common dolphinfish
Coryphaena hippurus · Coryphaenidae · predator
Colorful open-sea fish, a strong fighter and excellent eating. Travels in schools under floating objects and strikes almost any bait.
Also called: dourado, dourado-do-mar, mahi-mahi
- common size
- 60–120 cm
- maximum
- 210 cm
- common weight
- 3–15 kg
- record/max.
- 40.0 kg
- depth
- 0–40 m
- ideal water
- 24–28 °C
the right time
to be on the water
Choose the place and the species. The index, from 0 to 100, combines weather, sun, moon and tide with each fish's habits. Up to 28 days, with each day's confidence.
Reading the weather across 3 global models and 31 simulations…
—
hour by hour
slide your finger or mouse over the chart to see each hoursee hour-by-hour table
why this index at —?
choose the day
Each card shows the day's index (0 to 100) and, below it, a strip with the index for each hour, from 0h to 23h. from poor to excellent.
the fishing month at a glance
what's the best window for the crew?
Choose how many fishing days. We compare each stretch by its average index, discount days with a warning or closed season, and show the 3 best.
trend for the coming weeks
Line: the middle value of 31 simulations of the American GEFS model. Band: where 8 out of 10 fall. Narrow, firm trend; wide, high uncertainty.
everything about the common dolphinfish
who is the common dolphinfish
The dolphinfish is the most widespread oceanic fish on the Brazilian coast: it appears from Amapá to Rio Grande do Sul, grows fast, and fights with jumps and runs. It lives at the surface of blue water, almost always near something floating: logs, sargassum, buoys, lost nets, and oil platforms. Juveniles travel in large schools; big males, with flat foreheads, travel in pairs or alone. It lives about four years and matures early, which makes the species resilient to fishing. It is a target of artisanal and commercial fishing, notably the Itaipava-ES fleet, and one of the best table fish from the sea.
fun facts
- Grows very fast: it can exceed 10 kg in under two years.
- At death it changes color several times, from gold to blue and gray.
- In English it is called dolphinfish or mahi-mahi, but it has no relation to dolphins.
identification
Elongated body, compressed at the sides, with one long dorsal fin running from the head almost to the tail. Alive, it is blue-green on the back and golden-yellow on the flanks, with blue spots. Adult males have a high, straight forehead; females have a rounded head. The color fades within minutes after death. Don't confuse it with the river dourado, which is a different fish.
where found
The whole coast, in warm waters of the outer shelf and open sea. In the Southeast: Vitória and Guarapari-ES, Cabo Frio and Arraial do Cabo-RJ, oil platforms in the Campos and Santos basins, Ilhabela-SP. In the Northeast: Natal-RN, Recife-PE, Salvador-BA, and Fernando de Noronha-PE (fishing prohibited inside the Parque Nacional Marinho). The Itaipava-ES fleet leads commercial fishing.
Habitat: Surface of blue, warm water (0 to 40 m), under floating objects, in sargassum lines, current edges, and around platforms.
coast
states
Amapá, Pará, Maranhão, Piauí, Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Alagoas, Sergipe, Bahia, Espírito Santo, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Paraná, Santa Catarina, Rio Grande do Sul
when to fish
best season
In the Southeast, October to April, peaking December to February, when warm water comes close to shore. In the Northeast it occurs all year, with local seasons.
best time of day
Daytime. Feeds all day, most strongly in the morning. Night sport fishing yields little.
what affects the common dolphinfish
sensitivity The little bars show how much each factor affects this species. Five full: it feels it a lot.
cold and cold fronts
Below 21 °C it disappears from the surface. Follow the warm water and temperature breaks.
atmospheric pressure
After a cold front the sea is choppy and the water cools; fishing improves when the weather settles.
moon
Small effect.
rain
Light rain doesn't bother. Thunderstorm with lightning: head back.
water level
Not applicable at sea. The equivalent is the color and clarity of the water: look for blue, clean water and current lines.
noise
Tolerates the boat well; often follows the hull. A motor near the floating object doesn't scare off a large school.
wind
Light swell helps hide the line. Strong wind makes it hard to find sargassum and floating objects.
tide
Little effect in open sea.
depth
Surface down to 40 m. Large fish sometimes stay a little deeper under the floating object.
how to fish
- rod
- 6'6" to 7'0", 15 to 30 lb for casting; 20 to 30 lb for trolling
- spinning / baitcasting reel
- 5000 to 8000 spinning reel or 20 to 30 lb trolling baitcaster
- line
- braid 30 to 50 lb
- leader
- fluorocarbon 50 to 80 lb, 1.5 to 2 m
- hook
- 5/0 to 7/0 single or 6/0 circle hook on natural bait; reinforced treble hooks on plugs
lures
- 12 to 16 cm poppers and stickbaits
- lipped trolling plugs
- silicone squid and small skirts
- 40 to 100 g metal jigs
- large streamers on fly (line 10 to 12)
natural baits
- whole or cut sardine
- peixe-voador
- lula
accessories
- gaff (only for fish going to the table)
- alicate
- insulated cooler with ice
tip from an angler
Find the floating object and keep the first hooked dolphinfish in the water: the school stays with it, and you cast to the others.
ocean trolling (blue marlin, mahi-mahi and tuna)
Boat fishing at the shelf edge and in open sea, trolling artificial or natural baits at speed, after marlin, mahi-mahi and tuna.
guidefish preservation and cleaning
Quick killing, bleeding, the right amount of ice, a well-used cooler, filleting and transport within the law. Fish handled well on the boat is worth twice as much at the table.
rules for the common dolphinfish
Summary of the regulations we found, with the source for each. Rules change; before keeping or transporting fish, check with the state environmental agency.
Conservation: Grows fast and matures early. We have not found a federal minimum size for the species.
We found no species-specific rule beyond the region's general rules.
catch and release
catch and release Releasing the fish alive, quickly and with a wet hand. During a closed season it isn't always allowed: what the regulation says applies.
Survives release well if it is quick. Don't use a gaff on fish you plan to release, and avoid lifting it out of the water. Release the small ones, under 60 cm, and keep only what you will eat.
in the kitchen
White, tender, tasty flesh, one of the best from the sea. Grilled in butter, moqueca, or ceviche. Bleed and chill it quickly: it spoils fast in the heat.
how much it weighs without taking it out of the water
Length-weight relationship W = a·Lb (a = 0.01175, b = 2.88; FishBase (estimativa bayesiana, comprimento total)). It's an average: a fat or lean fish can vary by 10% to 20%.
estimated weight
—
sources and references
The season weights (months), the time of day and the sensitivities (cold, pressure, moon, wind, rain, tide, strong light, murky water and noise) are the app's editorial estimates, based on the literature below and on the field experience of anglers and guides. They are not official data nor a measurement made for this species, and they may vary by region and year. Closed seasons and legal rules appear in the rules section, with the norm and a link.
- scientific FishBase — Coryphaena hippurus (ficha da espécie)Names, distribution, biology, length-weight relationship and references. Page checked on October 13, 2026.
- official Portaria GM/MMA nº 1.667, de 27 de abril de 2026 — Lista Nacional Oficial de Espécies da Fauna Ameaçadas de Extinção (peixes e invertebrados aquáticos)Most recent national list. The species is not on it (search by scientific name in the text published in the DOU, checked on October 13, 2026).
- official ICMBio/SALVE — Ficha de Coryphaena hippurus (avaliação nacional do risco de extinção)ICMBio national assessment, published in 2026. DOI checked on Crossref.
- scientific IUCN Red List — Coryphaena hippurus (avaliação global: Pouco Preocupante, LC, 17/09/2010)Global assessment. Link given on the FishBase entry (Red List, version 2025-2).
- scientific Carpenter, K. E. (org.) (2002). The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic. Vol. 3: Bony fishes part 2 (Opistognathidae to Molidae). FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes. Roma: FAO.Coryphaenidae chapter (Collette, B. B.).
where each number comes from
The weather comes from three independent global models, cross-checked hour by hour: when they agree, confidence goes up; when they diverge, the band between them shows on the chart. Beyond 16 days, we use the GEFS ensemble of 31 simulations: if 20 of the 31 predict rain, the chance of rain is 65%. Sun and moon are calculated astronomically, with no uncertainty.
The index adds up, weighted for each species: time of day (species curve anchored to real sunrise and sunset), moon (transits, rise and set, phase), pressure (3 h trend and 24 h swing), water temperature (in rivers, estimated from air temperature; at sea, estimated by an ocean model), wind, rain, clouds, tide and the month in the species' cycle.
sources for this lookup
how accurate the forecast is
Accuracy measured in the reference project (4 regions, 93 days, forecast vs. observed): maximum temperature is off by 0.6 °C on average the next day and 1.7 °C at 7 days; rain of 5 mm or more is detected 76% of the time the next day and 57% at 7 days. Detection isn't everything: the false alarm rate isn't published here yet, and 93 days in 4 regions is still a small sample. We now also measure every day, at the app's destinations: