Summer mahi!
October 02, 2024 Fort Lauderdale 1 photo
Dolphin (Mahi Mahi)
Dolphin (Mahi Mahi)
King Mackerel (Kingfish)
King Mackerel (Kingfish)
Wahoo
Wahoo

Trip Summary

The later summer months offer calm seas off the fort Lauderdale coastline and the deep waters offer a quicker access to the Gulfstream then the keys or north Florida. That being said, the mahi-mahi are being found just a few miles out. Sea weed or other floating debris can be a hunting ground for these fish and are what we look for on the surface. Mahi are often caught trolling and live bait is not entirely necessary. Wahoo are also found near these floating objects! The summer time offer the warmest waters and the Gulfstream often flows the hardest. This gives an advantage as many migratory fish will be heading south ahead of the winter push.
Matthew Fann
Fort-lauderdale, Florida, United States
Fish Advisor – Ft. Lauderdale thumbnail
Ft. Lauderdale has a fish with your name on it, so let Capt. Matt Fann and the Fish Advisor help you catch it! With Captain Matt at the helm, you’re in knowledgeable and experienced hands. Captain Matt Fann has 25 years of local experience fishing i...

Other reports from this charter

Mahi on the move!
Mahi on the move!
April 11, 2025
We're entering into mahi mahi season and it's starting to show decent numbers. We'd like to see bigger fish but we are at least seeing some at all. during summer months, when the seas are calmer, we will venture further offshore in search of floating debris or weed lines. Now finding weed alone isn't a guarantee, in fact it's just one factor. Mahi do not eat seaweed but simply hunt around it, finding small bait fish, minnows, shrimp, crab etc. It is often that we will find seaweed lines that are miles long yet we won't have a single bite. The reason for this is that the weed might have already been hunted on and the fish have moved on or it's a new patch that hasn't been found yet. The recent trips have shown this exact example. I've found fantastic looking weed lines and have trolled up and down without a single bite and then "kapow"!! Fish on! As mentioned earlier, a lot of these fish are young and are simply too small to harvest but we are seeing a few that make the mark and get a free boat ride home in the cooler! The best method for mahi is often by trolling ballyhoo or bonito strips matched up with various skirts. Many captains prefer to use live bait but those only come into play once you've made contact with the fish and they seem to be in abundance. You'll have a live bait to offer up when multiple fish come to the boat. Live bait isn't always necessary though. If you're considering booking based on this report then please consider a few things. The ocean is vast! It's simple massive and mahi are highly migratory fish. They can swim thousands of miles per year and eat as much as they can but sometimes they are nowhere to be found. We spend the majority of our lives in pursuit of the perfect moment but often times we are left to dream of a better trip... Next time!
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