What to look for when Dolphin fishing. As we pull over the reef line and the outriggers start to go out we start to look for Birds, Weeds and any stray stuff floating around bigger than a seat cushion. In terms of birds the smaller the bettor. Terns are the best to follow. They will move quickly down a weed line looking for feeding fish. They are fast and nimble. When they start to flutter over a piece of ocean there is usually a fish feeding on something directly below them. This time of year the fish is probably a dolphin or a school of dolphin. They will also follow a school of dolphin until they find bait fish to feed on. When they stop in midair and flutter over a piece of ocean before dropping down to scoop up a morsel that is where the fish will be. The farther we are offshore the more likely there will not be any seagulls. Although seagulls will follow fish and feed on the leftovers they appear to be lazy and not nearly aggressive as the terns. The other birds that we will follow are birds almost as small as terns but they will have brown feathers on the head and body. We refer to these as Tuna birds and they seem to favor Tuna as a source for  dinner. They will move faster than terns and seem to be very preoccupied in chasing after the Tuna. They will even land on the water and stick there heads down into the water to see what the Tuna are doing. I often wonder how many of them wind up as dinner for the fish. Anything that has been floating in the water for a week or more will start to grow barnacles. When that happens the piece of material will start to attract baitfish and other fish to feed off of them. Dolphin also seem to be attracted to floating stuff and can be seen to just hang around the material. Stick bait anywhere near the fish and they will bite. Sometimes they will swim off and return when things quite down so if the stuff looks old and crusted stick around for a while. Come on down and join us for the great fishing in Ismorada in the Keys!