The mahi-mahi is in high demand for deep sea fishing near Hawaii. Not only is the fish beautiful, it’s also large and tastes delicious.

The mahi-mahi is a funny looking fish with a blunt head and a mouth that suggests a massive underbite, but its dusk blue dorsal fin runs nearly the entire length of the mahi-mahi before giving way to a bright yellow caudal fin. That contrast between darker blues on the mahi-mahi’s top half and solid yellows on its bottom half makes it look truly unique. Sometimes, the blues are darker and deeper, and sometimes they’re decidedly green-blue. It depends on the specimen.

Yet despite its beauty not so many keep and mount it as a trophy fish. This is because the mahi-mahi makes a good meal, and it makes a good meal for a whole party. The record is an 87-pound mahi-mahi, but even the average 25 pounders will feed a good-sized guest list. We recommend grilling, pan searing, or making a nice blackened mahi-mahi recipe. They make great burgers, too.

The mahi-mahi isn’t easy to catch either. It’s an acrobatic fish that will surprise you. They don’t like to dive, so they’re easy to keep track of and pursue at length. They also enjoy live bait and will happily reward you with a feeding frenzy. Even the smaller ones will put up a good fight and give you a test.

Even better, the mahi-mahi is a responsible fish to catch. Its conservation status is Least Concern, meaning that its populations aren’t threatened. Various Seafood Watch lists also list mahi-mahi caught individually around Hawaii as not impacting the overall population in an adverse way.

If the mahi-mahi sounds familiar, you may know it’s other common name – the dolphinfish. Its Spanish name Dorado is also popular. It’s even sometimes called dolphin, though there’s no particular relation between mahi-mahi and actual dolphins. Their name means “very strong” in Hawaiian, and you’ll know it once you try to catch one. They’re a responsible, fun, and tasty deep sea fishing catch.