The Hawaiian monicker mahi-mahi has caught on so well that it would possibly be practical to make that the official name. By any other name, the dolphin remains a great game fish and one with a most unusual life history. Those huge dolphin you see photos of are only a few years old, and scientists believe few live beyond about five years. Another unusual aspect of the species is the ease with which sex is determined. Bulls have blunt foreheads which are quite distinctive even when small.
Cows display a rounded forehead.
By far the best dolphin fishing in our area occurs in the canyons from July into October. Every lobster pot buoy is a potential gathering area, and those who get out there early and concentrate on working them often do quite well. Many other dolphin are trolled blind or come into chum slicks at night. However, good numbers of larger dolphin up into the teens are caught and it's not unusual to boat dolphin the twenties. Any dolphin which makes 30 pounds on the scale is a trophy in the north though some even larger are caught each year.