Non-Kayak fish porn

Was in Maui last week (snorkeled in the same spot the SJ freediver got killed at) and went for a pretty successful fishing trip, sorry, not on a kayak. 

First time I outfished my son, so it was especially rewarding.  Caught 3 mahi mahi, with one of the smaller ones feeding mine and a friend's families.  Here's two shots of the biggest fish I caught...





The cap'n and mate tried to talk me into mounting this one, but I really have no interest in fish on my wall.

In my stomach, yes...

-- Dave

Nice Dave! That is a big dorado!

More porn?  Ok...

Was in Isla Mujares, an island off of Cancun, in late December.  5 of us went out fishing from a panga (sorry, again no kayak).  All we caught was barracuda, but had some fun fights...







Ok, that's mostly how I've been spending my winter.

-- Dave

That is a big dorado!

Thanks, Bill, but this is Hawaii.  They call them mahi mahi there.  At least I didn't need to explain to my kids about the 'dolphin' they were eating...

-- Dave

These fish(mahi mahi and  barracuda) taste good? Mahi looks strange - with a fat head.  Interesting pictures, good experience! I am a little jealous. 

wow! thats a nice bull mahi!

were those pretty much feeding on the surface or were they down deeper?

congrats! maui is always a beautiful place.

john

Nice Pics Dave....next time you plan a trip to the Islands...just hire me to carry your luggage - so I can mooch some fishing time with ya at no cost (to me). You see, we Filipinos are pros when it comes to handling baggage.....we dominate the SF International Airport 

"sherpa Joel"

I heard cudas are nasty tasting fish to eat.....true or false?

Dave,

way to go.  I have been to Hawaii twice and both times I wanted to fish.  I guess the honeymoon isn't the right time .  Eyeatbay, Mahi Mahi is great eating!

Jason

small barracuda (< 5 lbs) are excellent eating mooch. tight grained white flesh, frys real well.

large ones can carry ciguatera, the nerve toxin. 

dorado, mahi mahi, or dolfin (f not ph) are the same fish that go by different names
in different places (mexico, hawaii, florida) and taste great in every size.
also fight great, hit hard and they litter the oceans. only the big males have the prosthetic
foreheads on their real heads.

here's a couple small females from florida (caught on party boat)



here's the typical flats barracuda (caught on kayak)

here's a couple small females from florida

Small???  Those newborn dodos had to spit their pacifier to take the bait! 

   I was going to post the 50lber, but didn't want to poach too much on Dave's fish porn post,
So I posted the mini-me versions instead, 


Actually I'm always amazed how little dorado weigh for their apparant size. Even an apparent whopper
might be under 20lbs. They are very compressed I suppose.

were those pretty much feeding on the surface or were they down deeper?

John, they were caught trolling off of Lanai.  The boat was really rigged for marlin with a spread of 5 rods.  Didn't raise any marlin, but the mahi went for the same surface lures.

-- Dave

  I was going to post the 50lber, but didn't want to poach too much on Dave's fish porn post,
So I posted the mini-me versions instead, 

Come on, John.  I can't define porn, but I know it when I see it -- so show us yours.

-- Dave

These fish(mahi mahi and  barracuda) taste good?

I heard cudas are nasty tasting fish to eat.....true or false?

Mahi are definitely great tasting.  I fixed mine by marinating it in teriyaki sauce and olive oil, the barbecueing it.  Delicious!!  Also had mahi at Mama's Fish House, a highly (overly) rated, pricey restaurant where they coated it in macadamia nut and baked it.  Good, but not as good as mine of course.

When in Mexico, I had cuda twice.  Once, we tried to fix it ourselves, and it was barely edible.  First concern was knowing that the fish that we caught never once saw ice -- the crew simply bled them and laid them by below deck.  Second concern was not really knowing how to fix it.  Think we cooked it good enough, but looking up ciguatera symptoms anyway (thanks for that worry, John).

The second time we had cuda was prepared for us.  Barbecued, and it was pretty good.

Dave, they sell a ciguatera test kit these days.

http://cigua.oceanit.com/