By Scotty Kyle

I am a popular, valuable and much sought-after, game fish found in warmer waters throughout the world’s oceans. Scientists call me Acanthocybium solandri and place me in the Scombridae family, along with tunas, barracudas and mackerel. They describe me as an offshore, pelagic species, even though they have little real knowledge of our migratory movements. 

Humans regard our flesh as tasty, with a pleasant texture, and we are one of the top target species for boat-based sport fishing. When we take a bait or lure, the line peels off so rapidly that the reel screams and the angler often also shouts out loudly in his delight – Wahoo! And that’s how I got my name.

Built for speed

There are many fast moving and strong fighting fish in the open ocean, such as tunas and bonito, but we are among the fastest, possibly the fastest fish species in the world. With a super slim, elongate, torpedo-shaped body covered with tiny smooth scales, we are built for speed. We do everything at top velocity and can travel great distances. 

But simply being fast is not enough, we also need maneuverability as we usually live and feed in clear water and our potential prey and predators also have excellent eyesight and great speed. Our fins are generally small – except for our powerful tail fin which we use for propulsion – and a strong dorsal fin which controls our direction and allows us to corner very fast in order to surprise prey or to avoid becoming it.

Our color is dark gray, brown, or blue above and our flanks have a pattern of darker vertical bands or mottling against a much lighter background. We have large eyes as we are top optical predators and have to rapidly and accurately identify food, or predators at a distance. Our large, pointed mouth, right at the front of our heads and is armed with rows of ultra-sharp, cutting teeth well known to many sport anglers who have learnt, from hard experience, to respect them when they try to unhook us. 

Several other fish species are built to live in the same areas as us and they have similar habits leading to us all looking alike in many ways. Greater barracuda and king mackerel are two of the most similar but, while barracuda have large scales, we have very small ones, and we differ from the latter by having a fleshy flap that covers our mandibles (jaws).

In size we can attain as much as 2.5 meters in length (8 ft. 2 in.) with a greatest mass of about 83 kilograms (183 lbs.), but we now rarely attain these extremes in areas in which there is significant fishing pressure. Most specimens caught nowadays are around one meter (39 in.) in length. 

While we have to easily distinguish between our sexes, man has yet to understand how this works and, to him, there is no clear sexual dimorphism. Unlike some other fish species, we are born one sex and stay that throughout our lives, maturing at a length of about 85-105 cm (33-41in).

Enigma of the deep seas

I was “born” offshore near an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. I didn’t know my parents as our mating and spawning is carried out as a “group activity”, often after dark. Small numbers of mixed sexes swim together near the surface, releasing the eggs and sperm simultaneously allowing the eggs to be fertilized externally as they drift gently in the ocean. Our eggs float in the water column, develop rapidly, hatch and then we spend the first few months drifting in offshore currents feeding on plankton. 

Humans know little of this part of our life history and very few small wahoos are ever caught. Plankton nets catch some fish larvae that seem to develop onto wahoo but, once we are past the larva stage, we are free-swimming and humans have no way to catch us between the larval stage and the size able to be caught on hook and line. Many fish have complex and known life histories, spread over different areas such as open ocean, reefs, inshore waters and estuaries, but we are born, live and die offshore.

In our very early stages of development, we progress from eating planktonic animals through fish larvae and then, more and more, select to eat suitable-sized fish. By the time we are mature, human knowledge of our diets, through examination of stomach contents, puts our prey as about 85 percent fish, followed by cephalopods, mostly squid. We rarely go near the ocean floor and almost never feed there. Although our teeth are sharp and cut things easily, so that we can, and sometimes do, bite long thin fish into pieces and quickly engulf all the parts, our preferred eating method is to swallow our prey whole.

Where to go after wahoo

Humanity knows very little about the distribution of my species beyond the fact that it is “circum-global” in the warmer waters of the world’s oceans, and there is little mixing between the population in the Atlantic Ocean and other areas. What humans do know is that they enjoy catching us. But catching a good wahoo is not easy and requires much forethought, planning and a little luck.

In the Atlantic Ocean we are found from about Massachusetts and France, down to Brazil and west Africa and are particularly abundant in areas of the Caribbean Sea and waters off Florida. Wahoo are present in the Mediterranean Sea and right into the Black Sea. We are a popular sport angling species around Hawaii, northern Australia and eastern Africa. In much of Asia, we are caught in artisanal and commercial fisheries.

Within wahoo distribution there are areas of abundance and scarcity. The Black Sea, for example, may not be the best place to go after wahoo, while Hawaii and Florida offer a much better chance to catch us. 

We are an offshore species, and a boat is essential to get to where we can be found. In most localities, where there is a reasonable chance of catching my species, there are experienced operators with good, suitable equipment and the knowledge and experience to assist you to catch a wahoo.

Fortunately, for humans, the internet is ever improving to allow them to explore, investigate and plan such options and there are now a myriad of videos showing localities, operators, boats and catches to watch and enjoy before finalizing decisions. However, people are now well versed in presenting themselves and their operations optimally. It is thus best to interrogate a little deeper and try to find a friend or other angler who has been to the location and used one of the operators. Or book your trip on a reputable online marketplace like BaitYourHook.com, which selects for best operators and gives you honest client reviews to make your decision on. 

Catching wahoo

Rarely do anglers fish specifically for our species. Most catches are “incidental” when the main target is species such as tuna, barracuda or king and queen mackerel. On the other hand, anglers are very pleased when the fish that has taken a bait makes the reel scream loudly, suggesting one of us has been hooked. 

We are most common on the outer edge of coastal waters, above reefs and we particularly like structures such as oil-rigs. Nearly all wahoo fishing is carried out during day trips from harbors within our distribution. Unfortunately, for sport anglers, we are rarely truly abundant and do not often form large dense shoals.  We are loners who occasionally team up with a few similar-sized wahoo and constantly patrol, at speed, looking for prey. 

As we live in open waters, rarely near the bottom, trolling lures and live bait is the most popular method. Mind that we make full use of the whole water column, and it does not help if you are fishing near the surface and we are swimming halfway to the bottom. Many astute skippers troll with multiple rods rigged to fish at different depths and will use a selection of the best lures and baits.

In certain localities different colors seem to be most effective and local knowledge can help. Generally, lures of blues and greens are popular and trolling with natural baits can also be productive. Overall, to attract and catch our species, the trolling needs to be carried out at the upper range of normal trolling speeds.

Drifting, using jigs, spoons, plugs or live bait can work well in some areas, while kite fishing, using a smallish live bait, can also produce good fish. Apart from kite fishing and live baiting, all wahoo angling should be done rapidly and sometimes erratically. 

Within the core areas of our range, wahoo can usually be caught throughout the year, while in the outlying areas we are more likely to be caught in summer. Locally, however, there are “special cases” such as oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, where good winter fishing can be had using live bait or jigs.

Catch – and release!

Anyone who has caught a large wahoo will remember the screaming reel, the line peeling off endlessly and the adrenaline pumping through his system before the fish even begins to tire. We are an exceptional species and not easy to target, but anglers will argue that the time and effort required is well worth it. Apparently, I do taste very good, but letting me go so that I can breed and be caught again is, to me at least, the top prize. A beautiful photo of a sport angler carefully holding a giant wahoo before he releases it will be one of the best photos and memories many anglers will ever possess.

Next in “Life History of a Fish” series

Life History of a Fish: Great Barracuda

By Scotty Kyle

I am one of the most awesome and feared fish in the world. I am an extremely fast-moving top predator with extremely fierce-looking teeth, and a reputation for being dangerous to humans and even for leaping out of the water to attack tuna pole anglers. I am the great barracuda. CONTINUE READING