Poppin Mahi's

[Chris]

Headed out yesterday on a boat out of Chinen (one of the southern most ports here in Okinawa) for some pelagics. plan was to troll out and hope for a wahoo or tuna then target Tuna and Mahi and if we had to move around a bit, set a spread in hopes of a marlin.



we got on site and it was wide open on chicken mahis! all in the 5-15lb range. we quickly landed a released 4 on the troll and set our drift. I was hoping our strikes were wahoo and threw out a 300gram raider in pink on the slide. let it get down about 30 feet and as soon as I started cranking it was FISH ON! not quite out of the slide, the boat still had some momentum so the initial hookup felt good, then it became apparent that it was a small mahi. quickly released it and started throwing the iron hoping for a hoo but they weren't around.



the rest of the boat was catching a releasing the chickens with a few 15-20lb keeper fish showing so I grabbed my RCLB80XL with a spinfisher 5500 and 20lb topshot and began tossing a popper. first cast and I had a small mahi in the boat. trebles tore it up so it went in the hold. I stood up on the side of the boat for a better view and was able to pick and choose which fish to throw to and got a decent cow and bull both in the 20lb range. noticed some bigger fish on the opposite side of the boat but pretty far out. threw the popper as far as I could and reeled it back as fast as I could making a giant smoke trail which caught their attention. did it again and they were on it but no strikes. got them within 30 yards of the boat and launched the hydro popper way past them. started popping it with super fast, hard jerks spraying water all over the place when the ocean erupted behind my lure. 3 big mahi all came in and tried to get it at the same time but none were successful. kept working it and then it just disappeared.... line came tight, rod bent... then doubled over, drag started screaming and the head of a good bull was skimming the surface headed towards the back and away from the boat. I had about 40 yards of my 20lb mono topshot left on the reel and it was gone in an instant. braid was disappearing quicky and the dark blue line that usually sees some water on a fish was gone and it was nothing but light blue braid singing through the guides.







the fish jumped in the distance and I watched it throw my lure, but as soon as it hit the water I was tight again! the lure left its mouth and ended up catching the gill plate with the rear hook and the middle hook caught near its fin. the fight was still as intense as when it started but the big bull decided to head deep and peel even more line. More than 20 minutes later I was back at the front of the boat and had the beginning my 100yrd mono topshot back on the spool. the knot would get to the spool, then leave the guides, then i'd get it back on the spool and gain several feet and then the fish would decide to take 20ft. we did this for about 6-8minutes but it felt like a half hour.

finally it came up and broke the surface about 20 yards off the bow. another 3-5 minutes of maneuvering myself around the boat to get the best angle of pull and we had him at the gaff. first shot came up short and it took another 50 yard run. got him back to the boat and finally sunk a gaff in him.



as soon as it hit the deck the lure came unhooked and everyone looked at each other in disbelief that it held through all that.







35lb and 50" overall. beat my old PB by 3lbs.





took it in to get a print made today and after being bled and iced all night it dropped to 27lbs. crazy how that works.



after I got that fish I switched to two single hooks.





and was instantly hooked up!





having so many fish in the hold already I let this girl go.





went on to catch and release another 4 or 5 while some jigged for tuna then we called it a day!



trolled back for nothing.





new RCJB84xl I just finished the night prior. I call it "50 shades of blue).





back at the port we had over 50 fish and released half as many. filleted most and took some to sell.

[Latimeria]

Beautiful Dodos Chris!  That must have been a hell of a lot of fun on the popper!

[Chris]

it was a blast! I wish I had my gopro with me. im going to update it and bring it along next time. it was crazy how wild they went over that popper. another guy was throwing a pink stickbait and they weren't nearly as interested. he hooked up, but that little popper was a dinner bell. sometimes id have 4-6 little mahi chasing it while I was reeling as fast as I could to keep them off it! hahha. it was awesome to watch them hone in on it and then fight each other over it on the way.

[Chris]

the print is going to look awesome! its amazing how they make them.

[Eric H]

Nice dodos 

[TheCraftsman]

Sounds like a hell of a day! Congrats on a PB!

[Pinoyfisher]

Nice and delicious haul!!!!

[faster u fool]

looks killer.  nice dodos