October is here and with it will be the start of slightly cooling water temperatures. The waters to our north will cool down faster than the Treasure Coast and this will start our fall mahi-mahi run, where mahi head south through our area. The fall run is not as major as spring time, but there will be more in our area looking for a meal than through the summer time when the surface temperatures were in the middle to upper 80s and cold water was in the lower depths.
Mahi this time of year don’t usually average the sizes of spring time but will be caught up to the 20-to-25-pound range. Trolling is the best known method for targeting them. Multitudes of live bait will be in the area to catch for bait and with the mullet run happening, you can net the mullet and use them as live bait to catch the mahi. Normal tackle set-up for trolling is 20-to-30 pounds but when live bait trolling use a 50-pound leader, as it will be less noticeable at a slower speed. When trolling with live bait, keep your baits spread out at different distances behind your boat and always keep one in your prop-wash.
A faster trolling method to cover more ground when targeting mahi is to use rigged ballyhoo and colorful trolling lures. Ballyhoo and lures can be trolled at higher speeds when looking for a mahi hookup. When trolling these baits, 30-pound tackle will still be sufficient, but I would suggest using 60-to-80-pound leader to compensate for the higher speeds (since it is moving faster it won’t be seen as easily as slower live bait trolling speed). Whichever trolling bait preference you have, always use mono main line instead of braid, you will want the stretch for the trolling strike. Everyone focuses on weed lines, rips and floating debris when looking for mahi but keep a bait in the water when looking, a nice specimen can always be caught in open water too.
The water conditions will start getting rougher when the cool fronts start moving in so get out on the water and enjoy some time catching!
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