MINIMUM SIZE
None
Species · Pelagic
Dorado and mahi-mahi fishing in Southern California
Coryphaena hippurus
Neon acrobats of the warm water, the paddy-hopping prize that lights up gold and green when it's hooked.
TYPE
Dorado / mahi-mahi / dolphinfish
SCIENTIFIC NAME
Coryphaena hippurus
TYPICAL SIZE
5–15 lb (bulls 25 lb+)
LIKES WATER
Warm, 70°F+
HANGS ON
Kelp paddies & floating debris
BEST MONTHS
Late summer – fall (warm years)
dorado regulations
DAILY BAG
10, inside the general limit
OPEN SEASON
Year round
CDFW sets no limit specific to dorado, so the general finfish limit is what applies: twenty fish in combination, no more than ten of any one species.
14 CCR 27.60(a), as read on October 9, 2026. Limits, seasons and marine protected area boundaries change, so the CDFW ocean sport fishing regulations are the authority, not this page. Check them before you keep anything.
Meet the dorado
Dorado, also called mahi-mahi or dolphinfish, are maybe the prettiest fish in the ocean. Electric blue and green with a gold belly, flashing brighter when they're fired up. They're fast, they jump like crazy, and they taste amazing. When they show, everyone smiles.
Where dorado hang out
Dorado are kelp-paddy fish. They tuck under any floating thing in warm water (a paddy, a plank, a stray buoy) because it holds bait and shade. Idle up on a good-looking paddy in warm blue water and there's a real chance a school is home.
How big dorado get
Most are 5–15 pounds of pure fun on light tackle. A big “bull” with a tall, blunt forehead can push 25–35 pounds. They grow shockingly fast, a dorado can go from egg to double digits in under a year.
How to catch dorado
Easy to please when they're around. Pitch a live sardine at the paddy, or cast a small jig or fly. Hook one and leave it in the water: the rest of the school often follows it right to the boat, and you can pick them off one after another.
Where to catch dorado
The grounds that hold dorado within reach of each home port, south to north. Follow a port through for its season, the rest of the water it reaches, and the rules that apply there.
- Point Loma
- THE OFFSHORE BANKS
- Oceanside
- THE OFFSHORE BANKS
- Dana Point
- THE OFFSHORE BANKS
- Newport Beach
- THE OFFSHORE BANKS
Seasons, depth limits, size and bag limits and marine protected area boundaries are set by CDFW and change from year to year. Check the current rules for the ground you are running to before you keep anything.
🐟 FUN FACT
Dorado are one of the fastest-growing fish in the sea, but they don't show every year off SoCal. They ride in on warm-water summers and fade when the ocean cools.
More species
Bluefin TunaYellowfin TunaYellowtailCalico BassRockfishMarlinWhite SeabassBarred Sand BassCalifornia HalibutCalifornia BarracudaPacific BonitoLingcodCalifornia SheepheadSculpinOcean WhitefishSpotted Bay BassPacific MackerelAlbacoreShortfin MakoCommon ThresherGiant Sea BassOpahSwordfishSkipjack TunaCabezonPacific Sanddab
From the logbook
More on dorado
Fish
Fishing out of Dana Point: the kelp, San Clemente Island and the blue water
Kelp and reef close in, the shortest Orange County run to the blue water out front. The landing, the grounds, the protected areas and how the year runs.
Fish
Fishing out of San Diego's Point Loma: the kelp, the Coronados and the banks
The warm water reaches San Diego first and leaves it last. The landings, the kelp, the Coronados and the numbered banks, and how the year usually runs.
Fish
Dorado season in Southern California: when they show and when they leave
Dorado season is not a date, it is a water temperature. When the fish usually reach the Bight, where they show first, and what October tells you.
Fish
Reading a kelp paddy: how to fish dorado in Southern California
Which paddies are worth the stop, how to slide up on one without spoiling it, and the one habit that turns a single dorado into several.
Is it a dorado day?
Load dorado into the live Bite Score and see where the water’s worth the run right now.