SCIENTIFIC NAME : Acanthocybium soladri

RANGE: Offshore of all Florida coasts, especially the Keys, but for more plentiful in the Bahamas and many Caribbean Islands.

HABITAT: Roams the deep blue water, but anglers can find them by working drop-offs, seamounts, weed lines and other favorable feeding locations.

DESCRIPTION: Long, slender body marked with zebra-like stripes of white and deep blue or black. Mouth is elongated and narrow, and equipped with razor-sharp teeth - careful!

SIZE: Common at 10-50 pounds; often grows to 80 or 90 pounds; maximum potential about 150 pounds. World record 158 pounds, 8 ounces.

FLORIDA RECORD:  139 pounds.

FOOD VALUE: White meat is tasty but rather dry. A good smoking fish.

GAME QUALITIES: May strike a surface bait in spectacular, gray hounding fashion, but seldom jumps after being hooked. Wild fight is characterized by several sizzling runs, usually at or near the surface. One of the fastest of all game fish.

TACKLE AND BAITS: Many Wahoo are hooked on heavy tackle, incidentally to Bill fishing. Best choices, however, are light to  medium ocean trolling outfits with lines up to 30-pound test; 50-pound isn't too heavy for good sport with big specimens. A few have been caught by deep jigging or ocean casting with spinning and bait casting tackle - even fly tackle on rare occasion. Most productive bait is a weighted feather or similar trolling lure, rigged in combination with a whole small baitfish or large strip. Surface trolling is sometimes effective, but deep trolling is much more likely to produce a Wahoo. 

FISHING TECHNIQUES: Drifting; Trolling.