# Mahi on Fly?



## BWest (Jul 19, 2017)

In a few weeks I will be staying with some friends at their house on Duck Key, and doing some dolphin fishing. They are all experienced offshore guys (I am not) but none of them have ever thrown a fly. I figured this would be a good chance for me to have some fun with the 10wt. If anybody has any tips or tricks, or mainly fly recommendations so I can get some vise time in it would be greatly appreciated.


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## MSG (Jan 11, 2010)

anything really bright they should hit - chartreuse and white. If schoolies - you could throw a lighter rod as well


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## ifsteve (Jul 1, 2010)

The key is to troll around conventional till a fish gets hooked. Many times the whole school will follow the hooked fish to the boat. Then you can cast flies to the others. As long as you keep one fish hooked up and around the boat you can get numerous if not many shots. Eventually they will tire of the game and leave but this tactic has done well for me many times. And as mentioned bright flies are good, I like stuff with yellows and reds.


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## EasternGlow (Nov 6, 2015)

funny you bring this up, I did this yesterday. As steve mentioned, you need to get a bigger school or at least a few fish around the boat. To achieve that is an entirely different topic, but seems like you're going with guys who know what they're doing. All downhill from there. Just cast out into the school and strip it really fast, as if you're trying to coax an eat from a school of fired-up jacks. Any medium-bigger fly should work, bright colors. For maximum enjoyment, I'd go lighter than a 10 weight. Chances are you're not casting to anything bigger than 10-12 lbs. I was using the 6 wt for schoolies yesterday.


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## Zika (Aug 6, 2015)

Don't overlook flotsam/weed lines. Caught a nice bull in the Sea of Cortez off a wooden spool with a trailing length of hawser. Lots of smaller fish around, but mine ate a big pink squid pattern. Fun fight on the buggy whip.


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## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

Your biggest hassle with dolphin and flies will the other rods around you (and how to be able to cast with everything else going on... yet still not get into the other angler's way....). In that vein, bring a five gallon bucket with you (if there's not one available on the boat already...). Strip off about forty to fifty feet of line into the bucket then drop your rod, reel first on top of the line, then leave it somewhere out of the way... When things get poppin... pick up bucket and all -then move the rear corner of the boat or the bow to make your cast and get in on the action.... 

Years and years ago we killed them with medium sized popping bugs, seaducers, clousers - all in bright colors -and fish just like you were in a starving school of big jacks.... I was always able to take followers on hooked fish by simply slapping the fly down in front of a fired up fish - usually before I could even strip it... My favorites were yellow, red/yellow, fl. chartreuse/white - and occasionally the brightest blue (the entire fly...). If any fish follows without striking.... snatch it away from him -then slap it down right back in the same place - if the fish is still interested you'll get a strike at second sight...

Yes, you can use a lighter rod - but, if you have other anglers fishing with spin or conventional gear you'll wear out your welcome with light gear in a dolphin frenzy... Another of those "ask me how I know" moments... 

Good luck and post up a report - 'phins on a fly are a gas...


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## jimsmicro (Oct 29, 2013)

They like flashy stuff. I have killed them on chartreuse or white bucktail jigs retrieved way after than you'd think. When they're in a frenzy they will smash them. Tie something up with a shiny mylar piece in it and some chartreuse fibers, it will work.


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## CedarCreek (Nov 23, 2012)

Trey Combs’ book Bluewater Flyfishing has a bunch of offshore fly recipes. The Sea Habit bucktail pattern worked for me. Durable too.


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## tunataker (Jul 8, 2018)

It will require some coordination with your friends fishing conventional tackle. I have gone after big Mahi on lite tippet. We troll until a fish is hooked and then I cast.
Make sure your line is up to casting a larger fly offshore. The wind may be a factor so use a heavy line.
Mahi are some of my favorite fish on the fly.


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## Flatbroke426 (May 5, 2018)

You wont need to make long casts if you can get them up.. Find a school with normal trolling rods. leave one fish in the water when you get it up this will keep the school at the boat. the short cast out a larger Clouser minnow (my favorite dolphin fly) in white or chartreuse or combo of the two and hang on.. they are probably the easiest fish to catch on a fly.


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## State fish rob (Jan 25, 2017)

Never casted much for mahi , usually just let the fly drift back. Poppers my favorite. Plenty of flash. Leave the first one tied off & the school will follow most of the time. Getting gear out of the way is a huge help. Beware of t tops. They play hell on rod tips


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## rakeel (Apr 9, 2014)

I'll normally use the method mentioned above of catching one trolling and leaving it on the hook.

However, I have found them on floating debris and weed lines while looking for ling and triple tail and have a method that works pretty good if they're acting disinterested. I usually will cast a fly out to them and rip it in front of them fast with one strip then pick it up and slap it back down near them again with another hard strip before picking back up and repeating. I'll repeat this until they light up and get in a frenzy. You'll know what I'm talking about when you see it. At that point, I'll cast and strip it back in fast. This will usually get your fly hammered. A similar method works for ling minus the hard strip after each recast. Same rules apply here though in that the first one you hook, leave it in the water and you can normally catch a bunch out of the school, they just can't help themselves.

As for flies, I use SF blend to tie clousers and deceiver ish flies. Traditional deceivers will get torn up quick. I use combinations of white, chartreuse, pink and blue. Jigging a heavy eyed clouser with long fast strips and long pauses in between strips also seem to elicit bites from chicken dolphin at times too.


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## vantagefish (Jul 16, 2014)

Once they are “schooled up” I have very good luck with small white flies I would normally toss to snook around structure. Check out the “what’s up dock” fly from ole Florida.


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## EasternGlow (Nov 6, 2015)

What’s up dock is tied on a tiny hook. You’re going to want something more substantial than that.


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## vantagefish (Jul 16, 2014)

I’ve tied them on a no. 2 SL12s, work great. Have also tied them on a no 4 tiemco like the shop fly....they work just fine


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## johnmauser (Sep 9, 2009)

All good info.

One thing I will add. I have had schools behind the stern of the boat quickly get wise to a fly after a few were hooked. If that happens, just change flies. I've had to switch fly colors a few times when they were getting smart about not eating what their buddy just got hooked with. Every time I changed the color, they were immediately back on it again. 

On another note, if you have some small chunks of bait, once they are behind the boat, have your buddy chunk a few pieces every minute or so to keep them there.


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## BWest (Jul 19, 2017)

Thanks for all of the info guys, unfortunately the fly rod didn't come out once on the trip. They told me to bring it along, and they would get me a few shots, however once we were out there it became pretty obvious their main focus was putting fish in the box. Being a guest, I didn't want to impose, so I just left the rod in the tube. It was fun to experience the offshore stuff, we caught some blackfin on the humps, caught plenty of dolphin, and caught a big barrellfish deep dropping. Hopefully I'll get to go again and maybe get the long rod out.


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

Those chicks would have been fun on a light fly rod and you could have probably put your fair share in the box with a yellow and chartreuse half and half or the same in a clouser.


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## FlyBy (Jul 12, 2013)

The lighter the tackle the more they jump. Great fish on a fly. For most of the year they're out of range for my bay boat. I get to them sometimes on a good day in July or August when they're 20 miles or so. I did find them one time about 4 miles offshore where they had followed a large log in from offshore. Caught them on crease flies for awhile then had to change flies. I'll be after them more next year, just this week ordered a blue-water boat.


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## jay.bush1434 (Dec 27, 2014)

I've caught bunches of them on my 8wt. As said above, we got them up to the boat by catching one on conventional tackle and then leaving that fish in the water. I like using Deceivers, Gotchas and any type of popper. When we get into the chicken dolphin, usually we leave them biting. One of the best blue water fish for flies. Also, when you start fly fishing, it pretty much locks up the rest of the boat, especially if the other guys aren't familiar with the buggywhip.


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