Dolphin fishing, or mahi-mahi fishing, is one of the most approachable ways to catch offshore fish, and Captain Brandon Simmons stripped it down to the basics for beginners on this episode. Brandon runs the End of the Blue charter out of Hawks Cay Resort in the Florida Keys, and he explained that the whole game comes down to finding three visual cues, rigging a simple 7/0 hook with ballyhoo, and keeping one hooked fish in the water to hold the school. It is offshore fishing without the intimidation.
Watch the full conversation on YouTube or listen to the episode now.
Captain Brandon Simmons recommends fishing 400 to 1,000 feet of water when targeting mahi-mahi in the Florida Keys. Sometimes you do not need to run that far offshore. The key is to look for birds, weed patches, or floating debris regardless of the exact depth, because those visual cues hold fish more reliably than any number on the depth finder.
Brandon uses a big 7/0 Mustad hook for mahi-mahi, whether he is rigging ballyhoo or fishing rubber squids. For beginners he recommends simply hooking a ballyhoo through the nose on a five or six-foot leader rather than worrying about complicated rigging. He also adds a strip of bonito to plastic lures so a fish that strikes gets a taste of real meat and comes back.
Brandon's core technique is leaving one hooked fish in the water at all times, which he calls keeping a happy fish. Mahi are schooling fish that will not abandon their buddies, so he puts that rod in a holder and pitches more baits to the rest of the school. As long as you rotate fresh fish in and always keep one as your anchor, the school stays.
The minimum size is 20 inches measured from the tip of the nose to the fork of the tail, not the farthest end of the tail. Brandon notes that in the season he describes, anglers were measuring almost every fish because there were so many smaller mahi around, with the bigger cows and bulls typically showing later in the season.
Brandon recommends building a brine by mixing ice with a bucket of salt water from the ocean to create a slushy mixture. That cools the fish down fastest and keeps the meat firm when you fillet it. A fish sitting on only one side of the ice will not cool evenly, and the meat can fall apart.
Brandon tells beginners to look for three things: birds working the surface, weed lines drifting with the current, and floating debris like rope, barrels, or nets. He calls debris trash in our eyes but a house for the fish. Birds are the most obvious sign, but they move fast, so cover water and watch for any structure or life on the surface.
I wanted Brandon on because people kept asking for a true beginner's guide to getting offshore, with no assumptions about what you already know. Brandon runs charters every single day and has to put clients of every skill level on fish, so he is the right person to explain the basics without the ego. The happy-fish concept is something I have used for years, but he explains why it works better than I ever have, and that is exactly the kind of detail I wanted him to walk through.
Most beginners overthink offshore fishing, but Brandon simplified it to three things you can actually see: birds working the surface, weed lines drifting with the current, and floating debris. The debris part surprises people, because an old barrel, tangled rope, or a floating net becomes a magnet for mahi. He calls it trash in our eyes but a house for the fish, and he has had some of his best action on nothing more than a tangle of rope in 600 feet of water. Hear him walk through exactly what to look for in the episode.
Brandon told me to forget complicated spreads and multiple rod setups. He starts beginners with a basic five or six-foot leader, a big 7/0 Mustad hook, and a ballyhoo hooked straight through the nose, no fancy rigging required. The detail most people miss is putting a strip of bonito on the back of a plastic lure, because a mahi that hits plastic and tastes nothing will not come back, but a taste of real meat keeps it chasing. He breaks down the whole setup in the conversation.
Watch the full episode or listen now to hear the rest.
This is where most recreational anglers lose the school. They hook a fish, fight it, boat it, and suddenly every other mahi vanishes. Brandon's fix is counterintuitive but critical: leave that first fish in the water as your happy fish, since the school will not leave it. Put the rod in a holder and pitch to the rest while it swims, and rotate fresh fish in so you always have one anchor in the water. Listen to him explain how to manage the rotation.
Brandon gave an honest read on the season he was fishing, with a lot of small fish but also some of the best schooling action he had seen in five years just weeks earlier. He described days that reminded the old-timers of how mahi fishing used to be, and he was not worried about size because the bigger cows and bulls usually show later. Hear his full season report and what he expected in the weeks ahead.
The day after this one I kept coming back to how refreshing it is to slow all the way down and teach the basics. Too often we are deep into advanced tactics and forget that a lot of folks just want to know how to get offshore and catch a fish.
Brandon keeps it simple, practical, and actionable, and if you have ever been intimidated by offshore fishing, this is the episode that takes the mystery out of it. Listen to the whole thing.
Listen to the entire conversation here.
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Captain Brandon Simmons operates the End of the Blue charter boat out of Hawks Cay Resort in the Middle Florida Keys. He specializes in offshore fishing for sailfish, mahi-mahi, and other pelagic species, and he is known for breaking complex tactics into simple, actionable steps for anglers of every skill level. You can reach him on Instagram at @capnbrando or book through Hawks Cay Resort.
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