The Sportsman team heads 65 miles offshore from Charleston aboard the Open 402 to wrap up summer with mahi-mahi and grouper fishing. With two first-time offshore anglers aboard, a 50-plus-pound dolphin and fish boxes filling up, it’s a day worth sharing.
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•Running 65 miles offshore from Charleston put the crew on a huge school of dolphin, including one fish topping 50 pounds, before they switched to live-bottom reefs for grouper.
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•The Open 402's twin 295-quart insulated in-deck fish boxes sit right beside the leaning post, so you can ice down a growing catch without sacrificing the cockpit space you need to keep fishing.
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•Watch the video to see the trip unfold, then browse the Sportsman Open 402 digital catalog and pricing page to build a boat of your own.
We wrapped up our summer fishing here in Charleston with the kind of offshore day you hope for every time you leave the dock. Reports of a strong dolphin bite had us ready to go, and the plan was simple: troll for dolphin, better known as mahi-mahi, then hit a few bottom spots in search of grouper. Because who doesn’t love a flaky grouper sandwich?
We headed out early aboard the Sportsman Open 402 with a 65-mile run ahead of us. Two members of our crew had never been offshore before, and neither had caught a big dolphin. We wanted to put them on some fish and give them a taste of what keeps the rest of us coming back.
When we reached our trolling area, we found exactly what we’d made the run for: a huge school of dolphin. Several fish came aboard, including one that tipped the scales at more than 50 pounds. That’s a memorable fish on any trip, but having two first-timers along made it even better.
With dolphin in the boxes, we switched gears and headed for the bottom spots. Fishing live-bottom reefs, we brought several nice grouper over the rail and added a few future sandwiches to the day’s catch.
This was a day when the Open 402’s twin 295-quart insulated in-deck fish boxes really earned their keep. As the catch grew, we had room to ice down fish without giving up the cockpit space we needed to keep fishing. Having the boxes right beside the leaning post made it easy to stow each fish and get back to the action.
A big dolphin, plenty of grouper and two crew members getting their first taste of offshore fishing. We couldn’t have asked for a better way to close out the summer.
Take a look at the video above to see the day unfold, and explore the Sportsman Open 402 digital catalog for a closer look at the boat. You can also view pricing and available options to build your own.
