April 19, 2019
Photo | Dave Magilton with his Mahi Mahi catch off Warrnambool
It’s safe to say that when you go fishing, you never really know what you’re going to catch! It’s what makes fishing so much fun. This week across social media, we saw a mahi mahi or dolphin fish caught off Portland. Angler Dave Magilton also contacted VRFish that he had caught a few mahi mahi off Warrnambool over the years.
Mahi mahi are highly migratory and are known to constantly be on the hunt for a feed! They prefer warmer waters, typically found between 21-30°C. ‘Mahi’ translates to strong, which is the perfect way to describe these fish.
Ocean temperatures and currents can influence the presence of these tropical pelagic species further south in our Victorian waters. While they are very rare to see in Victoria, mahi mahi can hitch a ride on warm ocean currents and be an unexpected by-catch when targeting tuna.
With ocean water temperatures warming up generally and exciting game fishing species more regularly being caught along our coastlines, it brings the opportunity to install more FAD’s off our coastline to make our game fishing even better!
FAD’s are used to attract pelagic game fishing species such as yellowtail kingfish, Southern bluefin tuna and Mahi Mahi. The use of FAD’s adds great value to our Victorian Game Fishing scene as they help to attract these open ocean fish to a specific location and within easy access to boating facilities.
If you catch something unusual, remember to ‘spot, log, map’ through Redmap. The ‘Range Extension Database and Mapping project’ or Redmap, invites Australian fishers to share sighting of marine species that are unusual to their local seas.
