Targets of Opportunity - Mahi

[habitat]

Went offshore recently looking for some yellowfin on both r&r and spear. Trolled the afternoon and set up chunking at night after picking up one yellowfin and one mahi on the rods. The night bite was slow and produced a single yellowfin. We had been throwing butterfish and bluefish chunks all night, and had a chum bucket in the water at maybe 1am.

Saw a big bait ball under the boat and took a look, but didn't see anything chasing it. It was dark, no moon, and creepy as hell.

Took a nap and woke up around 4am to yelling about a school of mahi around the boat. Myself and another crew member geared up and picked off a few nice sized fish. End result was four cows and a bull that weighed in at about 33lbs using the scale onboard.

All fish taken at the surface with a Riffe MT#1. Could have gotten more fish, but we couldn't get reloaded fast enough. Fun times.

[LeMonstier]

I really want to do that some time. I only went out once to the canyon fishing and I couldn't believe what existed just 60 miles off the coast. Whales, huge sea turtles, giant sharks, tuna jumping out of the water everywhere. We got our limit of yellowfin and blue fin. It was amazing, but I've been wanting to go for Mahi with my spear gun.

Did you spear those fish at night? That sounds a bit creepy with the sharks around.

[TriggerNJ]

At night out there? All I can say is wow! I thought some night dives I've done got creepy but you guys just completely blew my mind with that. You guys have got nerves of steel. Great fish... WTG:beer:

[ROBERTO REYES]

Those are really nice fish, you guys had a blast.
What was the water temp?
Were they blue with the white dots at night?

[habitat]

The school swam into the illuminated area off the stern around 4am....still very dark out as the moon had set a few hours earlier. For those familiar with the Hudson Canyon area, we were in the deep,... southwest of the dip....maybe 80 miles out or so. Our ride is a 25' Parker.

We were in the water for about 30 minutes. We had a crew member on the bow casting a fly rod and luring the fish into our area. In the excitement, the chunks of bait stopped going in the water. This is why we didn't have double the fish on the deck.

Water temp was approximately 80 degrees F.

I don't remember exactly what the coloring of the fish was. It was difficult to see as the fish were usually at the edge of our area that was lit up. They were very beautiful though. It was pretty exciting....especially when my friend shot the bull right off the stern and started getting towed out into the blackness away from the boat.

The sharks are definately out there.....blues, makos, hammerheads, etc......but I think it's unlikely they'd swim right up and start chomping on you without warning. That what we tell ourselves anyway. Not saying I wouldn't drop a seabiscuit in my boardshorts if I saw one while I was in the water though.

Still looking to get a tuna before the season is over. I haven't even seen one while diving yet though. Probably only a few more trips, so I have my fingers crossed.

Anyone experianced in finding, attracting, and keeping tuna near the surface can chime in here for sure. Once I get a shot, I have the rest of the scenario worked out. My problem has just been finding the fish.

We do okay on the rods though.....

[Fishin' Dog]

I've heard of guys dropping in behind scallop boats. They're up pretty shallow picking up the scraps. Heard there were some grey suits with them though. I don't think you can shoot a blue fin though. Nice fish by the way.

[habitat]

Went out again looking for tuna. No dice. On the troll we brought a large one up to the boat and pulled the hook, and it was the last one we saw for the trip.

On the overnight chunk, conditions were perfect except for the wind, rain, whitecaps, and lack of fish. Woke up from taking a nap to a small mako and a few large mahi swimming off the stern. The urge to shoot fish overcame our common sense and we decided to shoot the mako to get to the mahi. I geared up and was about to get in the water when the mako took a bait and bent a rod. When the fight was over, the mako turned out to be a blue and the mahi disappeared. Dammit...

About 30 minutes later some more mahi showed up, this time with no sharks, so in the water I went. One cow was taken on r&r and one was speared. The fish I shot made a b-line for the port motor and promptly wrapped up spear, line, and gun tight to the lower unit, ruining the shooting line in the process. After about five minutes of untangling, the whole mess was in the boat. Still dripping wet in the boat and looking for more mahi, we saw a large (~8') blue shark zig-zagging through the chunks picking up a free meal. Enough of that. I like mahi and all, but this one seemed a little more aggressive.

No more action on the chunk. Trolling the next day produced lots more mahi including a nice sized bull.

A fun trip, maybe the last for the season, but I really would have liked to shoot a tuna this year. Ah well....the big bass are in.

[LeMonstier]

Must be nice! I only went tuna fishing once on my friend's boat out of Wildwood Crest, NJ and we got our limit on Yellow Fin and Blue fin. It was amazing out there and I was hooked but it was the last trip because he sold the boat soon after. I'm thinking of playing the lottery so I could afford gas as well as a nice boat to go out to the canyon since winning something like that seems more likely than getting any clear water anytime soon at our normal dive spot in S. Jersey!