Armed with sharp teeth and a sleek torpedo shaped body, the Wahoo is one of the fastest swimming fish in the ocean. It's reported to attain blistering speeds of up to 60MPH. It's also one of the best tasting on the dinner table. Wahoos are usually caught trolling at high speed. Fishing for Wahoo requires the use of wire leaders as its sharp teeth can slice through regular fishing lines like a hot knife thru butter. Many years ago, I had my fist encounter with this speedster when I was stationed in Guam. I was just getting into offshore fishing at that time. One one of my trips I brought my son along with me on a full day offshore trip. We trolled around to one of the offshore buoys and experienced one of the hottest Wahoo bite I've ever experienced in my life. We caught so much Wahoos that we sold some to the fish coop at the dock which pretty much paid for the charter.
My son and his first Wahoo. I think he was about 10 years old when this pic was taken offshore in Guam waters. Having his pic taken with a rock star looking boat captain, priceless!
Last year, on our trip to Cabo, I was fortunate enough to fish during the start of Wahoo season. This time we slow trolled live cabalitos with wire leaders. When our trolled cabalito got hit, we had no idea what fish took it. It was also tuna, sailfish, dorado, and roosterfish season. When I initially started to fight the fish, I was waiting for the usual initial runs. At first, it was moving, but not really taking much line. I was thinking maybe it was just a small jack or bonito. Then in an instant the fish changed its mind and started on a long drag screaming run. It's game on! Scream Stella scream!
When we finally got the fish on deck, I was amazed how big this fish was. Truly this is the biggest Wahoo I've fought and landed so far. The boat captain even said he wished we were in a Wahoo fishing tournament; the fish would surely be a contender.
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