Mahi Mahi Spearfishing Tips For Beginners

Mahi mahi spearfishing is awesome!

Mahi mahi, coryphaena hippurus, are plentiful pelagic fish that grow fast and taste great. If there’s one fish to not feel guilty taking home for the dinner plate it’s this one. Your friends and family are going to love it raw, cooked mahi, or smoked.

how to catch dorado mahi mahi — Expert spearfisherman, Bret Whitman, with his speared mahi mahi

In this short guide, we’ll cover a few tips to help you be more productive while targeting them.

Contents

How To Spear Dorado

It’s important to find anything floating in the water such as a flotsam or a log.

Mahi mahi either travels in schools or in a few pairs and likes to hide in the open water under anything that is about 5 gallons in size or more. Many times you’ll find them in a large formation of kelp that has broken away from the kelp forest and is a mini ecosystem in the middle of the ocean. You can even put a little attention-getting lure on the end of your speargun to get the mahi mahi curious and closer to you before you take your shot.

With spearfishing, you’re able to be selective in which fish you take.

Best Spearfishing Gear for Mahi

Mahi mahi isn’t a massive fish so you won’t need a tuna blaster-type gun to bring them in.

Any 90cm speargun or larger should do the trick as long as you have a reel or float line attached to it. If you want a little more power in a more maneuverable gun, then a roller speargun is a good option. The standard spearfishing wetsuit (also check our women’s wetsuit top picks), gloves, mask, fins, weight belt, and snorkel are a must.

Sometimes you’ll find yourself in warm tropical waters, like Costa Rica in which you could use a thinner wetsuit or just go in your swimsuit.

One tip my spearfishing buddy recommended was to hook one with fishing gear and leave it in the water to keep the school around while you hunt with your speargun.

5 Tips for Spearfishing Dorado

Find a floating structure that’s likely to hold a few mahi.
Use a speargun that’s easy to maneuver since they are quick and tend to be on the surface.
Taking surface shots leads to missed shots. Dive down a few feet before lining up.
Look for bird activity. They usually tell you if there is a school of predatory fish out in the water.
Leave a shot mahi at the end of your spear so the school stays around and your buddy can shoot one too.

Jon Stenstrom

Founder & Angler

Jon Stenstrom is a fishing enthusiast. He has over 25 years of fishing experience, and 6 years of spearfishing experience, and is currently learning how to boat. Jon has his Open Water PADI Certification and FII Freediver Level 1 Certification. Jon has traveled the world to fish and dive, most notably in the Great Barrier Reef, Baja Mexico, Thailand, and Malaysia. More Articles

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