A Local’s Fishman’s Secrets to catching Tuna, Wahoo, Mahi & More
Here’s your guide to catching Curaçao’s most prized species: the tricks I have heard from my friends at Playa Piskador
Yellowfin Tuna & Blackfin Tuna
Where they roam: Tuna love the steep drop-offs around the island—Playa Kalki, Westpunt, and the north coast are hotspots.
How to catch them:
Trolling is king. Use small feather jigs, cedar plugs, or chrome bullet heads.
Tuna here respond well to dark-blue, purple, or black lures on bright days.
Keep your speed up … 6–8 knots is the magic range.
Look for boiling bait balls and diving seabirds; if the birds are feeding, tuna are beneath them.
Local secret: If flying fish are around, rig a skipping bait behind a trolling line. Tuna explode on them.
Wahoo (Mula)
Where they roam: Wahoo cruise the edges of the island’s sudden 600–1,000 ft drop, especially off Westpunt and Santa Cruz.
How to catch them:
Fast trolling, really fast. 12–18 knots is standard in Curaçao.
Use long, skinny lures: Yo-Zuri Bonitas, Islanders with ballyhoo, or bullet lures with wire leaders.
Prime times are early morning and late afternoon.
Local secret: Wahoo love a clean temperature break. If you see a sharp line where the water shifts colour, stay on it.
Dorado / Mahi-Mahi
Where they roam: Floating debris, weed lines, driftwood—and sometimes right off the cliffs.
How to catch them:
Troll brightly coloured skirted lures (green/yellow, pink/white).
If you hook one, don’t bring it in immediately, other mahi will follow it. Keep it in the water to attract the school.
Cast small jigs or ballyhoo to pick up additional fish.
Local secret: After a big storm, watch for floating coconuts or pallets: Mahi love these travelling fish hotels.
Barracuda
Where they roam: Everywhere. The reefs at Playa Jeremi, Lagun, and the northern cliff lines are full of them.
How to catch them:
Casting heavy spoons, stickbaits, or trolling small diving plugs.
Use wire leaders, a single bite can shear 80-lb mono like spaghetti.
Dawn and dusk are ideal.
Local secret: Metallic lures, especially silver, trigger strikes when the sun hits the water.
Snapper (Red, Mutton, Yellowtail)
Where they roam: Reefs, wrecks, and underwater ledges—deep off Jan Thiel, Caracasbaai, and Westpunt.
How to catch them:
Bottom fishing with squid, sardines, or cut ballyhoo.
Use a sliding sinker rig and stay patient.
Snapper hit best on moving tides.
Local secret: At night, yellowtail snapper come up to feed. Chum the water lightly and use tiny hooks with small pieces of bait.
From the Shore: Curaçao’s Cliff Fishing
For shore-based anglers—especially at Watamula, Playa Forti, and Shete Boka—Curaçao offers dramatic, powerful fishing even without a boat.
What to target: baracuda, jack crevalle, tarpon (at night), and occasionally mahi if a weed line drifts close.
How to do it:
Use long rods (10–12 ft) to clear the rocky edges.
Cast metal jigs or hard plugs far beyond the wash.
Always scan the water for movement—large fish often come right up to the cliffs.
Local secret: After sunrise, schools of bonito sometimes crash bait right along the cliffs. If you see splashes, cast immediately.
