The Mahi-mahi, dolphin-fish or most commonly known as the dorado, would probably be the first gamefish any avid filipino angler will catch.   Dorado are ray-finned fish found in off-shore tropical and subtropical waters worldwide and love to hang around floating objects such as logs, kelps, debris, shipping bouys and fish attracting devices (FADs).

Tackle, Bait and Techniques

A basic dorado tackle would be a medium-heavy rod around 12-20lb class, coupled with a size 4000 reel spooled with 20lb line.  If you’re going out during dorado season, or you are visiting Cagayan, you might need to up the line class to 25 or even 30lbs as Mahi-mahis can get to around 8-12kg.  For off season dorado hunting, where specimen are within the 1-5kg size, seasoned anglers go out with light setup. A 8-15lb rods with matching reel and line,  your basic Bass setup, and you’ll be fighting a 2kg specimen as if it was alot bigger.

The most common bait for Dorado or Mahi-Mahi in the Philippines is squid.  If squids are not avaiable, balyhoos, flying fish, sardines or even mullets are good alternatives.  I have yet to catch a dorado with a lure, probably because I haven’t tried doing so.  Although, I believe that a trolled rapala or a casted minnow, spoon or popper will also be effective with them.

Tail hooked squid rig

There are several techniques used by local fishermen, and it is dependent on how they rig the bait.  A common technique used in  Laiya, Batangas is with the use of a drop back. The photo on the  shows how the squid is rigged when using the technique. The squid is hooked 2 pass on its tail.  With the drop back technique, you drift  around a bouy with an open bail and using your finger to prevent the line from spooling out.  Once a dorado strikes, release the line and go freespool for about 5 seconds then close the bail and engage on the drag. If you are using a bait caster, feather the spool carefully to prevent nasty backlashes.   Dropping back the line give the fish a chance to swallow the squid.  Once you set the hook after a few seconds, you’ll be sure that the hook is inside the the fish’s mouth.  Failing to do a dropback or engaging the drag too early may result in a short strike and you’ll lose your bait and the fish.  Unless ofcourse if the fish is big enough to engulf the whole squid once it strikes.

I’ve experimented on different rigs for squid that doesn’t need to have the line dropped back when a fish strikes.  Using a really long shank hook or using a double hook worked pretty well.  I’ll probably discuss that further on a future article.

In Cagayan or some other place where Mahi-mahi’s grow larger, there may be no need for a dropback at all.

Nevertheless, whatever rigging method or technique you use, once a mahi-mahi takes the bait and the hook is set, prepare for a good fight.   Dorados are known as acrobatics with their tailwalks and sprints that would leave you spooled out.