By: Capt. Bruce Andersen
With the hot summer weather upon us and the water temperatures heating up, June is the time to start heading offshore. Running out to the gulfstream in search of everyone’s favorite target species, the mahi mahi. Mahi, or dolphin, as we call them here in the Keys can be caught any time of year, but the best dolphin fishing takes place in the summer, especially in the month of June. You can have hot streaks of fishing that seem to last the whole month or also some slower periods, where these fish can be harder to find, but in general the offshore fishing for dolphin is very good this time of year. We’ve got consistent fishing for plenty of schoolie size fish and a very good chance at trophy “slammer” dolphin as well.
So far this year there have already been some outstanding catches of big bull dolphin caught offshore of the upper keys. Just a few weeks ago my good friend and longtime mate, Captain Mike Mason, came back to the dock with a beautiful 68# bull caught aboard his boat, the Time Out, out of Islamorada. Like many of the dolphin we catch in the Florida Keys, that fish was caught on 20-pound spinning tackle. They fought it for about 2 and a half hours in some rough conditions but came out of it with the fish of a lifetime for their customers.
I have been seeing a good amount of dolphin including some nice “slammers” on my offshore trips as well and am looking forward to heading offshore more and more over the next few months. We’ll be heading out anywhere from 10 to 25 miles offshore most days and searching for sets of working birds, sargasso weed lines or weed patches, and pieces of debris floating in the current. We do some trolling while we’re hunting for these fish, but we catch most of the fish casting live bait, squid, or cut bait with relatively light spinning tackle.
There are so many things about dolphin that make them a very popular fish to target. Everything from their beautiful tropical colors, their tendency to jump out of the water when hooked, to their food quality puts them at the top of the list for most of the customers on the offshore boats. If you’re thinking about getting offshore this summer give me a call or get out with any of the outstanding offshore guides available in the keys and get in on the action this summer!
— www.captaineasycharters.com
You can reach Captain Bruce Andersen at Capt. Easy Charters,
MM 85, call 305.360.2120 or email at: captbrucekey@comcast.net