Ballyhoo with a skirt
$8–18 each
The standard offshore bait. Rigged ballyhoo under a blue-white or pink-white Ilander-style skirt catches more mahi off this coast than anything else.
Search for: rigged ballyhoo skirt trolling lure
Mahi-mahi
Blue water, weed lines and anything floating. A long run offshore from Masonboro or Beaufort Inlet.
Trolling spread
Small trolling feathers and jets
$8–15 each
Cheap, durable, and they run all day without rerigging. Pink, green-yellow and blue-white.
Search for: trolling feather lures offshore
Spinning rod with bucktails ready
$6–12
When you find a school under a weed line, they'll eat anything cast at them. Keep a rod rigged and ready — the school moves fast.
Search for: bucktail jig saltwater 1 oz
Worth knowing
- Fish the weed lines, floating debris and colour changes. Structure offshore is anything that isn't water.
- Hook one and leave it in the water — the school follows it to the boat.
- It's a long run. Check fuel, weather and daylight in the route planner before you commit.
Before you keep anything
Generic product types, not recommendations of a particular brand. Nothing here is sponsored and there are no affiliate links. Sizes, seasons and limits change — the official pages above are the authority, not this list.