Planning to go deep sea fishing again out of Port A on a charter in the late fall with a small group of guys. Have booked previously with Deep Sea Headquarters but wondering if there are better options. Any opinions and advice is welcomed. <><

I think it"s more of a matter of who, not where they run out of.

I prefer Dolphindocks to Deep Sea Headquarters if you are trying to catch fish out of Port Aransas. They have a variety of options for trip lengths from 4 hours to days. I have fished with Deep Sea Headquarters many times and have found nothing wrong with them, but I have had better success with Dolphindocks. The Dolphin Express 12 hour trip on Wednesdays and Saturdays can be amazing. The last time I fished with them we caught 103 king mackerel and everyone limited out on snapper. I also landed a 175 pound spinner shark the next day. If you want to read some interesting fishing stories about fishing out of Dolphindocks you can read my book tiltled, "The Art of Fishing for Records." You can get the book on amazon. If you want to see them bring in fish they have pictures and active webcams on their website at Dophindocks.com.

Have been out many times with both outfits on regularly scheduled trips and private charters. DSH seemed to be a little more consistent overall, but Capt Tim at dolphindocks has been the best individual capt I have ever fished with over hundreds of trips on both coasts and throughput the gulf. If Capt Tim is still with dolphindocks I would look into a trip with him. The main problem with DD is that their boats are really slow. I haven't been down in years though and I hear the new express is a pretty fast boat. Good luck, since you are going out in fall you will probably do well no matter who you choose.

so are we talking charter or head boat. there's a difference.

Yep .... and not only that, how do you define "late fall"? To me late fall is after Thanksgiving to before Christmas. That's not exactly the best time for offshore fishing on head boats unless you are talking about going to the floaters ... IMO.

I've been out with DSH before and enjoyed the experience. Of course the party boat stuff isn't my cup of tea, but they do a good job. While I've never been out with DD we stop by to see what people are catching and have stopped in to say hi. Both are reputable and run by good people, can't offer a preference but can vouch for the work both put into their business.

I would suggest going with a charter versus a party boat and the 'later in fall' you go the deeper I would suggest going. Very soon the floaters are going to be your only best option.

Fished for my first time with dolphin docks over the 4th with capt Tim, he is still with dolphin docks and is a great respectable guy. Helpful, and will put you on fish, boat caught 84 plus snapper in about half an hour, then fished for kings and even caught a small hammerhead. Will definitely go out fishing with him again. Also yes the dolphin express is much quicker than their other boats