surrounding areas to the bait, or the bait attracts the fish to the fly.
I’m not a fly-fishing purist, so a few of my recommendation, equivalent to fishing your fly in a pal slick, could also be seemed down upon by some. I bought into fly fishing years in the past so as to extra productively fish sure trout streams, after which picked it up for these inshore pelagics in order that I may current a lightweight and pure imitation in one of the best ways doable. If chumming helps your probabilities, I say go for it as a result of the benefits of the fly rod nonetheless apply. You possibly can even go a step additional and tip your streamer with a bit strip of squid as a result of it really works.
Better of all, when hooking a mahi on the fly, the struggle is unreal, and the flexibility to current these real looking flies means extra productive journeys. Additionally, relish the additional fishing area you earn on the boat whereas casting your fly to mahi.
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