Product Review: Saltiga Overthere

By Mitch Taylor

Every year the Eastern Australia Current (EAC) pushes the warm current down from our tropical waters all the way down to the southern parts of Vic. This in turn brings arguably one of the most beautiful looking and eating fish the mahi mahi, Dolphin fish or Dorada depending on where you are from. These fish love the warmer water and are a sucker for floating structures.

This brings me to where to start. Where do you find these fish in such a big open ocean, well as mentioned they love floating structures of any sort such as FAD’s (Fish aggravation devices) which are essentially an anchored buoy in the middle of the ocean. NSW/QLD & Vic fisheries usually deploy them up and down the coast offshore. These generally grow a bit growth over some time left in the water and therefore generates a little ecosystem with baitfish and other prey for such fish like mahi mahi. This is the best place to look for mahi as they are just drawn to such things. You may also be able to find them on floating logs or random debris. One of the best Mahi sessions I experienced actually was on a floating fridge. This fridge was loaded with hundreds of mahi.

So how do you catch them? Well, some days they can be picky and some days they will eat anything. One of the most consistent lures I have found though is the Saltiga Overthere 80S and the Saltiga Overthere 110S. These lures have a great amount of flash and can be worked quick which mahi love. Also come in many awesome colour ranges such as my favourite Yellowfin and Banan fish. The weight of the lure allows an enormous cast which helps cover ground. Usually if fishing a FAD, we will go up current a fair bit allowing for drift back past the FAD. This allows you cover some ground with big fan casts. By fan casts I refer to fanning your casts from left to right which just mean to cast in every direction, this will allow you locate the feeding fish, which then you can keep casting in that general location. You don’t need to cast at the actual FAD as you may see some people do, the fish tend to swim around in bigger circles wider but will generally be close enough. The bigger fish however you will find will sit wider of the FAD.

How do you work the Saltiga Overthere lures? Quite simply cast as far as possible and do a straight nonstop retrieve. The beauty of these lures is that they work incredibly well just winding in the lure consistently as it creates a natural tail whip like a fish is swimming. I find this the most effective retrieve. Once hooked up, keep the pressure on without any slack otherwise fish can throw the hooks.

What gear do I use for throwing these lures? Many different rod and reel setups will work as long as they are stiff enough to cast a metal type lure. One of my favourite setups is my snapper combo. It’s a 23 TD Black Humphead 742MHFS matched with a 23 TD Sol HD 4000D-CXH with J-Braid Expedition X8 #2 25lb and Saltiga Nylon Leader 30lb. This particular combo casts the lures very effectively and has the backbone to handle the crazy jumps and fighting of a mahi.

The best part of mahi fishing is the season usually lasts quite some time, and you will see fish all the way into May.