I

Date: September 18, 2014

 

 

Time:         7:00 am

Weather:   winds NW  5kts

 

Location:    Buoy 44017

 

Bait/Lure:   Top water plugs and cut up fish.

 

Fish:           4 mahimahi

Largest::     15lbs

 

 

With water temperatures still hovering around 70 degrees I wanted to try for mahi one last time. I headed out on my buddy Rand's boat. It didn't take much to convince Rand that I knew where the mahi would be. Our destination was 22 miles southeast of Shinnecock Inlet. About a mile from our destination my confidence grew. I noticed that the water turned from green to blue and our 68 degree temperature was now 70 degrees. Once there Rand let me run the show. I made a huge mistake because I wasn’t able to control my excitement. I wanted to keep my distance from the buoy in order for us not to spook them. I planned on chumming the water with all of the bait I netted the day before. Like a little kid on Christmas morning I just had to see what was under the tree (Buoy). The buoy was packed with "exotics." I kept looking around franticly for what we came for. It didn't look good. As the "exotics" got all work up, out from the deep rose several fish that can't be mistaken for any other. My reputation was saved, they are here! Let’s fast forward 2 hours. No Mahi in the boat and frustration setting in. With no live bait on board they wanted nothing to do with us. At this point we are trying everything. Rand takes a very large jack ( type of fish ) and heaves it out. He starts reeling it in splashing it on top of the water. It got the attention of the mahi. He kept doing it. More and more mahi begin to appear. The fish that Rand keeps smacking on top of the water is too big for them to eat so I asked Rand for a top water popper. I tie it on and start working it back to the boat. Each time I cast I can see that they are interested but won't commit. Finally, the popper gets slammed, fish on! It’s a nice size mahi. I get the fish within 5' of the boat and..^&*%&%. We worked so hard for that fish. As I looked at our empty cooler I worry that it may be our only chance. I go right back to working the popper, at this point my shoulder is killing me. Rand is doing a great job at teasing the fish. Slam! The popper gets crushed. 10 minutes later we have what we came for. I iced her up and we went back to work. At this point the ocean has laid down. However the fish seem to have disappeared. So we decided to put out a 5 rod trolling spread. It didn't take long. As we passed by the buoy 2 of our lines come tight. Rand gets his fish to the boat first. It’s about a 10lb bull ( male ). My fish hits the deck soon after. It’s a nice cow ( female ) that went about 15lbs. That would be it for the day. We earned those fish today. I think most people would have given up. I'm glad Rand had no problem with us staying put for 8 hours. You don't leave fish to find other fish. Once again I learned something new that I will certainly apply the next time I come across mahi that have lock jaw. Thanks for the invite Rand.

 

Male mahi known as bulls have a very blunt flat head

Female mahi known as cows have a round head.