KZN South Coast Dorado bite on!
The “dollies” are officially in the hood…although very little is known about these widespread pelagics, they do seem to prevail season to season just fine. Being open ocean spawners, the dorado (and the sailfish) are purported to be the most hardy of all our pelagic fish species and that they will likely outlast most other fish species, as the fish holocaust progresses.
Spectacular surface feeders, they are ferociously aggressive when on the bite. Warm blue water above 24 degrees – the same conditions as sailfish and marlin like, bring the shoals down south from the tropics, maybe to spawn – hence their hungry disposition, when they get down here. They are rated GREEN by SASSI, who admit that very little is actually known about this beautiful fish. Their scientific name is Coryphaena hippurus. They are closely related to their most feared predator – the marlin.
Dorado spawn all year round in warm water currents like our Mozambican freight train. They eat almost anything that swims. They reach sexual maturity in 6 months or so and even a foot long dorado can start spawning – usually three times a year, with up to a million eggs each time!
Baby dorado can be found all over the place – deep waters, shallow waters, even in rock pools – often tangled up in floating sargassum seaweed for protection. These fish love floating logs and things and sometimes a whole shoal can be found hiding in the shade ready to ambush anything smallish that swims past. Which they can do at speeds of almost 100kmh!
Dorado love a plain sardine, or with a skirt, on the drift, but they are even eager enough to take a rapala for those who like to burn the environment up. The most fun though, can be had throwing a lure at them as they swim past. There can’t be much more exciting than watching a huge, hungry and beautiful dorado chasing and smashing your lure in the clear warm blue water right in front of your eyes!
The following video shows the extreme conditions the dorado love here on the KZN South Coast. Just as the south wester busts through, the dorado go absolutely wild!
https://thesardine.co.za/2014/02/09/wild-dorado-port-shepstone/
