Dorado
Coryphaena hippurus
A fast, green-and-gold summer gamefish that KZN ski-boat anglers troll for around floating debris, colour lines and anchored ships.
Size: Most dorado caught off KZN weigh 4–10 kg, and bulls grow bigger than cows. The world angling record is about 39 kg.
Where: Warm blue water off KZN and Mozambique. The first fish show up off Sodwana and Cape Vidal around October, and by December they are caught down to the KZN South Coast and the Wild Coast.
How to spot it
A long, flat-sided fish with a tall head and one long dorsal fin that runs from the head almost to the deeply forked tail. Alive, it is bright blue-green on the back, green and gold on the sides and yellow below, with small blue spots. Bulls (males) have a steep, square forehead and cows (females) a rounded head. The colours fade quickly once the fish dies.
Varieties and look-alikes
-
Bull (male) - A steep, almost square forehead that rises straight up from the mouth.
-
Cow (female) - A rounded head that slopes gently down to the mouth, like most other fish.
What it eats
Small fish, squid and small crustaceans, especially the young fish that shelter under floating objects. They also chase flying fish and small mackerel at the surface, often in pairs or small shoals.
Where it feeds
- Under floating logs, ropes, weed and other debris
- Along colour lines, current lines and temperature breaks
- Around ships anchored offshore (keep a safe distance)
- Near the surface over drop-offs, in blue water of 24 °C and up
How to catch it
Troll a few small skirted lures and diving lures fast behind the ski-boat; pink and purple are local favourites. When a fish is hooked, keep it in the water and pitch a live bait or stickbait next to it, because the rest of the shoal follows it. Live maasbanker and mackerel, slow-trolled or drifted near debris, also work well. Light tackle is enough: 14–16 kg line does the job.
| Way of fishing | How well it works |
|---|---|
| Bait on the bottomA sinker holds your bait still on the bottom. | Not used |
| Under a bobberA bobber is a small buoy on your line: it holds the bait off the bottom and dips under when a fish bites. | Not used |
| Natural or dead baitReal food on the hook: worms, liver, sardine, chokka. | Works well |
| Live baitA small live fish or other live creature on the hook. | Best |
| LuresArtificial baits you cast and reel in: spinners, spoons, plastics. | Works well |
| TrollingLures or bait pulled behind a moving boat. | Best |
| Fly fishingLight artificial flies, cast with a fly rod. | Sometimes |
Baits and lures that work
- Skirted trolling lures
- Live baitfish
- Crankbaits and plugs
- Sardine
- Topwater lures and poppers
- Mackerel
- Spoons
Flavours it likes
- Fish
Dorado hunt by sight, so flash, colour and a lively bait matter most. A trail of chopped sardines over the side keeps a shoal near the boat.
When it bites
Time of day
| Time | Bite |
|---|---|
| Dawn | Best |
| Day | Good |
| Midday | Good |
| Dusk | Good |
| Night | Rarely |
Dorado feed in daylight, best in the morning, and bite on and off right through the day. They are hardly ever caught at night.
Best months
- Best: January, February, March, December
- Good: April, October, November
December to March is the main season off KZN, once the water reaches 24 °C or more. The first fish arrive in the north in October, and they stay until about April while the water stays warm.
What affects the bite
| Condition | What it likes | Effect on the bite |
|---|---|---|
| Water temperature | Best at 24–28 °C | High |
| Time of day | Best during the day | Medium |
| Tide | Hardly matters | Low |
| Swell and surf | Best when the sea is calm | Medium |
| Air pressure | Best when it is falling | Medium |
| Cloud cover | Hardly matters | Low |
| Wind | Best with a light breeze | High |
| Rain | Best after rain | Low |
| Water clarity | Best in clear water | Medium |
| Moon phase | Hardly matters | Low |
| Spawning | More fish gather while they spawn | High |
High means it makes a big difference to whether this fish bites. Low means it hardly matters.
Tips
- Find birds, a floating log or a weed line, and you will seldom be far from dorado.
- Throw chopped sardines over the side while you fight a fish, to hold the shoal at the boat.
- When a shoal comes up, clear the trolling lines and pitch baits to them on light rods instead.
Good to know: Dorado thrash hard on deck, so gaff them near the head and get them into the fish hatch quickly; a wet towel over the eyes calms a fish while you unhook it. Check the current rules: dorado are not listed on their own, so the general DFFE bag limit of 10 fish per person per day applies.
Are they biting today?
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