Dorado Flies, for fish called Dorado, Mahi Mahi or Dolphin Fish, Coryphaena hippurus

Mike Senatra and guide with nice bull Dorado. Mark Bachmann photo.

Dorado means gold in Spanish. It's a reasonable name for a fish that can turn bright gold along the sides, but they are usually bright greenish blue along the back and have liberal amounts of blue spots and the pectoral fins are very bright electric blue. Dorado are one of the most successful fishes and are found in tropical waters world wide. In Australia and most of the Atlantic Ocean the specie is call Dolphin (not to

be confused with a family of sea mammals of the same name). In Hawaii they are called Mahi Mahi. Dorados are prime fly rod sport fish for a number of reasons. They are very strong and acrobatic. They spend a lot of time around the surface of the water where they are comparatively easy to reach while fly fishing. Dorado grow incredibly fast. At one year old most exceed 6 pounds and may be over twenty pounds at age two. Three year old Dorado usually exceed thirty pounds. Few Dorado live beyond the forth year. The world record is 87 pounds. Once the fish reach maturity they spawn every six weeks and broadcast about 400,000 eggs. The eggs which are about the size of the head of a pin hatch in about 60 hours. The little fish start growing immediately. This fast growth rate keeps them eating constantly and they are very aggressive biters most of the time. They feed on bait fish

of many sizes and are fond of sardines, flying fish, mackerel and squid. On a recent trip to the sea of Cortez several fish were vomiting up squid as they were being played. This attracted more Dorado which quickly consumed the free
meal. Some of the squid were more than a foot long. When hooked a Dorado runs hard and often jumps spectacularly, then slugs it out all the way to the boat. They can exceed 50 miles per hour for short bursts. Ordinarily they save a bit of energy to thrash about madly as the angler tries to either release, or land the fish.

Dorado have multiple groups of wicked little teeth that can chew your leader and flies. Patty Barnes photo.

Dorado have multiple groups of wicked little teeth that can chew your leader and flies. It is advised that when large fish are expected that a shock tippet of 50-60 pound test is used. A simple leader formula is as follows: 12" or less #50 shock tippet, 16'" or more of #16 or #20 class tippet, 3' of #50 butt section. Sections of leader can be assembled with surgeon's knots. Smaller fish can be landed on straight twenty pound test tippets. Our favorite rods for Dorado are #10 to #12 weight. Fast sinking shooting head fly lines such as the Jim Teen T-Series or

Cortland's Quick Decent lines are a good bet for fishing bait fish and squid patterns. Intermediate or floating lines with intermediate tips are best for fishing poppers. Dorados like to hang around anything that is floating on the water. Floating weed mats, debris, rays or turtles will often have Dorados under them. I once hooked a 20 pound Dorado from under a single floating Styrofoam cup. Most Dorados that are caught with flies after having been chummed up with live or cut bait. Another way to attract Dorado to the boat is to simply troll a fly and when a Dorado is hooked the commotion will attract others that can be cast to. Dorados can be picky. Often they will be keyed on one type of food. It pays to have a range of sizes and kinds of flies that imitate the range of food organism that dorado eat. On a recent trip to Loreto Mexico,

Ron Walp with Mexican Dorado. Mark Bachmann photo.

it was very large flies that saved our trip. We found that trolling 12" Marlin flies was the easiest way to pull deep feeding dorado to the surface where we could get at them. Once a school was around the boat, we could chum them with sardines and then get them to eat flies that looked and behaved like the sardines, but is was the big flies that got the game started. Ordinarily the bigger fish like to feed on larger flies.

		ALF Nursery Schooler, Olive Sardina Sardines are prime Dorado food. Be sure to have plenty of these flies if you are planning to fish anywhere in Mexico.
Item	Description	Size	Price	To Top
00732-2/0	ALF Nursery Schooler, Olive Sardina	2/0	$3.50

		Epoxy Head Bait Fish, Anchovy The Epoxy Head Anchovy is proven along the Pacific coast from Alaska to Baja. Salmon, tuna, yellow tail, wahoo and dorado find this pattern appealing.
Item	Description	Size	Price	To Top
64287-2/0	Epoxy Head Bait Fish, Anchovy	2/0, 3.5"	$3.25

		Epoxy Head Bait Fish, Gray Back Minnow The Epoxy Head Gray Minnow has been affectionately dubbed the Mexican Killer because it has proven trip after trip to be the most effective fly on tuna, dorado and even rooster fish from Manzenelo to East Cape.
Item	Description	Size	Price	To Top
64277-2/0	Epoxy Head Bait Fish, Gray Back Minnow	2/0, 3.5"	$3.25

			Deceiver, Streaker One of the original dorado flies. This fly traps a lot of air so that it stays near the surface. Pull it fast so that it streaks along the surface. Looks like a baby Dorado.
Item	Description	Size	Price	To Top
50050-3/0	Deceiver, Streaker	3/0, 6"	$4.50

			FPF Blue Mackerel A very good fly for all species of billfish, and large Dorado. Big Dorado eat large bait fish. Tish one fly you definitely need in your assortment. Tandem 5/0 hooks.
Item	Description	Size	Price	To Top
01164-5x5	FPF Blue Mackerel	5/0x5/0 9"	$18.95

	*	New!	Catalog	Trips & Schools	Bargains
	Our Waters		Order Info	Weekly Newsletter	Events

ALF Olive Sardina	Pencil Popper
Epoxy Head Anchovy	Streaker
Epoxy Head Gray Back	Blue Mackerel
Flashy Fish Popper	K.T. Squid

			Flashy Fish Popper, Blue #2/0 -9/16"x 4 1/2" Blue back color. Good in-shore and off-shore. This is an all around good popper for larger game fish.
Item	Description	Size	Price	To Top
00840-2/0	Flashy Fish Saltwater Popper, Blue	2/0	$3.75

		Pencil Popper, Holographic Green #1/0 - 3/8" x 2 3/4" Green back color. Good for small to medium size jacks, dorado and bonito.
Item	Description	Size	Price	To Top
00861-1/0	Pencil Popper, Holographic Green	1/0	$2.95

			FPF K.T.'s Squid Dorado will eat large quantities of squid when they are available. Tandem 5/0 hooks.
Item	Description	Size	Price	To Top
00715-5x5	FPF K.T.'s Squid	5/0x5/0 7"	$18.95

Dorado Flies for fish called Dorado, Mahi Mahi or Dolphin Fish, Coryphaena hippurus

Dorado Flies
for fish called Dorado, Mahi Mahi or Dolphin Fish, Coryphaena hippurus