Capt. Tony DiGiulian holds up a nice wahoo on a recent fishing trip. DiGiulian, who likes to troll for wahoo, says anglers looking to reel in the speedy gamefish should pay attention to the position of the moon. Good times are when the moon is directly overhead or when it's just above the horizon, whether it’s rising or setting. Steve Waters/The Coastal Star
By Steve Waters
Wahoo can be caught year-round in South Florida, but the absolute best time of the year to catch them is around the full moon in August.
With a full moon on Aug. 9, offshore anglers should target the speedy, tasty gamefish from now through most of the week after the full moon.
“We’ve caught them on the day of the full moon, but if I had to choose, I’d probably fish Thursday and Friday, and Sunday through Thursday,” Capt. Tony DiGiulian said.
Live bait such as goggle-eyes will catch wahoo, but among the best baits this time of year are small bonitos and skipjack tunas.
It’s not unusual for anglers to be fighting those species when they feel a thump and reel in fish heads.
“We’ve all reeled them in cut in half,” said Tom Greene, who added that anything from a 1- or 2-pound bonito to a 15-pounder can be used for bait. “Think of any one you reeled in cut in half, that’s how big a bait you can use.”
Greene is the former owner of Custom Rod and Reel in Lighthouse Point, who got his start in business as a teenager working at Boca Tackle. He said to look for small bonitos flipping on the surface and troll a quill rig below the surface to catch a few.
He rigs the bait by running a wax loop behind its nose and securing it to a J-hook, which can be as large as an 11/0 for a big bonito. A second hook attached by a piece of wire to the front hook is lightly hooked in the skin of the bait near its tail. A 4- to 6-foot wire leader tied to a 10- to 15-foot 60- to 100-pound monofilament leader completes the rig.
Greene said the long leader provides better control of a wahoo when it’s at the boat and added that the boat should be moving forward as you gaff the fish to prevent the wahoo from going under the boat.
DiGiulian, who likes to slow-troll live baits on downriggers, noted that wahoo slice their prey in half, then spin around to eat both pieces, so anglers need to pay attention.
“If you get a wahoo bite and it’s a short bite, if you free-spool the bait back immediately, that wahoo will come back and eat it,” said DiGiulian, of Fort Lauderdale.
DiGiulian also trolls double-hooked bonito strips and bellies and ballyhoo for wahoo. He rigs the baits behind a mylar Sea Witch, available at local tackle stores.
“The more waggling of the bait that you can get, the better off you’re going to be. We break the backbones of the ballyhoos so they’re more flexible and pliable and we use big strips,” DiGiulian said.
When trolling, DiGiulian uses planers, which get the baits well below the water’s surface. He’ll zigzag the boat between 130 and 300 feet of depth. Fishing around schools of small bonitos or blackfin tunas and where flying fish are being chased can produce wahoo, which DiGiulian said often “hunt and eat in big packs.”
“When trolling, when you catch a wahoo, you want to make sure you go over the same spot many times.”
Given the hot weather, early morning and late afternoon are the most comfortable times to fish. Ideally, DiGiulian said the start of an outgoing or incoming tide is best.
He also pays attention to the position of the moon. Good times are when the moon is directly overhead and just above the horizon, whether it’s rising or setting.
The daily bag limit for wahoo is two per person and there is no size limit, but one big fish will feed a lot of people. And you don’t even have to cook it.
“Wahoo raw is hard to beat,” DiGiulian said. “My favorite way is to sear it on the outside and slice it thin so it’s raw in the middle.”
Outdoors writer Steve Waters can be reached at steve33324@aol.com.
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