Best colors

[mlutz95]

hey yall what are your favorite colors when trollin artificials for dolphin? goin down to islamorada in a week and just got a bunch a moldcrafts.
thanks

[Disco Lady]

Green/yellow is good for dolphin,Blue/ White Islanders with ballyhoo! deadly.And also Blk/Red and Pink/White yes! it works..... good luck! catch em' up.

Cheers,DL

[DIRTYFOOT2]

Love the moldcraft squid thats green and yellow w/ orange belly.Blue and white baby cedar plug is a killer. Can't go wrong pulling a red and white or pink sea witch. I've fallen in love w/ the plastic hoos too. They take a beating and far outlast the naturals. Especially deadly behind the 4lb trollin weight 30' shock leader w/ a black and red islander. Drag it over the reef and a grouper may suprise you Good Luck

DF2

[mlutz95]

Originally Posted by DIRTYFOOT2

Love the moldcraft squid thats green and yellow w/ orange belly.Blue and white baby cedar plug is a killer. Can't go wrong pulling a red and white or pink sea witch. I've fallen in love w/ the plastic hoos too. They take a beating and far outlast the naturals. Especially deadly behind the 4lb trollin weight 30' shock leader w/ a black and red islander. Drag it over the reef and a grouper may suprise you Good Luck

DF2

wait so you will actually troll a moldcraft squid behind your boat??

[Fishalways]

I have a fondness for darker colors
Blacks and Purples

[billspilingup]

Naked ballyhoo.

Ballyhoo with a blue and silver or blue and pink Billy Bait over it (the 5" one).

Ballyhoo with a blue and white or blue and silver "El Notcho" (found 'em in Islamorada, clear flat head with notches running from front to back and room on the skirt side of the head for the bally's nose).

I don't like using just lures for dolphin when trolling. Running to the sword grounds... there's a board...fine, put out a couple of small lures and go past it. But for trolling for dolphin... use bait. You can drop it back if it gets bitten without a hookup, when it's sitting dead in the water it still gets bit, and you can get the hook deep into a big fish by treating it like a billfish and dropping back on the bite.

[DIRTYFOOT2]

Originally Posted by mlutz95

wait so you will actually troll a moldcraft squid behind your boat??

Nope. Only troll yozuri crystal minnows behind my canoe. Only boat I own is a canoe. But I wouldn't hesitate to troll a moldcraft squid behind somebody elses rig. You sound like you don't dig those baits for some reason....what is it? They definately catch fish and make for an easy labor free trollin lure if customized a bit.

[mlutz95]

Originally Posted by DIRTYFOOT2

Nope. Only troll yozuri crystal minnows behind my canoe. Only boat I own is a canoe. But I wouldn't hesitate to troll a moldcraft squid behind somebody elses rig. You sound like you don't dig those baits for some reason....what is it? They definately catch fish and make for an easy labor free trollin lure if customized a bit.

oh no, ill try anything, ive just never heard of trolling a moldcraft squid behind the boat thanks alot though for the suggestions, ill try em all out

[ameristrat]

I have caught more dolphin... and fish for that matter on a naked ballyhoo than everything else combined... except for maybe a ballyhoo behind a blue and white islander

For example: We fished one day a few years ago and left the lure box at the dock . We trolled nakeds and here was what we saw: 15-20 dolphin between 5 pounds and 15 on average. We hooked two close to the 50lb + range but pulled the hook. Just after one of those bigger dolphin, we see a swirl and then a bill appear behind the long rigger ballyhoo. BLUE MARLIN! It crashed the bait and went airborn but threw the hook before we could dropback and try to get a hook set. I have seen many many many blue marlin from tournaments I used to fish in North Carolina including one in the 800 - 900 pound range. This fish was every bit of 450 - 500 pounds... on a naked ballyhoo.

The point of this is, if you want to catch fish, troll six lines, three skirted ballyhoo (one Blue white islander, one dolphin illand outrider, and one red and black skirted is what I prefer), and three naked ballyhoo with two on your long riggers and one flat about 20 feet behind your teaser if you have one... if not just behind the propwash. We caught a dolphin in the 20 to 25 pound range on, guess what?, a naked ballyhoo the other day on the long rigger in 160'.... that's probably our hottest spot. The long rigger nakeds. Anyway, this is how we troll for dolphin and it works. Give it a shot and remember GO NAKED!!!