by Capt. Dallas Hopper
Man summer is over, but what a summer it has been! Fall is here and bringing some cooler temperatures with it.
The blackfin tuna bite has been going off on the offshore humps, whether you’re trolling, live baiting or jigging its nonstop action. The bite is best early in the morning or late in the evening. Tuna feed mostly in low light conditions, so on the occasional overcast day you might find them biting throughout the day.
Trolling is the best way to catch numbers of “football” sized tunas, but if you’re looking for the larger 15-30 lb fish, live bait is the way to go. Live pilchards are prime baits to fish around the humps, having as many of these baits that you can hold is crucial to success. We’ll start on the up current side of the hump and set out a few live baits on 20lb spinning gear rigged up with 40lb flourocarbon and 5/0 mustad circle hooks. Remember to toss over a steady flow of live chum, as this is what starts the feeding frenzy.
Up and down the reef line the ballyhoo have begun to stack up on the edge of the reef in large schools and the predators are not far behind. Mahi, cero mackerel, bonita and sailfish are just a few of the species to hang around in the shallow water to feed on these bait fish. You’ll find this all this action in 20-100 feet, keep an eye out for frigate birds and bait showers that is where the fish are actively feeding.
Dropping around the deepwater wrecks and rockpiles is producing and number of fish, mutton snapper, vermillion snapper and grouper to name a few. Splitback ballyhoo and live cigar minnows on long leaders for when we are targeting the mutton, groupers and for the verms we’ll go with a chicken rig made of 50lb and small circle hooks tipped with squid. There’s plenty of sharks hanging out on these spots, so wind fast so you don’t have to share your dinner with the tax man.
There’s been a great bite of flag yellowtail biting at night on the wrecks just off the edge of the reef, it’s a pleasant change of pace to break away from the sun and the crowds. Sandballing is a must to get your bait down to the fish and you may have to anchor up on some of these spots, be careful when on the water at night it can make some of the easiest tasks a bit tricky. Slow season is here but that doesn’t mean the fishing has slowed down any, get in the boat and go get in on the action.
Capt. Dallas Hopper
Fantastic II Charters “guaranteed fish”
305-451-2890 • www.charterkeylargo.com