Wahoo are some of the fastest fish in the ocean. Built for speed with large tails and torpedo shaped bodies, they can accelerate rapidly and turn on a dime. Wahoo can be solitary fish or found in large schools, depending on conditions, time of year and moon phases. Known for their excellent table fare and awesome fighting ability, anglers travel to South Florida and the Bahamas from all over the world to target them. They have razor sharp teeth and their jaws are hinged like scissors, so landing one on mono is always an exhilarating feat. They can be caught year round, but during the winter months they are found in far better numbers and sizes, especially around the new and full moons. There are several ways to catch them, including high speed trolling, planer fishing, vertical jigging and live bait.
High speed trolling for wahoo could well be the most exciting method to catch them. There’s nothing like hearing the clicker of an 80 wide reel scream while you’re doing 17 knots! In some cases, you will have multiple hook ups with multiple drags going off. Talk about heart racing! I’ll go over my normal spread, but keep in mind everyone has their favorite way of doing things. I run a three line spread. I’ll fish two electric reels and a 50W Shimano Talica. My first electric is set at 80 feet from the boat with a 48 ounce cable rigged cigar lead. To that I have 25 feet of 400 pound mono shock leader, which is then connected to my lure. The next electric is set at 150 feet from the boat with a 32 ounce cigar lead and the same shock leader. Last is my shotgun Talica with a 24 ounce cigar lead and the same shock leader. I have around 25 different lures from different manufacturers in many colors, shapes and sizes. All of my lures are rigged on 480 pound cable with either single or double hook sets. I will start my spread with an assortment of colors. If I get more than one bite on a particular color, I will change the others to that or similar colors. High speed trolling is done in both South Florida and the Bahamas. I used to think that it was pointless in South Florida, but over the last few years I have been more successful catching them and the fish I have been catching are better sized fish than the wahoo I’ve caught while planer fishing. On a recent trip, just after the December full moon we caught a double header off Pompano Beach. Each fish was in the forty pound range. When high speed trolling, the optimum speed is between 15 and 20 knots and we fish a zigzag pattern between 120 and 300 feet of water. There are a couple reasons for the zigzag. One is to mimic baitfish coming in or going out during tidal changes and the other is that during your turns your baits will slow down and fall slightly before accelerating again. This is where you will get most of your bites. Keeping an eye on your chart plotter is key because you can generally mark the schools in the upper portion of the water column. High speed trolling is great if you want to specifically target wahoo as there are only a few fish that eat at that kind of speed.
Planer fishing is just as fun and doesn’t burn nearly as much fuel as. I recently covered my planer set up in another article a few months back. I like to run two planers consisting of a #4 and a #8 planer with either a drone spoon or a bonita strip behind a sea witch. Colors, sizes and shapes all vary but once I find what color they like I will switch them over. The drone spoon is a time tested and proven method. The flash and vibration of the spoon cutting through the water gets their attention. I personally prefer 3.5 inch blue drone spoon behind a #8 Old Salty planer. I run about 60 to 100 feet of 60 pound mono between my planer and bait. While pulling planers down deep I will also pull a couple surface baits. Anything from a bonita strip behind a chugger style lure to a rigged ballyhoo on wire behind an Islander will work. If you have outriggers, you can spread 2 baits wide and run a shotgun with a cigar weighted rigged ballyhoo. I will fish the same areas as I do when high speeding, but my speeds will be much slower at 6 to 11 knots. Lots of wahoo tournaments have been won fishing at slower trolling speeds, so don’t rule out a jumbo just because you’re not high speeding.
Live baiting wahoo is less common because you are either bump trolling or drifting goggle eyes or other live baits. In this case you are not covering as much ground. Live baits rigged on light wire or titanium are my first choice, with fluorocarbon being second due only to their super sharp teeth.
I have caught several wahoo on vertical jigs. I’d say about 90 percent of those have come way offshore under some type of flotsam. I prefer to use a simple 2 ounce diamond Jig. All of the wahoo I’ve caught on vertical jigs have been less than 10 pounds.
Wahoo as table fare for me is certainly in my top five, maybe even top three. However, I’ve often said that if you have cooked it, it’s already burnt. Do yourself a favor and try some wahoo sashimi!
Capt. Ryan Palmer
Family Jewell Fishing Charters
954-882-2631
www.fjsportfishing.com