Plugs are easy to fish, and highly effective. The top of the Ledge is about 170 feet deep, the bottom just over 200. This is the kind of structure that attracts forage fish, and thus larger species such as wahoo. The Ledge Johnson refers to is a sharp, 20- to 30-foot dip in the seafloor some 50 miles offshore. They were a bit smaller it seems you lose the size when you gain the numbers." "Last year, we had three days in a row that we caught 12 fish. "They average 35 to 60 pounds in winter," Johnson said of the Ledge 'hoos, "and every year boats get some 80- and 90-pound fish up here." The numbers can be impressive, too. The February through April invasion of toothy critters makes for a welcome bonus to the charter business aboard the 41-foot Jodie Lynn, especially given the fact that the size of the fish rivals that of world-renowned fisheries in the Bahamas and Bermuda. Johnson was describing the late winter/early spring wahoo fishery that's been booming in recent years along his home coast. "Even if there's a pretty rip outside, we catch a lot more on the Ledge." "If I just want to catch wahoo, I'm not gonna leave the edge of the shelf to venture out into the blue water," said Capt. The rocky perimeter of the continental shelf off northeast Florida is a prime example. Discovery Number One: Wahoo are far more structure-oriented than you may realize, especially with regard to big fish. Much of what we've discovered is, well, surprising, which seems appropriate considering the reputation of this fish. That's been the extent of our thinking.īut it has only been within the past decade or so that anglers have really started to pattern Florida's wahoo fishery, putting together the whole picture from seasons to depths to baits and tactics. But wahoo? When, really, can you plan on catching a wahoo?įor years we've relied on a deep line in the trolling spread, for instance a planer and spoon, a ballyhoo and weighted trolling feather, or a diving plug. During the same month, that same angler can just about bet on a dolphin school zipping along beneath a frigatebird offshore. The species has long been the incidental favorite of the offshore fisherman, but seldom the chief target.Ī fisherman in Miami, for example, knows that sailfish bite in April when the wind is out of the east and the current is heading north. Surprise is the trademark of this pelagic assassin.īut when it comes to public opinion polls, sadly, that unpredictability is in fact the predicament of the wahoo. Equipped with keen eyesight and teeth made for killing, they frequently ambush prey by vaulting for the surface as if launched from a submarine. I have since learned that nature engineered those colors for a purpose, as wahoo rely on their distinctive pattern to hide in the shimmering depths. They reminded me of the deepest shades of the Gulf Stream. It was a rainy, nasty afternoon, and when the mate flipped the 15-pounder over the transom, I marveled at the fish's vibrant, iridescent, blue bands. The first time I saw a wahoo up close was on a trip some years ago to the Florida Keys. And who would argue that a big wahoo's drag-sizzling first run shames all others except possibly a blue marlin or yellowfin tuna? Plus, wahoo are pretty cool to look at. Why the sudden change of heart? For starters, wahoo are among the best eating fish in the ocean, commanding a culinary respect that far exceeds that of their close cousin, the humble kingfish. But when a fisherman catches a nice 'hoo, the fish leaps to the top of the favorite list. When quizzed on the subject, only a handful of Florida anglers would rank wahoo as their favorite fish. Make wahoo your favorite fish-for life-with these seven deadly discoveries.
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