So, My Son and I trolled for Dolphin and...

[BarryB]

Today was the first time trolling for Dolphin. Well, I still have the bait.

Shakespeare rod and reel with 20lb test mono. Swivel and 2 feet of flourocarbon leader and a quick clip on the end. I attached the pre-rigged ballyhoo and trolled at about 4 knots. Not a bite.

From what I've read, I had to look for weed lines. Did not find any except patches of seaweed.

Is there something missing from the rod setup and rigging?

Is there a really good book on fishing, which fish are good to catch (for eating)? Not just a basic "Dummy" guide.

[glehav]

barry in the gulf where i fish you have to go out pretty far to catch dophin dont know about where you are but you are doing the right thing by fishing weed beds and tide lines might not be out far enough. in the gulf you have to go out 20 + mile or more. we find weed beds and throw jigs at them with spinning reels the dophin will be under the weed beds and come out after them.. if you do fine some keep them around the boat with small pieces of cut bait hope this helps and good luck.

[Jim Jenkins]

I see your location is Florida. If you are West Coast, dolphin would be a long ride. If the East Coast, Lauderdale and Stewart area may be 5-10 miles, mabe less. Jacksonville, 35-45???

In NC, out of Hatteras, blue water is 18-25 miles. Cape Lookout, 22-30 miles, Wilmington, NC forever to the Gulf Stream and I have no experience down there.

Dolphin, Wahoo and Yellow Fin Tuna are all good when invited to dinner but are all blue water fish. Sometimes a swirl from the Gulf Stream will push blue water in close. Satelite temp. images will help

[glehav]

berry this site florida outdoors .com might help you with some salt water species or you can do a web search florida saltwater species.. i have pull in some fish out of the gulf that i had no clue what they were just that they were fish. but its imporant to know what you are catching because of the laws each state has....spanish and cobia are real good to eat troll for spanish with silver spoons and black steel leaders they have bad teeth and look for birds feeding on bait fish good chance spanish or blue fish are near by. you can chum up cobia with a chum bag fish top or bottom useing live bait best is eels cobia will hang around floting things in the water and oil rigs .... good luck

[Fishin' DC's]

BarryB,
I've linked to a FL Keys fishing website that gives some recent info on the dolphin bite. It sounds like depths of 450-650 and then out to 1000 ft are the best areas. I have no clue how far out that is down there. We're going down to Islamorado later this month and dolphin are one of the species I'm hoping to bring to the boat as well. This will be our first trip down there, so it may be more of a fishing than catching trip, but we'll be out there trying. Post a followup to let us know how you did (GPS spots are also helpful to share amongst fellow Triumph folk

The Weekly Fisherman Magazine

http://www.islamoradasportfishing.com/howto5.htm

[glehav]

dc if i had some gps spots in 450 to 650 ft of water i would share them with you.. but thats way over my head so to say... good luck lets us know whats for dinner... just now getting the frist rain we had in two week i am amazed that were is any water around here to put a boat in......

[Fishin' DC's]

glehav,
Any reports involving fish being caught must be independently validated by others in order to be believable. Isn't that some sort of fishing rule? Otherwise people may think fisherman are apt to tell tall tales.

We got our first rain in at least a month on Tuesday and Wednesday. It was a welcomed sight.

[glehav]

yes you are right thats why i always take a friend with me. a good friend the kind that lies...

[BarryB]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the info. I've found that not too many people caught anything yesterday (Wednesday). One fishing fellow said I should look where the bottom starts to drop off from 100 feet down to 600. He said the reef line is where some Dolphin like to congregate. I was looking for a "weed" line but did not find any.

Oh well, the Ballyhoo are in the freezer (you should have seen the look on my wife's face when she saw that!) waiting for the next round.

I was watching one of the fishing shows on Sun Network. The show was about catching Dolphin and during the outing, they spent a number of hours trolling with no luck. I'll just give it more time.

Meanwhile, there is always Pizza

[cagrove]

That's why it's called "fishing" and not "catching". Keep at it and you will be rewarded. And be sure to give me a call when you throw those fillets on the grill...yum!

Good luck.