Breaking it Down – Mahi Mahi(Dolphinfish)

While the original target of my last offshore fishing trip was tuna, we ended up only catching some mahi mahi (dolphinfish) off a big weed line on the other side of the Gulf Stream. The Mahi mahi or dolphinfish is one of the coolest fish to run into out there. Right off the bat, they are one of the most colorful pelagic species you will find, often a mix of bright green and blue with blotches of gold across their flanks. That coloration is the reason for another common name for them, dorado, golden or gilded in Spanish. Beyond the coloration, mahi are incredibly fast swimming and acrobatic fish which make for a great fight on rod and reel. Lastly, they are one of the fastest-growing fish out there. They only live for about five years but are capable of reaching 88 pounds in that short span of time, making them a great target to take home for dinner. So speaking of a mahi dinner I’ll show you how to break one of these colorful fish down today.

Breaking it Down on OutdoorHub

First off I’ll show you how to break one down like any other fish you catch. Take your knife and starting from right behind the bones of the pelvic fins work your way up at an angle up towards the top of the head of the fish. Make sure to keep your knife tight to the collarbone to not waste any meat. One thing you want to do differently at this step with mahi is to go more forward than usual on top of the head with the knife. They have a good bit of meat sitting on top of their head. Once you cut the fish on both sides take your knife and run it up the belly from the anus to your first cuts to open up the stomach. With the stomach cavity opened up, start scooping the guts out using your knife to cut through any tougher membranes if needed. Leave the guts attached to the head of the fish.

Now all your cuts are complete you can pop the head off by twisting it to pop the spine. If there is any connective tissue or meat still connecting the head, just cut through them but not the guts. When you pull the head away, it should pull all the organs with it as long as you didnt cut through them already. Give the body cavity a rinse and scrub the bloodline out from under the spine. Now you are ready to fillet the mahi like any other fish.

Take your knife and start near the tail of the fish, running it up along the long dorsal fin of the fish to cut through the skin initially. Then take the knife and slide it up along that seam, you want to feel the skeleton of the fish as you take the knife along, but you don’t want to press to hard into them. If you do press to hard you can accidentally cut through the bones and into the other side, and if you don’t feel the skeleton you are probably too high off the bones and are leaving meat behind. Once you get to the spine run the tip of the knife along the spine, following its contour. Lift the fillet up with your thumb a bit as you go to let you see and keep the fillet from getting cut up as you do this. Once over the spine just use the skeleton as a guide for your knife and cut the lower portion of the fillet off. Once you get up to the ribcage of the mahi, cut through the pin bones and ribs with your knife to pop the fillet free. Repeat this for both sides. After the fillets are free of the frame, trim out the ribcage and pin bones. Once the fillets are boneless skin the fillets by starting at the tail with your knife very flat to the cutting board with a bit of pressure down on the skin and slide the knife forward to remove the skin.

If you don’t like taking the skin off the fillet the traditional way, there is another option with mahi, you can just skin them like you would a catfish. Trace your fish with the knife on both sides, then up near the head work your fingers under the skin, breaking through the connective tissue. Then just evenly pully the skin off the fish directly back towards the tail. Then just fillet the fish as you would normally. I do want to say this leaves the sinew on the fillets which I don’t see as a big issue when it comes to cooked fish. But if you are the only one filleting a bunch of mahi, this does save you some time and effort, so your not stuck there cleaning fish all day.

While not something that I think most if any of yall will do, you can also make swordfish baits out of the mahi bellies. You just take your knife and cut into the belly right behind the pelvic fins and then cut along in one motion along the stomach of the fish and some of the anal fin. This does cut into a little bit of the meat in the tail but not too much. But when you consider swordfish baits are $30-40 a piece a bit of meat is not that bad of a price. After you take the belly off you can just break the mahi down like normal, either just filleting or skinning then filleting.

Eugene L.

Eugene L. is currently a writer for OutdoorHub who has chosen not to write a short bio at this time.