Short answer: yes — and they’re one of the most spectacular fish you can catch off the Australian coast. Mahi mahi (dolphin fish or dorado, Coryphaena hippurus) are a fast, brilliantly coloured warm-water pelagic that turns up in big numbers along the east coast every summer, and around the top and down the west coast too.
Where and when
Mahi follow warm water and floating structure. As the East Australian Current pushes south through summer and into autumn, they spread from Far North Queensland (around much of the year) down through southern QLD and the Gold Coast, into northern NSW around the Tweed and Coffs Harbour, and in hot years well south of Sydney. Exmouth, Ningaloo and the WA coast turn them up regularly too.
The FAD factor
The single biggest change to mahi fishing in Australia is FADs — Fish Aggregating Devices. NSW and Queensland both run FAD programs: anchored buoys set offshore that mahi gather under like clockwork. Check your state fisheries website for current FAD positions — they’re the best starting point for a feed of dollies. The same principle applies to any floating structure: weed lines, current edges, a stray pallet, log or buoy. Find the structure, find the fish.
Tides, moon & conditions
Offshore, tide matters less than current and water temperature. Look for the warm blue water (often 22°C and up) and the current lines and temperature breaks where bait concentrates. A bit of run and bait around a FAD is worth more than any tide stage. Calm-to-moderate mornings make it far easier to spot floating debris and working birds.
Techniques
The classic approach is to pull up-current of a FAD or floating object and cast — pitch pilchards, slugs, stickbaits or soft plastics back to it. Trolling small skirted lures and minnows around FADs and weed lines locates fish and triggers the first hook-up. Crucial tip: when you hook one, keep it in the water beside the boat — mahi are a schooling fish and the rest will often hang with the hooked one, so have a second angler cast straight to them and keep the chaos going.
Gear — rods, reels, line
Mahi are spectacular rather than enormous, so balanced tackle is the most fun. A 6–10 kg spin outfit with a 4000–6000 reel, 20–40 lb braid and a 30–50 lb leader handles most fish and lets you cast lures all day. Step up for trolling and the occasional bigger bull. No wire needed — a heavier mono or fluoro leader copes with their raspy mouths.
Baits & lures
Pilchards and small live baits are dynamite; for lures, small skirted trolling lures, metal slugs, stickbaits and 4–5″ soft plastics all work. Bright colours and anything that gets eaten fast — a competition feed between schooling fish is half the fun.
Wear the dolly
If mahi are your kind of session, The Bull carries embroidered mahi mahi artwork on a breathable mesh-back trucker cap built for long, bright days offshore. More on that world in Big Baits, Big Bills.