The excitement is evident in Capt. Dallas Hopper’s voice when he starts rattling off the options for fall out of Key Largo. Coming off a tremendous summer days with huge numbers of mahi-mahi, things begin to change up a little in September. The mahi are still there for the taking, but there are a few other bites that kick off this time of year.
Dallas runs Fantastic II Charters with his father Capt. Justin Hopper. And while tourist traffic begins to fall off this time of year, the fishing only gets better. The weather in the keys is still gorgeous, and the seas are typically calm. Even beneath the surface, currents tend to drop off a little in early fall, which makes it one of the best times to head offshore to do some deep dropping.
Out of Key Largo, it’s only about a 13-mile run to reach deep-water ledges from 300 to 600 feet deep. Using electric reels, or hand cranks for those who want to test their mettle, dropping bait to the bottom is a fun way to load the boxes with delicious fish for the dinner table. The regular targets are porgi, vermillion snapper, yellow eye snapper and big snowy grouper. It’s a regular stop on Fantastic II trips when clients want to fill a cooler.
“It can be red hot,” Dallas said. “When you’ve marked the fish, the rig barely has time to hit the bottom.”
Blackfin tuna are another staple the Fantastic II counts on this time of year. They begin showing up in September on the humps and ledges as well as on the edges of the reefs in 200 to 400 feet of water.
“They are an all-around great fish,” Dallas said. “They taste good, they fight hard and they’re easy to catch.”
Some days trolling big spreads of small lures on light tackle can lead to unbelievable action. Other days the best tactic is to drift and chum them up on the humps. These hard-fighting fish range from 2-pound footballs up to powerful 40-pounders, so anglers are often surprised to find themselves in epic battles on light tackle.
Another surprise that might show up in mid to late September is wahoo. When trolling, the Fantastic II likes to pull a varied the spread that will tempt any fish that might be in the area. A ballyhoo on wire with a trolling weight is the ticket for picking up any wahoo that might be lurking. There’s nothing like a big ’hoo to make a good day great… except maybe sailfish showering bait.
“It’s not uncommon to run into them crashing ballyhoo on the edge of the reef when we’re headed in or headed out,” Dallas said.
Obviously a sight like that calls for an immediate change of plans. The sails show up like clockwork in mid to late September, and the bite gets better as the fall progresses.
The Fantastic II guarantees fish. Find them online at charterkeylargo.com, or call 305-514-0211.