Dolphin, Dorado, or Mahi Mahi are known to bust baits on the surface when trolling. Artificial lures such as “Dolphin Juniors” work very well when trolled around 5mph behind the boat.
With trolling lures, you can cover much more ground then drifting or slow trolling live bait.
Once you get a strike, be ready for a school of dolphin to be behind your fish. Keep the boat in forward and reel in your fish while another angler pitches either live bait or chunks of dead bait.
Once you have the first fish near the boat, keep it in the water to keep the school around the boat. If you have a big fish on, go ahead and gaff it and bring it into the boat.
You usually won’t find big fish with many more than a few fish swimming with it. The smaller fish known as schoolies can be swimming with close to a hundred dolphin at the same time.
Look out for frigate birds and weed lines before starting your troll. Once you spot signs of dolphin, troll them up until you get a bite and then work that area.
