While not always a sure bet, fly fishing the hi-fliers can put you in the money.
As midshore ocean temperatures in the Northeast approach 74 degrees it is a given that large schools of mahi-mahi will migrate into our waters anywhere from 10 to 50 miles out. By the end of July their presence is usually a sure bet where I head out of Manasquan River in Central Jersey with numbers continuing to build through September.
Mahi are a dazzling and colorful fish that will take up residence around any lobster pots, buoys, weed lines, sargassum, partially submerged pilings, floating timber, or anything else that serves as a source of structure where a food change can develop. Mahi use these structures as a source of refuge and will find plenty of small baits in these locations that they can feed on.
During these months a saltwater fly angler can have a blast catching them. Depending on where you depart, there are countless lobster pots on the midshore grounds, any one of which could be a mahi hotel on any given day. You will most likely find that mahi will vary in size at given pot or buoy with the majority ranging in size from small chickens up to about 10 pounds. But there is a good chance that a bull in excess of 15 pounds can be waiting too. These bigger mahi will make lightning fast runs with screaming drags and quickly become airborne leaving a fly fisher mesmerized.
When setting up to fly cast to a lobster pot, buoy or any floating debris, it’s best to do so with as much stealth as possible. This means to drift your boat into the targets with your engines off. To do this you will need to size up both the wind and current to see which way your boat will begin to drift. If you are drifting around a string of pots try to locate a line of three or four pots that your drift will take you across before you must crank up the engine to reposition your boat. Many times the mahi will not be directly on the pot but hanging off it in the direction the anchor line is scoping out to the bottom.
The easiest way to catch a mahi on the fly is to get them fired up by tossing bait chunks in the direction of the target. The bait will pull the mahi up from below and you will easily see them by wearing a pair of polarized sunglasses. I like to take sardines and cut them into one inch squares and toss these. Many times a feeding frenzy will develop right in front of you as your chunks are swallowed up as soon as they hit the water. A fly cast into this melee usually brings a vicious strike only after a couple of strips.
Having live baits on board is a bonus and works more effectively than the chunks. This is so because they will swim, dart, and dash just like you can make your fly do on a retrieve. Peanut bunker is the best live bait and can be present in your marina or in the back bays so throwing a cast net to load up your livewell is a good option. If peanuts are difficult to get you can bring along live killies by purchasing them the night before at your local tackle shop and keep them in killie pots in the water overnight.
I have found that brightly colored and flashy flies work best to draw strikes. Colors such as bright orange, yellow, florescent green, pink, white, or a mix blend of these colors will work well. I will match my fly size to the profile of the bait that I am using. If I am tossing peanuts then I will use a wide profile fly like Geno’s Baby Angels or wide bodied deceivers. If the bait’s profile is slenderer in appearance, such as when tossing spearing, then Skok’s mushmouths or Popovics’s simpleclones will be my first choice. If I am tossing chunks then I like to use Furimsky’s chunk flies.
I fish these flies on 9-weight rods using sinking lines if the mahi are hanging deep and we are trying to bring them up. But as the mahi become visible near the surface a clear intermediate line will work just as well. Leader lengths are an important consideration in the clear waters of the midshore grounds. I like to use 9-foot leaders made of 15- to 20-pound test fluorocarbon.
Not only are mahi one of the most exhilarating pelagics to catch on the fly they also make for fine table fare as their meat is mild-tasting, sweet-flavored, with a firm texture. They can be broiled, poached, baked, sautéed, grilled, or pan-fried.
