Mahi Mahi
June 8
Outside the reef: We are catching lots
of yellowed eyed red snapper, red grouper
are biting and so are reef sharks. I’ve
caught four Mahi mahi in the past week.
Hillyboo caught six in one day.
Inside the Reef: I caught a 15 pound
cubera snapper right under Roberto’s
parasail boat at Fidos dock. I know I am
not supposed to fish there but this fish had
been taunting me everyday for a week
and I just couldn’t resist. Barracuda are
biting as usual and so are mutton snapper
and porgy.
Flats: Bonefish, Barracuda and Permit
are all being caught on the flats.
Mahi mahi are an excellent pelagic
sportfish both in their beauty and fight.
The coloration of Mahi mahi is the most
vivid, iridescent blue and green you can
possibly imagine. The genders are differentiated
by the large bulbous head on
the males, whereas females have a slender
head. Mahi mahi live only four years
but grow to enormous size, the largest
ever caught was in the Bahamas and it
weighed 88 pounds. Juveniles, in the two
to three pound range, travel in schools of
up to 30 fish where adults usually travel
in groups of six or smaller. We don’t really
see the smaller juvenile schools of
mahi mahi here in Belize; the Mahi mahi
we get here are adults over twenty
pounds. This is the month where I catch
these fish everyday. Mahi mahi feed very
close to the surface on everything from
flying fish to jelly fish. This month Mahi
mahi can be found under weed lines or
any type of flotsam. You can catch them
trolling, drifting and even fly fishing.
Mahi mahi is the only pelagic fish locally
that is caught regularly in summer
months by sight casting.
Mahi mahi are huge, and bring a lot of fight for avid fishermen...Captain
Dilzon has had a heck of a time catching this fish, but it sure is a lot of fun! |
I am very effective at catching Mahi
mahi by slowly trolling live sardines at
the surface in about 500 feet of water.
Once I get one on I know that that fish on
my line will be followed by several other
excited Mahi mahi all the way to the boat.
That’s when I break out the light spinning
tackle or fly rod and begin sight casting
with unwieghted live sardines at the
following fish. Once I get one on the line
I can always hook up several at once. I
remember one time this happened when
sideman “Carne Dulce” was down with
a severe “goma”, forcing me to fish
alone. So there I was; I had two Mahi
mahi on two separate lines. So what did
I do? I held two rods between my toes on
each foot and reeled with both of my hands
while I drove the boat with my teeth and
held the gaff between my ears. I landed
both fish and they were at least 50 pounds
apiece! I was proud. I was sore all over
my body for days, because it took every
appendage I had except one to land those
two big monster Mahi mahi.
These fish fight by making a series of
long explosive runs with multiple acrobatic
leaps skyward to shake the hook.
Since you catch these in groups, you’re
in for an exciting half hour of fishing once
you hook the first one.
As I write this, sideman “Carne
Dulce” is refueling Reef Hunter. Later,
I’ll be busy- busy rigging baits. We are
readying ourselves for some serious offshore
Mahi mahi action. If you want to
see what real big Mahi mahi look like,
drop by Fidos around four in the afternoon,
enjoy a few nice cold Belikins at
the bar, then walk on down to the dock
and I’ll show you what big Mahi mahi
look like.
 Captain Dilzon Murcia is the project
manager for Island Ferry and owner operator
of Dilzon Charters, a sport fishing
charter business. To catch the fish
featured this week, and other large fish,
call Dilzon at 620-6118 or drop by the
Island Ferry office and schedule your
next fishing adventure. Click for Belize Fishing Reports main page
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