We are building a home in Rockport and I need some advice. I have never owned a boat before, but have a Pathfinder 2400 Tournament with an 80 gallon tank...does this boat have the distance to reach bluewater? If so, I was thinking about buying a 10wt. fly rod to catch dorado...what other tips can anybody give me about where to go and what to use to land this dolphin??

From Rockport, depending on where you are of course, it would take about an 30 mins to reach port a. We have a 75 gallon bay stealth, and it seems to work fine for good and calm days out in the surf. On rough days on the other hand, I would be pretty wary of going out very far in the surf with only an 80 gallon tank and one prop.

I've no helpful advice whatsoever but sure do wish you well, what a fantastic fishing situation you'll be in there.

Oughta be a good number of fly fishing guides in Rockport. Maybe hire one and get the scoop that way.

ckclemen,

Yes, you have plenty of range with 80 gallons, but your safety factor would be much better with twins. Do you have single engine or twins?

If single, you might want to consider a small kicker as a back-up and for sure have marine radio(that works) on board.

A couple of comments on dolphin....first, if it were me, a 10 wt would be too much rod for the typical dolphin....more like 7 wt or 6 wt. The most important thing is to have a LARGE capacity reel with great drag system. In my experience, the big bulls are somewhat scarce so not enough of them to warrant using heavy equipment...but that is just my view.

I love fly fishing but I would also have to add that Dolphin fishing is best accomplished with spinning equipment on most offshore boats...much more maneuverable for casting, more distance, and for most people more accuracy...all of which are critical for Dolphin. Several lines can be out at the same time with spinning equipment. but that can be problematic with fly fishing. You need to work the lures very fast through as much off the water as possible, i.e. fish them all the way to the boat. Often the Dolphing will hit right in front of you at boatside.

The term Chinese fire drill, meaning no disrespect to anyone, applies to what happens when you find a school...chaos, wild action, great fun, often broken lines and fouled up equipment...slam bam thank you Sam. When its over, its like, wow what happened?

Dolphin run in schools and when you find a school it is always best to keep the first one caught on the line near the boat...until the next one is caught and then rotate always keeping one caught fish on the line near the boat...that's important.

You will find them along weed lines, water change lines, and under floating objects. Never pass up a floating object in blue water, regardless of how small, because it may have a huge school of dolphin under it. It is absolutely amazing how small an object can be and still attract those fish...pieces of cardboard, driftwood, etc. should all be checked out, when looking for Dolphin.

Great fish, beautiful to see when first caught, jumps like crazy, and well worth fishing for out in the Gulf. Good luck!!

Buy Trey Combs book. (Finally out in paperback.) Good advice on all aspects of offshore flyfishing. Gear, rigging,tactics, flies etc. Has a full chapter on Dorado.

http://www.amazon.com/Bluewater-Fly-Fish...04921862&sr=8-3

Norman

I read the first few pages there on Amazon. What a fine writer as well as having done all that dedicated research on Dorado angling.

I find myself going back to it over and over again especially on rigging techniques. Never had a knot fail yet. (Knock wood).

I have no idea about the range that your boat can get, but as for the fly vs. spinning argument, i'd take fly fishing over anything else. Sure you probably wont catch as many, but its a whole lot more exciting when you do. Not to down anyone, but that is just my personal opinion. Have fun down there!