Oh it started! March 12, 2022

Ha, the forecast was right for once!  Boy that wind, oh my!  Mike and Corey had a half day with me today and when we idled out of the marina the wind wasn't too bad, the water temps were great and we had just about the perfect tide for tarpon and bonefish.  Stop one was the same bridge where I found some tarpon yesterday and the hunt began.  As I scanned the bridge with my Raymarine I could see 2-3 tarpon on every other span but no big numbers like yesterday.  The biggest group we saw was about 6 fish, not enough to keep me there fishing 6 fish plus something in my gut compelled me to go bonefishing instead.  I moved off the bridge, made a run to a bonefish flat and staked off in order to mitigate some of the now 18 MPH winds.  I was happy we were in a bit of a lee and the tide was pouring out so I was feeling like we were where we needed to be.  Thank God I was proven right because just a few minutes in the rod doubles over and Corey quickly tries to react before the rod straightened back up in almost an instant.  Dang it, that was the first bonefish of the morning.  Just a few minutes later the rod doubles over again and this time the fish stayed on leading to Corey's first bonefish a few minutes later.  Yes!  After the release the wind started to increase and the fishing shut down.  The next spot yielded a bunch of snappers for Mike and the last spot was dead except for Mike's nice 5-7lb jack.  By this time the wind was all of 25 plus miles an hour and increasing by the minute.  Whew, we got it done before it got really bad.  

Capt. Mo Estevez

http://www.miamibonefishing.com/

786-853-1409

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing

The calm before the storm March 11, 2022

 All hell is supposed to break this weekend starting tomorrow morning with winds in the 30MPH range but the important thing is that it wasn't happening today when John boarded my skiff.  Man John was such a laid back guy and so fun to fish with.  He wanted to target tarpon and bonefish, oh and snook and permit so we targeted the ones that would give us the best shot in our 4 hour trip.  With the outgoing tide I went back to where I had found some tarpon two days ago and they were still there but this time there were a few more.  So, I set up and deployed two baits and not long after John hooked a 50lber that jumped and spit the circle hook.  About 10 minutes later we got hit again but no hook up and then a third time before the action died off.  

I looked around a few more places for tarpon but there were just a few fast moving schools so we targeted bonefish and John went 1 for 1 landing his first bonefish and a solid 10 pounder.  Wow!  We headed in after a few minutes and enjoyed the glory.  

Capt. Mo Estevez

http://www.miamibonefishing.com/

786-853-1409

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing

They're back! March 10, 2022

All the way from frosty Chicago came Jeff and Drew.  This father son duo are so much fun to fish with and Drew is a fishing junkie.  We usually fish several times a year and they were in town for spring break and Drew wanted tarpon.  Drew has wanted tarpon for a long time and it seems every time we fish they are MIA.  And....the streak continued.  Tarpon fishing in Miami so far has been the worst I've ever seen but I found a few for Drew around bridges but they wouldn't eat as tarpon often do or don't.  With the wind blowing harder by the hour I took advantage of the tide and went bonefishing.  Not long after I spotted a couple of bonefish moving in, we made a good cast in front of them and a few minutes alter Drew had his biggest bonefish to date in hand.  Nice!  Not long after Drew hooked an even bigger fish that gave him some incredible runs but spit the hook moments after splashing his tail in the grass.  I think the bonefish probably rubbed the hook out when he tailed.  After it slowed down we ended the day on a high note catching some mangrove snapper dinner for the family to enjoy.  Congrats on the bonefish Drew! 

Capt. Mo Estevez

http://www.miamibonefishing.com/

786-853-1409

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing

Two great families March 9, 2022

I had two families today and the morning trip was with Mike and his 9 year old son Jackson.  The goal was to keep the rods bend and make sure Jackson caught some fish and he sure did.  He kept busy fighting jacks and snappers and had a blast.  

The afternoon trip was with Aaron, 13 year old Haley and 9 year old Troy.  Man these kids can fish.  Aaron let the kids stay busy and enjoyed watching them compete to see who caught more fish.  They caught mangrove snapper, yellow tail snapper, barracuda, chubs and yellow jacks.  In the end Troy won, 14 fish to 13 fish plus dad caught three for a grand total of 30 fish.  LOL these kids were great!

Capt. Mo Estevez

http://www.miamibonefishing.com/

786-853-1409

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing

After the wind March 8, 2022

Work came to a halt over the weekend thanks to steady 30 MPH winds but they laid down on Monday so I Alec and I went ahead with our scheduled trip.  We looked for tarpion and found a few resident fish but no go.  In the process Alec caught a few nice mutton snappers that were mixed in with the school of tarpon.  After giving bonefishing a try and missing a bite we hit a channel and had fun catching fish, snappers and jacks.  Alec then wanted to shark fish so we hit the flats and the sharks were on fire swimming around the boat and our baits like crazy.  The problem? They were acting strange as they would eat the baits but not get hooked as they were not being aggressive.  We ended with about 8 or 9 bites, lost three after long runs and had a few more spit the bait.  Hmmm, weird.   

Capt. Mo Estevez

http://www.miamibonefishing.com/

786-853-1409

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing

More Doubles March 4, 2022

My morning trip was with Owen and David and we started off tarpon fishing finding a few and throwing flies and baits but it was an eco tour.  We switched off to bonefish which was also slow with the highlight was David hooking a stingray.  I wrapped up the morning trip using bait and the guys catch a bunch of fun jacks and it was all going great until.....David caught a remora....that was attached to a big bull shark and well that was the end of that as the bull shark scared the fish and they wouldn't bite.  

The afternoon trip was with Jay and his son Josh from Canada.  I changed it up and went straight to a finger channel and used jig and shrimp to keep the guys busy and they quickly racked up a ton of snappers, yellow jacks, barracudas and other species.  

Capt. Mo Estevez

http://www.miamibonefishing.com/

786-853-1409

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing

Three Days with Kent and Jeremy March 1-3, 2020

Kent is one of those guys that is a blast to be with and we fish throughout the year and always have a blast.  For these three days he came with his friend Jeremy and the theme of the three days was a sarcastic "watch and learn".  This was due to the mess I was on numerous occasions over the course of the three days but I won't expand on that in order to not humiliate myself.  I blame it on these two crazies and keeping me distracted.  Anyway, over the three days they caught snook, barracudas, sharks, tons of snappers and shots at bonefish on fly.  Man we had a blast and I can't wait for the next round of the Kent and Jeremy show.  

Capt. Mo Estevez

http://www.miamibonefishing.com/

786-853-1409

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing