Decided to take Captain Stephen and the Cobia offshore for some Mahi action. Was a little rough going out, but nothing unmanageable.
Started trolling about 30 miles offshore. Took about 20 minutes to get a first strike and then we lost it. I went to reel in another line to check the bait and a mahi was on it! Not sure if it was the same one who came off the other hook.
With a good sized gaffer in the boat, I came to find out we were on live bottom. Trolled around there and picked up 2 more gaffers and a smaller one.
I also tried something different - trolling in circles. That's where we picked up a nice gaffer who happened to give us a really good fight and was our last catch of the day.
All of these were caught with ballyhoo and pink/red/blue skirts.
Called it a day around lunch. Ride back was smooth as glass.
I still struggle with rigging ballyhoo. I probably lost 6-8 of them because I can't seem to set the hook right with those twisty-spring things. Sometimes the mouth just pops right out of the hole. If I try to set the hook back farther, then the ballyhoo looks like a hunchback and the mouth comes out anyway. I am thinking about wiring them myself but that seems like a lot of work. Maybe I'll switch to cigar minnows with HB rigs and see how that works out. I probably could have picked up 1-2 more in that time frame if I didn't spend so much time messing with those ballyhoo.
There are lots of videos on this site that show you how to rig ballyhoo. You just need to get a few packs and pratice after watching the video or while you watch the video is even better. If you are offshore stick with the ballyhoo and dont go with cigars unless you start bailing mahi behind the boat. It sounds like things are getting better every time you go out. The bait springs might be easy for you just starting out but most people are wiring ballyhoo its not that bad once you get the hang of it. DOnt throw away those extra ballyhoo at the end of the day pratice rigging those also. Dont be afraid to throw some yo-zuri diving plugs with your ballyhoo or just some trolling plugs it will mix up your spread also you wont have to worry about your ballyhoo swimming bad messing up your spread until you get the hang of rigging them.
Keep trying the more you do it the more you will love it.
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