Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Mahi-mahi fishing contest at Los Barriles in Baja

Our friends, the dorado

2016 winner of the Dorado Shoot Out
2016 winner of the Dorado Shoot Out

Mahi-mahi, their name in Polynesian, means “very strong.” Common in warmer waters worldwide, they have been a food fish for thousands of years. They are known by at least ten names around the globe. Here in the eastern Pacific, dorado; in the western Atlantic, the confusing name “dolphinfish,” often “dolphin.” I have heard: “I liked Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea, except for the part where he ate the raw dolphin.”

Sponsored
Sponsored

Dorado can grow from a two-inch fry to fifty pounds in four to five years.

Dorado will rarely pass up an opportunity to eat. This is due to their rapid growth and short life-span. Where the calico bass might take 20 years to reach ten pounds, the dorado can grow from a two-inch fry to fifty pounds in four to five years, which is the limit of their life span.

A food fish for thousands of years.

The dorado population is healthy. Their fast growth rate and far-ranging migrations make them a food source as well as a target for sport-anglers. For anglers in our area, the fish can appear locally in late summer through early fall, especially in El Niño years.

Video:

Dorado fishing in Baja

2010 catching dorado in Los Barriles

2010 catching dorado in Los Barriles

I have seen them caught within a mile of La Jolla Shores; in 2014, one was filmed swimming next to the Queen Mary in Long Beach. But the warmer seas to our south and into the Sea of Cortez are where they are prolific. Dorado generally seek water between 70 and 80 degrees, so are mostly caught by multi-day to long-range trips out of San Diego landings.

Past Event

East Cape Dorado Shoot Out

  • Saturday, July 15, 2017, 6 a.m.
  • Palmas De Cortez, Calle 20 de Noviembre #2 y, 23330 Los Barriles, B.C.S.
  • $500

This time of year, the East Cape of Baja California Sur on the warmer side of the collision of the Gulf of California and Pacific Ocean currents is where dorado are most active. For that reason, the East Cape Dorado Shootout is held in mid-July in the warm waters off Los Barriles, between Cabo San Lucas and La Paz. This Van Wormer Resorts-sponsored event, the 13th annual, is the largest fishing tournament in Southern Baja, with an average turnout of 125 teams each year.

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Too $hort & DJ Symphony, Peppermint Beach Club, Holidays at the Zoo

Events December 19-December 21, 2024
Next Article

Reader writer Chris Ahrens tells the story of Windansea

The shack is a landmark declaring, “The best break in the area is out there.”
2016 winner of the Dorado Shoot Out
2016 winner of the Dorado Shoot Out

Mahi-mahi, their name in Polynesian, means “very strong.” Common in warmer waters worldwide, they have been a food fish for thousands of years. They are known by at least ten names around the globe. Here in the eastern Pacific, dorado; in the western Atlantic, the confusing name “dolphinfish,” often “dolphin.” I have heard: “I liked Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea, except for the part where he ate the raw dolphin.”

Sponsored
Sponsored

Dorado can grow from a two-inch fry to fifty pounds in four to five years.

Dorado will rarely pass up an opportunity to eat. This is due to their rapid growth and short life-span. Where the calico bass might take 20 years to reach ten pounds, the dorado can grow from a two-inch fry to fifty pounds in four to five years, which is the limit of their life span.

A food fish for thousands of years.

The dorado population is healthy. Their fast growth rate and far-ranging migrations make them a food source as well as a target for sport-anglers. For anglers in our area, the fish can appear locally in late summer through early fall, especially in El Niño years.

Video:

Dorado fishing in Baja

2010 catching dorado in Los Barriles

2010 catching dorado in Los Barriles

I have seen them caught within a mile of La Jolla Shores; in 2014, one was filmed swimming next to the Queen Mary in Long Beach. But the warmer seas to our south and into the Sea of Cortez are where they are prolific. Dorado generally seek water between 70 and 80 degrees, so are mostly caught by multi-day to long-range trips out of San Diego landings.

Past Event

East Cape Dorado Shoot Out

  • Saturday, July 15, 2017, 6 a.m.
  • Palmas De Cortez, Calle 20 de Noviembre #2 y, 23330 Los Barriles, B.C.S.
  • $500

This time of year, the East Cape of Baja California Sur on the warmer side of the collision of the Gulf of California and Pacific Ocean currents is where dorado are most active. For that reason, the East Cape Dorado Shootout is held in mid-July in the warm waters off Los Barriles, between Cabo San Lucas and La Paz. This Van Wormer Resorts-sponsored event, the 13th annual, is the largest fishing tournament in Southern Baja, with an average turnout of 125 teams each year.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Aaron Stewart trades Christmas wonders for his first new music in 15 years

“Just because the job part was done, didn’t mean the passion had to die”
Next Article

Operatic Gender Wars

Are there any operas with all-female choruses?
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader