De Ja Vu? March 19, 2022

I had two trips scheduled today and my first trip was with Mark and his Kids Maggie and Darryl.  They wanted to target bonefish and we hooked up but something happened as Maggie was fighting the big bonefish that we couldn't figure out but the fish broke off.  We then switched to sharks and went 0-4 on sharks and they were behaving odd, not very aggressive and would barely eat the bait.  As we wound it down it was time to head back but Mark and Maggie really wanted to stay out fishing, but I had the afternoon trip already booked,.  When we got back to the ramp turns out my client was at the wrong marina and it would take him about an hour to get to where I was so we rescheduled for Sunday and off Mark, Maggie and I went back out.  

The second half of the tripw as better with them catching a variety of species in different spots including mangrove snappers, small mutton snappers, trigger fish, yellow jacks, big blue runners and more.  It was a long day but well worth it.  

Capt. Mo Estevez

http://www.miamibonefishing.com/

786-853-1409

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing

Desolation March 18, 2022

Well this hadn't happened in a while, getting skunked!  Travis was armed with a flyrod and his dad Glenn with a spinning rod and shrimp as we hunted bonefish.  With a 100% moon (full moon) I told them it would be epic or slim pickings since bonefish tend to gorge right until the full moon and then many of them go off and spawn offshore for a few days.  As I poled my favorite flats with the outgoing tides what should have been plenty of schools of mudding bonefish turned into a few schools here and there.  After a long flight from San Francisco that began at 4:30am, Travis told he he cared little if he caught anything and prefer good company.  Glenn was hilarious taking a few shots at bonefish while sitting down seemingly interrupted from his state of relaxation.  These guys were awesome and hilarious and although we didn't get any bonefish, we all had a great time.  

Capt. Mo Estevez

http://www.miamibonefishing.com/

786-853-1409

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing

Double Thursday March 17, 2022

The days have been merging one into the other with charters coming out of my ears and I lose track of time so I just realized today is St. Patrick's Day. Happy St. Patrick's Day!  

Maria was up first in the morning with fly rod in hand.  Maria and I have been fishing for years and and not only is she deadly with the flyrod but more importantly she is an amazing person that I love to spend time with.  I picked a snook shoreline and tied on a white baitfish pattern fly so Maria could blind cast the shoreline but first we had to blind cast the schools of mullet that were being popped by snook.  With no snook eating our fly we moved on to the shoreline where we had one snook bust on her fly but not get hooked and then another one track it out of the mangroves close to the boat before spooking out.  As we moved on to a shipwreck I noticed a giant mullet mud and tied on a mackerel fly that quickly yielded two bluefish before we moved on.  Once at the wreck Maria caught a few blue runners and ended the day with a small black grouper on fly.  

In the afternoon I had Dan, 12 year old David and 10 year old Harlen and we went straight to shark fishing that was on fire.  Here we hooked about 6 and got three to the boat, two for Davis and one for Dan.  The trip ended on another wreck where the kids figured out how to outsmart the trigger fish and snappers and loaded up cleaning out my livewell of the remaining live shrimp.  Thanks guys! 

Capt. Mo Estevez

http://www.miamibonefishing.com/

786-853-1409

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing

When the client is right and I'm wrong March 15, 2022

Alex has been fishing with me for years and we are more friends than client/guide and he had been texting me for days about the weather and the possibility of cancelling today.  The night before I looked at the forecast and told him 20+MPH winds, 50% rain and looks like it'll be a repeat of yesterday, doesn't look good.  While his son Matthew really wanted to go anyway we decided to cut the trip from 8 hours to 4 hours.  When we met at the marina it wasn't 20+ and the skies were clear and the weather only got better as the trip progressed.  Stop one was for tarpon to try and avenge the tarpon for a few years ago that ate Matthews bait and started jumping right at the boat only to spit the hook a few feet from the boat.  The tarpon numbers have definitely been increasing and I located more fish than yesterday.  Using live shrimp we were able to hook two big tarpon in the 100lb range, one for Alex and one for Matthew but unfortunately we lost both after a number of jumps and long runs.  

Switching it up after the schools decided to leave we worked jig and shrimp along structure in another area so Matthew can get his fill of "catching".  After he got that our of his system we turned to bonefishing and we gave it some time.  After missing a bite it was time to head in when suddenly Matthew hooks up and does a great job fighting his first bonefish.  Man what a close call that was, that was like 4th quarter, 2 seconds left and the offense scores on a hail Mary.  I love it!  

Capt. Mo Estevez

http://www.miamibonefishing.com/

786-853-1409

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing

It's not always sunny pictures March 15. 2022

The wind continues to howl since Saturday with today a steady 20 MPH gusting higher and I had two trips today.  The morning trip was with John and his son Dillon and we split the fishing between spin and fly fishing.  I located some tarpon and Dillon threw flies at them while John threw live shrimp but today they wouldn't play.  I was limited as to where we could fish because of the wind and almost constant rain but we ended catching a few jacks on fly before heading in.  

After going through what I did in the morning I warned Matt and Grace of the fishing and weather as they stood on the dock and asked them to think it through.  They thought it through and they we in so I idled out of the marina with only slightly better conditions.  I found some tarpon by a bridge and invested some time but no bites all the while taking waves over the bow in the rough water courtesy of a stiff 20 plus MOH east wind.  With the tide about perfect for bonefish I took them bonefishing and Matt caught his first bonefish.  Whew, I'm starting to feel better!  Then Grace says she wants to catch fish to eat so off we went to the spot that barely had any fish in the morning.  OK, it shouldn't come as a surprise at this point that the spot was really good with them landing a bunch of snappers, jacks, blue runners, big mojarras and small mutton snappers.  When it was time to head back Matt had scored his first bonefish, Grace had her fish to eat and the weather had cleared up significantly.  Wow, what a day.  I've been beat up and pounded by the weather all day.  I'm exhausted!  

 

Capt. Mo Estevez

http://www.miamibonefishing.com/

786-853-1409

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing

Meet Tyson the hero March 14, 2022

I had a two boat trip today where I had Mike and his 6 year old son Tyson aboard.  The trip was really for Tyson so off we went to get Tyson on some fish and keep him busy.  I have to tell you, he was really cute and really smart definitely outfishing dad.  Anyway, it was a cool trip with Tyson catching 11 fish (he kept track) and easily beat his brothers in the other boat.  You rock Tyson! 

Capt. Mo Estevez

http://www.miamibonefishing.com/

786-853-1409

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing

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