On Fire Report April 15-23, 2024

Well, what can I say, it's been good this week!  From bonefish to snook and everything in between.  The first two trips of the week was with Ben and his son Patrick and the following day with Ben and his other son Nick.  What two great trips!  Day one Ben and Patrick caught a bunch of trout, hooked a few snook and landed a few more. Patrick hooked a slob that almost got him tot he mangroves but he did a great job keeping his out and landing a great fish.  The following day we caught even more trout with Ben and Nick but no snook.  However, we did target bonefish on soft plastics and Ben hooked a nice bonefish that simply spit the hook deep into the second run.  Ouch! 

The following day I had Reggie and Audrey and they wanted lots of action and catching many species so we did just that in the finger channels and the highlight were some nice yellow jacks.  The following day I had two trips, Grant and Emma being my morning trip with Grant fly fishing and Emma spin fishing.  I took them to a snook spot where they caught a bunch of trout, go figure.  The next spot Grant had a big snook eat his fly but rush the boat and come off   We wrapped it up bone fishing where Emma landed her first.  My afternoon trip was with Mike ad his son Tyler and these guys were great.  they wanted big fish so we caught some jacks and hit the flats for sharks where they hooked a few nice lemon sharks and landed two lemons that had them working hard to bring those powerful lemons to the boat.  

Saturday I had Abe and his wife Amanda for a full day of fly fishing for bonefish.  The fishing was slow but I managed to get them 8-10 shots at bonefish but it didn't work out perfectly which is what is required to catch bonefish on fly.  Sunday I fished with Brian and his son Dennis again targeting snook and bonefish, neither of which cooperated but we caught a bunch of snappers in the finger channels and Brian lost a bonefish he hooked briefly.  

Monday found me taking Scott and Anna out for a combo fishing trip/tour of Biscayne National Park.  These folks were great and while I gave them a tour of the bay, took them snorkeling and had them walk around and bath in Boca Chita, they also caught a bunch of snappers and Anna got Hooke on fishing.  She decided no more snorkeling and she just wanted to get back to fishing.  Nice!

This report ends with Alec and I deciding to forgo our usual full day for a half day based on the weather reports of high winds and small craft advisories.  It started really nice actually and earlier than usual as we were fishing by 6:30AM throwing top waters for snook.  I saw a small tarpon roll, had Alec cast and a few seconds later he hooked the tarpon but it threw the hook on the first jump.  After to many swings and misses by snook he finally got one to stick and landed the first snook of the day as the wind started to pick up.  We fished along shoreline where he landed yet another snook, huh bigger this time, and a sea trout that kept hitting his top water.  With the wind getting to over 20MPH we decided to give bone fishing about 45 minutes and wouldn't you know it, he landed one.  Wow! What a four hour trip in increasingly tough conditions and what a way to end this weeks report.  This past week has been solid fishing and great weather.  I love it!  

Capt.  Mo Estevez 

786-853-1409

www.MiamiBonefishing.com

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing

On Fire! Week of April 12-14, 2024

What a way to end the week!  I love the mullet migration and I love April for so many reasons.  It started with Chris from Sarasota wanting to fly fish for bonefish.  Friday was slow(ish) with a few shots at permit and a few bonefish but definitely slow, but there were mules being crushed everywhere but that was not the goal.  Saturday was day two with Chris and we switched to spin and landed a nice bonefish and lost two more before the two day adventure was over.  Sunday I had two trips, a six hour with Rick, Brad and Ted began at 7am and these guys were so hilarious!  We pretty much laughed for all six hours as they lost a nice snook, missed about a half dozen more snook bits on top water, landed lady fish, jacks and barracuda but we struck out on bonefish for the brief time we pursued them.  I got back to the dock at 1PM and Duncan and Madison were right on time.  The morning guys jumped off, Duncan and Madison jumped in and off we went.  Duncan wants to fly fish and Madison was spin fishing as she hasn't fished much before.  I took them to several big mullet schools and Duncan landed a sea trout on fly and had a few more predators blow up on his fly but missed.  We've been catching the odd sea trout here and there so hopefully they are making a comeback.  I ran a bit to fish another mullet school and this was the ticket.  Duncan had a few blow ups on his fly as snook would bust the mullet schools here and there until Madison...  Oh Madison, I taught her how to use a top water lure and after a few blow ups she had a bucket sized mouth inhale her plug and give her a solid fight.  She landed her first snook, a slob at that!  She did a great job and some pics later we got a healthy release on an over slot snook.  Wanting to change it up we had about 45 minutes left and we fished a bonefish flat that typically produces and this is where Duncan got his first bonefish on fly and lost another really solid fish to a pulled hook.  

What a way to end the week, great clients, fun trips and some really nice fish!  

Capt.  Mo Estevez 

786-853-1409

www.MiamiBonefishing.com

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing

Fun week of April 7-11, 2024

Oh yeah this has been a fun week.  The early part of the week had great conditions and then the wind increased as the week progressed but that is typical of April.  My week began with Chris and Franz for a day of rod bending fun.  The guys caught a bunch of species but no bonefish.  Ah man that stinks, until Chris hooked a small permit and made my day.  The following day I had Jeremy and his dad Chuck for some fly fishing.  We started off looking for small tarpon on fly and got a couple of surface bites from either lady fish or jacks but it was a swing and miss.  A the day hit the 3/4 mark we switched off to bone fishing and the guys each got their first bonefish and on fly, an 8lber and a 10 lier, wow!  We wrapped up the day in the increasing wind throwing top waters for snook and we lost one big snook next to the boat and missed 3 more explosives bites and lost a nice trout next o the boat.  The day before I had a day off, and an appointment to fix my PowerPoles, I fished two trips.  My morning was with repeat client Joe and his priest father Turner.  These guys are great and at 90 years old, father Turner is still going strong.  With pretty significant wind all morning I decided to stay close to shore and it paid off with Joe landing his first snook on a free lined shrimp and father Turner landed a bunch of snappers, some being small so his nick name for the trip was "Micro Snapper Slaying Turner".  LOL. The final trip was with Hesham from Chicago and we were fly fishing for whatever would eat a fly.  I took him to a bay that had a ton of migrating mullet but no hook ups although we had either snook of jacks blow up on his fly a couple of times.  With bone fishing being slow we started to work some mullet muds and sure enough it paid off.  Hesham got a nice snook on fly and then a nice jack before it was time to head in.  The wind was getting tougher but Hesham could throw a fly really well and that made a huge difference.  Well, I'm off today having some repair done to the skiff but I'll be out tomorrow.  Stay tuned! 

Capt.  Mo Estevez 

786-853-1409

www.MiamiBonefishing.com

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing

First week of April report April 1-6, 2024

This first week of April I had mainly all charters where clients wanted to just caught anything and have a good time.  It started with Brian, Gainor and Bryson and this was so cool because they all caught a bunch of species including a ton of jacks, snappers, some pompano and a bonefish.  Then I had Rachel and her two kids and they caught a bunch of snappers before heading in.  On Thursday we had terrible weather and my morning client rescheduled but once the weather cleared Lindsay called and wanted to take out her son Sullivan fishing before they ended their vacation.  They were so cool and 10 year old Sullivan got worn out catching big blue runners and snappers.  On Friday I had local clients David and his wife Christina for a half day of showing them the bay and catching fish for dinner.  Well, we caught a bunch of fish but nothing big enough to turn into big fillets but they still had a great time and learned a lot.  I wrapped up the week with repeat client Pete and his cousin Fred. These guys are so great.  Fred had never caught a tarpon so we out in some time early morning looking for small tarpon to no avail so we chased bonefish and we lost two solid fish and missed a few bites but they some jacks along the way.  It's been a fun week with great weather so I am definitely looking forward to next week! 

Capt.  Mo Estevez 

786-853-1409

www.MiamiBonefishing.com

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing

Ending with a bang Week ReportMarch 18-31, 2024

This last week was both awesome and challenging.  The last few days of the month were really windy but even then fishing was solid and the first half of the week provided great weather and numerous options for species and techniques.  The first park of the week I had Paul fly fishing and we caught a number of species but we targeted tarpon at first light and found a ton of smaller resident fish.  After numerous shots at the rolling fish and switching to my secret weapon fly, Paul got an eat and a massive jump out of a 40lb tarpon before it spit the fly.  The balance of the trip was catching a number of species on fly such as jacks, yellow jacks, snappers and more.  The following day I fished with local regular client Alec and fishing was actually pretty slow until he got his first bonefish of the trip and then solid bonefish after that plus some snappers.  then on the run in we saw a massive school of ladyfish in the hundreds and he must have caught 20-30 of them before they stopped hitting lures and we called it a day, what a way to end an awesome day!   The next two days I had now regular client David with his daughter Emma and her boyfriend Jackson.  Well, they caught a ton of yellow jacks and snappers until I told them the bonefish should show up soon once was the current was right.  Ha, it was right and Jackson landed two nice bonefish and David got one.  The following day long time client Chris and I fished with John and the weather was horrible so other than some snappers and barracudas, our full day trip was a half day as we ran back to the marina avoiding a massive storm that would flood most of the county for the next 48 hours.  On Sunday after the storm passed overnight I had a morning trip with David and an afternoon trip with Brad and Conor.  David needed up releasing two bones, one 8 lber and a massive 12-13 pounder before I dropped him off and picked up Brad and Conor who wants to fly fish for bonefish.  I took them to another flat and having timed the tides right, there were bones everywhere with a ton of shots at cruising and mudding fish.  Well, the guys landed one bonefish each on fly on their first time fishing in salt water, spoiled!  The following day I had another 2 trips with Jack and Jeff going two for three on bonefish on a very windy morning and then in the afternoon Josh and his 14 year old son Kiefer jumped aboard on a still very windy day and we focused on bonefish.  Keifer wanted to fly fish but in the wind that was out of the question.  The consolation was that they landed 12 bonefish out of 14 hooked.  What a trip and they were excited.  The last few trips of the month we basically focused on having fun catching different species mainly using spinning gear but slipping in a fly trip with Ian along the way.  The fishing has been fun on the last few days as clients have been catching lady fish and jacks on top water, snappers, and more bonefish.  It's been a great month and April should be the same.  I'm excited! 

Capt.  Mo Estevez 

786-853-1409

www.MiamiBonefishing.com

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing