Dolphin on the Fly article

Keep a fly rod at the ready for dolphin

Peanut dolphin with a tag in it

It takes some planning to end up on the ocean blue with a flyrod in hand, but anglers looking to tag and release some dolphin, find it to be quite a sporting challenge. Summertime is the best time to find the schools of small or 'peanut' dolphin that might like to linger around the transom of your boat, allowing for multiple casts or for multiple hook-ups! Look for 'structure' on the water to target, like the mats of sargasso weed that stack up along tidelines. Charleston's own Don Hammond runs the Dolphinfish Research Project and can be found on the docks in the afternoons, recording data about harvested dolphin that can relate information like the current health of the migratory stock that are off the S.C. coast that day.

Large weed mats offshore can hold dolphin

Don Hammond measuring harvested dolphin

To view my latest feature article in the Charleston Mercury on dolphin tagging click here.

To view past blog entries about migratory dolphin click here.