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Wahoo Fishing in Stuart, Florida
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Wahoo are one of the fastest fish in the ocean. They are prized by anglers around the world for their long screaming runs and flavorful, high-quality meat. Nothing tastes as good as fresh wahoo! Wahoo are also very beautiful fish with dramatic coloring and stripes across their body that help distinguish them from their mackerel cousins. A very powerful forked tail is also a distinguishing feature that allows this fish to swim quickly.
No other fish can match the speed of an initial wahoo run after the hookup, and experiencing these runs can be addicting! In fact, some offshore fishermen fish for wahoo almost exclusively.
Found in subtropical and tropical waters all around the world, wahoo are caught in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. While some wahoo are taken commercially, most wahoo are caught by recreational fishermen. Often solitary or found in smaller groups, occasionally, wahoo can sometimes be found in schools of 100 or more. We’ll often catch sailfish, mahi-mahi, and tuna while wahoo fishing.
When are wahoo caught in Florida?
Wahoo can be caught in our offshore waters year-round. During the spring and summer, lots of fish are caught off Stuart, Florida, in the 20-40 pound range with occasional larger fish mixed in.
In the wintertime, larger fish can be caught on the east side of the gulf stream, in Bahamian waters. These fish are commonly 50-80 pounds and larger, with some fish topping 100 pounds. There is never a bad time to go fishing and your best fishing day ever could happen at any time! Book a trip today and come fishing with us!
How do you catch Wahoo in Florida?
Wahoo are pelagic, highly migratory fish, swimming far and wide across the oceans. Because of this, they can be difficult to pattern, but along the east coast of the U.S. and the Bahamas, wahoo congregate and are caught regularly.
We target wahoo using several techniques. Often caught on our pelagic/offshore charter trips, wahoo can be taken on live bait, dead bait, and a variety of trolled lures. One of the most proven methods is to get a bait down deep in the trolling spread, either on a planer or by using a sinking hard bait trolling lure. While wahoo fishing with bait or trolling at traditional speeds, sailfish, mahi-mahi, and tuna can all be caught at the same time.
Another proven wahoo tactic is high-speed trolling. Trolling at speeds up to 15 knots allows anglers to cover lots of ground and find these migratory fish. Wahoo will also readily attack a bait trolled at this speed, it leads to a very exciting bite! Once a wahoo is found, we’ll often throttle back and add some ballyhoo to the spread to try and find some other fish that may be in the area.
How big do wahoo get?
The average size wahoo caught off of Stuart, Florida is 20-40 pounds. Fish approaching 100 pounds are caught, but the bigger the fish get, the rarer they get!
The current Florida state record wahoo is 139 pounds, a fish caught in the Keys in 1960.
The world record is 183 pounds, a fish caught in Mexico in 2005. Larger fish have been caught, but have not qualified as records for one reason or another. In 2016, a 202-pound wahoo was caught in Palm Beach, but multiple anglers helped reel in the fish, so it did not qualify for a state or world record.
What are the limits on catching and keeping wahoo?
The wahoo season is open year-round in Florida. There are no minimum size limits, and the bag limit is 2 fish per person per day.
As always, we’ll clean and pack your fish for you, so please bring a cooler. Wahoo is one of the most delicious fish to eat, fresh wahoo sushi, sashimi, or ceviche can’t be beat! Check out this great wahoo ceviche recipe!
Book a trip with the Florida Offshore Fishing Company today to fish for Wahoo out of Stuart, Florida!
