Edges and blue water

Mahi-mahi (dolphinfish)

Coryphaena hippurus

The blue-water sprinter of the fronts. Marked here only where the index points offshore.

What they like

  • 30–400 musual depth (they tolerate 15–2000 m)
  • 24–30 °Cwater temperature they feed in
  • clear waterwater clarity
  • deep water, open even bottom, drop-offsbottom they hunt, in order
  • any tidetide
  • daylightlight

Weed lines, colour changes and floating debris past the reef, usually well outside what a kayak should attempt.

Season by region

Peak months, shaded. Outside them the species may still be around, just less reliably.

Florida and the Gulf
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Caribbean and Bahamas
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Hawaii
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Bait and technique

Methods: bait, spinning / casting, fly.

Bait and lures: Ballyhoo, small skirted lures, pitch baits to fish under weed.

Technique: Run and gun along the weed line and the temperature front; keep one hooked fish in the water to hold the school.

Rules

Florida: Florida: 20 in fork length minimum, 5 per person / 30 per vessel. Verify with FWC and NOAA.

Seasons, sizes and bag limits change every year and differ by zone. Check the current regulations before you keep anything.

Depth maps where mahi-mahi live

Depth map preview of Bimini, Bahamas±0.67 m

Bahamas

Bimini, Bahamas

  • ±0.67 mtypical error
  • 1,990laser soundings checked
  • 74 km²of shallows

Updated 5 h ago

Preferences are expert estimates from the fisheries literature and angling practice, not measurements at your spot. The likelihoods on the maps are a planning aid, not a catch prediction.