DOLPHIN
Dolphin is one of the most sought-after offshore fish during summer, and they can be found throughout the Florida Keys. Also known as mahi-mahi, the dolphin is a pelagic species, which means it roams offshore. Menus frequently refer to this species, which often goes straight from the charter boat to area restaurants, by its Hawaiian name to distinguish it from the marine mammal associated with the much-loved Flipper.

Once on a line, dolphin are fast, flashy and acrobatic, with beautiful blue, yellow, green and even red dots of color. Delicious on the table, they are a fast-growing species, so reasonable harvests of good-sized dolphin do not harm the fishery. Fresh dolphin sandwiches and entrees are a diner's mainstay in the Keys.

Fishermen start their quest for dolphin at the edge of the reef in about 110 feet of water but often go out to 1,000 feet. Generally, 300 to 500 feet deep is the best zone.

A key to this fishing is looking for floating debris. Debris may be floating boards, palm trees and fronds, pallets that may have fallen off of freighters, or Sargasso weed lines. These are stereotypical dolphin magnets that the fish love to hang under. Sargasso is floating grass that many animals use as a nursery; for others, it is an eatery. It may contain the full food chain, from microscopic creatures to seahorses to baitfish, as well as dolphin, blue marlin or other billfish.

More on Dolphin fishing

Blue Marlin

Table of Contents

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IDENTIFYING FEATURES
Back dark blue with light blue stgripes of dots and bars, belly silvery white. In life, fins and tail electric blue. Masimum weight 900 kg (2000 lb).... Bill medium long. Lower jaw turns down slightly at tip.. Dorsal fin and anal fin plinted and medium height.

EXPECTED TEMPARTURE RANGE
21C-30C (70F-86F)

TYPICAL LOCATION
Open ocean along continental shelf drop off over deeper canyons along 110 meter (60 fathom) reefs and submarine mountains and peaks and ledges, along current lines, around bait schools of tuna, mahi mahi (dolphin fish), squid, around logs, weed lines.

FISHING METHODS
Trolling lures of hard and soft plastic, trolling dead baits, tuna mullet, spanish mackerel, squid, trolling live baits, drifting with live or dead baits.

The Old Man and the Sea is one of Hemingway's most enduring works. Told in language of great simplicity and power, it is the story of an old Cuban fisherman, down on his luck, and his supreme ordeal - a relentless, agonizing battle with a giant marlin far out in the Gulf Stream. Here Hemingway recasts, in strikingly contemporary style, the classic theme of courage in the face of defeat, of personal triumph won from loss. Written in 1952, this hugely successful novella comfirmed his power and presence in the literary world and played a large part in his winning the 1954 Nobel Prize for literature. This classic novella won the Pulitzer Prize in 1953.