Pictures and admiration of your catch can wait a few minutes until that fish has calmed down. Small Boat Handling While most anglers seen to concentrate on trolling for mahi mahi, this method is not really as productive as dead boat fishing. Big bull dolphin that are feeding close to the surface under the weedline rarely see a trolled bait and consequently never have the chance to take the bait. The down side to dead boat fishing is that you can easily lose a bull dolphin when he ducks under the weedline and tangles you up in it. For that reason, effective boat handling is tantamount to successfully boat your fish.
Most anglers prefer stand up tackle when pursuing mahi mahi.
This choice of tackle plus new advances in construction of center consoles and high quality outboard engines have opened up a whole new arena of fishing for anglers on a budget. With this new technology come new techniques in fishing tactics. Whereas the big sportfishers can safely back down on a hard running fish, small center consoles would be hard pressed to match half their speed. To counter this weakness, many boat manufactures have now adapted and started installing wider, more stable fishing platforms on the bow of their boats along with fighting chairs. This adaptation has leveled the playing field and allows the angler running the boat to keep up with a big fish regardless of line test and equipment.