I’ve caught huge tarpon, bonefish and permit, 50-pound king salmon on a spey rod, and five species of billfish on fly. But the one fish that has eluded me is a giant mahi-mahi on fly.
In the late ’70s, I caught a 38-pound mahi on fly in Cozumel, Mexico, while trying to catch sailfish. I’ve always wanted to hook a monster mahi weighing more than 50 pounds, but that’s not an easy task for two reasons: First, you have to find a 50-pound mahi, and second, you have to convince it to eat a fly. Both hurdles seem insurmountable, but after years on the water and lots of research, I’ve come up with a plan.
Two close friends of mine hold fly rod world records for mahi-mahi, which also are called dolphin or dorado. Stu Apte caught a 58-pounder on 12-pound tippet at
