As we move into the month of May, the water warms up and begins to move closer to shore, bringing with it the large schools of gaffer-sized mahi. These fish show up off our waters with their typical voracious appetite and will charge into your spread with reckless abandon. Needless to say, this can lead to great catches in both quality and quantity, and it can also provide you with some incredible opportunities to get some photos and video footage. Do not waste your time heading offshore without some extra bait and rigs, most days you will need it!
Check your SST shots and find a good body of water to fish and then get out there early. May also brings a larger number of boats to the offshore waters. We usually start the day with our typical spread, including the planer rod since there are still some wahoo around and early morning is a great time to catch them. That said, once you find the mahi, you might as well give up everything but your basic spread – get too much out there and it’s far too much confusion for even the most experienced crews. Look for the temperature breaks and hopefully a good active grass edge to fish, find some bait and then hang on! These fish like bright, bold colors, but many days it will not make a big difference what color you have out there! It’s still awfully hard to beat a small blue/white sea witch with a medium ballyhoo… day-in and day-out that will be the winner.
There will be no mistaking when you have found the fish, as you will suddenly have fish everywhere – on the teasers, the riggers, the flats – EVERYTHING! If you stay smart and work hard at it you will be able to keep something out there and keep the school going until you have your limit.
Another thing to think about in May is doing a little practice with your circle hooks, these fish are active and aggressive so they are perfect targets to hone your skill. I preach this all the time but it is the truth – keep your eyes on the spread because there are some nice blue marlin that will show up in May and you never know when they will pop up in the middle of your spread. Sailfish and a few tuna will make appearances also, so, as always, you need to stay prepared for most anything.
I want to take a moment and hop on my soapbox…think about what you are doing and exercise a little conservation. Take what you and your group will eat and maybe some for the freezer but PLEASE don’t try to take back 30 or 40 of these fish only to let them rot in the cooler or freezer. If you have never cleaned a pile of these fish you need to realize that you will have a huge task ahead of you when you get back to the dock. Take what you will use, snap some pictures or video of the rest and have fun with catch and release – our kids and grandkids deserve the opportunity to catch these fish in the future!
Get prepared, get out there and have fun – May is the perfect time of year to have an epic day!