An amberjack gets boatside release from Delph.

Before long, we were in a good rhythm of hooking and catching. As we lowered our baits, we began to sense exactly when we’d reach the zone where they’d strike. I felt so in touch with my line, I imagined that I could see the yellowtail swimming up to my bait for the take. Hooking up to yellowtail takes that kind of sensitivity to your line in the strike zone. Because of their good eyes, and their wiliness, when you get on them, you know you’ve done everything correctly, and that’s almost as satisfying a feeling as landing the fish. I did wonder if a heavier jig would save us time on the drop and still draw strikes, but then I thought, save time for what? We were having a great time.

At midday, four bonito blasted into our chum line. Bonito are hard fighters, and good for strip baits. However, like most anglers, we greeted them with disappointment simply because they were not blackfins, which they sometimes accompany. We caught two before they got the hint and left.

We caught other fish, too, big and small porgies, and a white margate of 11 pounds. All took the hook with mahua, and we never even used the live pilchards. We didn’t have enough pilchards to live-bait with them anyway, Hassell said.

“It takes thousands. The baitwell has to be packed with them, and you keep throwing them out there until they ball up and the tunas come running to them.”

With the wind, tide and weather in our favor, we had a perfect day for yellowtail.

Spring and summer see plenty of dolphin around the End of the Bar, and wahoo schools make brief, quarterly appearances that last a week or two, perhaps related to spawning activity. Blackfin show sporadically from November through April, and kings are present year round. Mike Delph landed the state-record yellowfin tuna at the End of the Bar in December 2002, but the area’s yellowfin fishery has tailed away from its heights a decade ago.

Going down west of the End of the Bar leads to grounds that account for much of Key West’s reputation as an offshore mecca. Coalbin Rock and Cosgrove Shoals, where deep water butts against the reef, are feeding tables for pelagics. Rebecca Shoals and Tail End Buoy produce tournament-winning kings in the winter. December brings great trolling in nearby shallow waters, and by spring the bottom fishing heats up in depths over a hundred feet. The numerous wrecks in the area hold amberjack and in the winter, cobia, and bottom fish galore. Unknown to many, red snapper frequent spots around Cosgrove Shoals, especially in the winter, possibly on migration down from the Gulf.

Captain Ralph Delph has fished down west since the ’70s. He has high regard for the area’s productivity and doesn’t hesitate to run 40 to 60 miles down west for a day’s fishing, especially when he’s after world record snapper and grouper. With so little angling pressure on the grounds, Delph and a few others from the Lower Keys can visit spots that might not be touched since their last trip.

On a recent trip with Delph and his longtime angling friend Ron Glinski, we headed down west for grouper and big snappers. We left the dock at 8 a.m. and returned by five, including an early stop for live threadfins in Key West Harbor. In total, we traveled more than a hundred miles, so it’s not a cheap venture, given the price of gas. On the other hand, we must have hit about 30 spots and worked a huge bottom terrain, including a miles-long, 70-foot ledge that runs southeast of the Tortugas.

The author admires an average-size mutton snapper.

Our first few spots south of the Marquesas were bottom contours and wrecks, where we picked up a few red grouper and two amberjack.

While Ron fished only pure artificial, a 6-ounce jig with a plastic worm, we also had those live threadfins, which no mutton and grouper in their right mind can resist, according to Delph.

We used braided line, rated as light as 6-pound-test, on stiff rods and both spinning and conventional reels. Delph uses braided line for jigging both for its thin diameter, which allows it to hold bottom better against a current, and for its lack of stretch, which gives the angler a better connection to the fish, from strike to fight. A 50-pound leader prevents abrasion-cutoffs from bottom structure when the inevitable happens and a big grouper holes up on the bottom.