January 31, 2014 Report

Bjorn and Don were aboard today to bend some rods and thaw out from the freezing temperatures back home. What were supposed to be calm conditions proved to be breezier than anticipated. We started off the beach looking for tarpon and while we found them, the building seas kept them scattered and unfishable. Moving back to the calmer inshore flats, this is where we would spend the rest of the trip. Although the fishing was slower than expected, we did catch a number of species including nice trout that ate soft plastics and live pilchards. Capt. Mo Estevez www.MiamiBoneFishing.com

January 28, 2014 Report

My trip today was in the afternoon with Jeff and his gang who needed a break from long business meetings. The calm days continue and the fishing keeps improving with the rising water temperatures. On board were Kate (A.K.A. "The trout catcher") and Greg. Kate definitely had the hot hand today, hence her newly acquired nickname. We caught some nice trout and then off to the beach to find tarpon in the calm waters. We found them alright, playful as ever but on a diet this afternoon. Jeff caught a nice mutton snapper who was quickly devoured by a big barracuda and left only the head as his souvenier. Capt. Mo Estevez www.MiamiBoneFishing.com

January 27, 2014 Report

Second straight trip with slick calm conditions, I can get used to this! Jim and John started the day today off the beach hunting for cruising tarpon. While we found them rolling and splashing, the 80-150lb tarpon we found had lockjaw. Moving offshore a bit to take advantage of the calm conditions the mackerel were waiting in the crystal clear 30' depths off Key Biscayne. Using lipped plugs and Tsunami spoons we released a few before the bite shut off. It was a great sight to see a school of 5-10 big mackerel following the hooked fish to the boat. Moving on to the finger channels we caught small grouper, snapper, big porgie, had some mackerel cut offs and lost a really nice fish to the rocks below. The day ended catching trout and Jim and John both caught trout as well as lost a few big trout along with a big mackerel or two. It was a gorgeous day with fish being caught and great company! Capt. Mo Estevez www.MiamiBoneFishing.com

January 25, 2014 Report

Wow, wow, wow! No wind this morning as Jim and Jane from S.C. boarded my skiff. This is crazy, 35MPH winds one day, calm the next. Oh well, I'll take it. We started off looking for bonefish in the slick calm conditions but water temps remain low, 63 degrees. Ouch. In spite of this , we did find several schools working the west side of the bay but they stayed just out of reach and all we could do was admire the big wakes they were pushing as schools of 10 plus pound bonefish cruised on by. The oceanside flats were unusually quiet so we went to a creek and went through 6 dozen shrimp catching snappers and laughing like crazy at a number of stories we shared and watching Jim lose quite a few nice fish. Jim and Jane were a blast! Capt. Mo Estevez www.MiamiBoneFishing.com

January 24, 2014 Report

Today Steve and his son Chase from Philly were aboard for a few hours of fishing and relaxing. They wanted to target big fish so that was our goal. With a steady 20 MPH wind from the north and low water temperatures we were a bit limited where we could fish but there are some hiding spots where tarpon typically gather this time of year. All the tarpon spots were empty this morning so off we went to chase monsters of the deep (big sharks on the flats). Arriving at a great shark flat we had ideal conditions, strong incoming tide, great visibility and a nice chum slick. It didn't take long for the big lemon sharks to move in and we had great shots at 5-7' lemon sharks in three feet of water close to the boat. However, perfectly placed casts were ignored as they would swim over our baits and ignore them. URGH!!!! After a half dozen sharks came in to our chum slick and ignoring our baits, the wind went from 20MPH to 30MPH within minutes! The gusts were as high as 35MPH and after this the fishing just shut down. We called it a day early and licked our wounds. What a tough day! Capt. Mo Estevez www.MiamiBoneFishing.com

January 19, 2014 AM and PM Report

AM Report Ryan and Danny from Canada were aboard this morning for a full day of fishing armed with flyrods and we faced a second straight day of brutally cold 43 degree air temperatures. As we idled out of the marina there was steam rising off the water. Water temperatures in the bay were a freezing 59 degrees at 7:30AM so the plan was to find warmer water. We fished finger channels and creeks and caught snappers on bait and fly and saw one school of bones on the oceanside but they saw us and were on heightened alert. Moving in to a creek I've been finding snook and tarpon, barracuda were the dominant species and we caught barracuda on fly. PM Report In the afternoon Corey, Debbie, Evelyn and their dog Riley joined me to share with Evelyn the flats fishing experience and conditions could not have been better. The winds we had all day on my earlier trip laid down and it became slick calm. With the end of the outgoing tide and slick calm conditions we headed oceanside for some bonefishing. The slow fishing that plagued the bay the last few days reveresed for us. As I started to pole we found a half dozen schools of waking and tailing bonefish including two schools that came right at us but ignored perfectly placed casts! Geeze! As the sun began to set we moved to the now crystal clear finger channels. We could see BIG mangroves and huge schools of snapper right under the boat that refused to bite. We did manage landing some of them but they certainly were there. Capt. Mo Estevez www.MiamiBoneFishing.com

January 18th, 2014 Report

What a relief, the winds were very light this morning giving us an opportunity to head offshore a bit and do some mackerel fishing. Tossing artificials we missed the hook set as a mackerel hit the plug right next to the boat. With another dozen boats around us not hooking up, we moved off. Ending up in the finger channels Pat and Steve sat back and watched Lawson have a ball catching a number of different species inclduding mutton snappers, mangrove snappers, big progies and more. At one point both rods were going off and lawson kept running from one rod to another making sure he didn't miss a fish! We went though 50 baits and that includes cutting almost all of them in half! Capt. Mo Estevez www.MiamiBoneFishing.com

January 16, 2014 Report

Matt and his dad Wayne from Canada were aboard today for some fishing and warm weather. Conditions were certainly tough with 30 MPH winds from the NW and the water in Biscayne Bay was so dirty it looked like chocolate milk making bonefishing out of the question. We fished for seatrout for a bit only to miss a few bites and losing one after watching it eat and do the trout headshake that so effectively dislodges hooks. Off to fish a creek for snapper, grouper and others and with dirty water the fishing was slow although we did catch mangrove snappers. Moving into a creek along the mainland shoreline we hid from the wind and had shots at about a dozen snook and baby tarpon. All for naught however as lock jaw plague these fish. Capt. Mo Estevez www.MiamiBoneFishing.com

January 14, 2014 Report

Steve was on the bow today with flyrod in hand looking for bonefish. Conditions were good with the start of the trip providing us with calm winds but quickly increased to 20 MPH winds from the SSW. Fishing was slow today but we did have several shots at a couple of schools of rare Biscayne Bay redfish and a big laid up snook. Capt. Mo Estevez www.MiamiBonefishing.com

January 12, 2014 Report

The bonefish is a fish that can change your life within seconds. One fleeting moment you are hooked up to a trophy fish most anglers will never experience and at other moments the level of frustration increases exponentially as they test your skill and determination. It is a psycological battle they are blissfully ignorant of but one that is very real and personal to the angler and guide. Jason from Australia experienced the latter today as he occupied the bow of my skiff. We had perfect bonefish conditions and spend the first two hours of our bonefish charter covered in schools of waking and tailing bonefish in super shallow, slick calm water. During this two hour period we had over twenty shots at over two dozen schools of bonefish, some tailing less than 20' from the boat! After the rust came off Jason's casting, he was making well placed casts in front of big schools of 10 plus pound fish only to be ignored. On one occasion we laid a perfect cast in front of a school of tailing bonefish that milled around his shrimp. Once the school moved off and no hook ups taking place, I was in disbelief as his hook came back clean. We missed the subtle take of a bonefish!!! Moving to the oceanside we got into more singles and schools. On another opportunity, a big school of bones pops out of the channel. They swarm all around our shrimp and no hook ups. Hooks came back clean!!!! URGH!!!!!! This is enough to rattle angler and guide alike. We ended the day having shots at an enormous amount of bonefish and missing on all three takes. On any other day we should have had 6 to 7 bonefish in the boat, all double digit weight fish. That's bonefishing!!! Capt. Mo Estevez www.MiamiBoneFishing.com

January 10, 2014 Report

A cold front that swept through Tuesday left a bit cooler weather behind but much warmer than the 10 degrees Richard left behind in Missouri. The fishing overall was slow today, much slower than anticipated. We did manage to catch a half dozen trout along with about a dozen other species. Once the tide turned the fishing did pick up and we ended the day in the finger channels catching a number of fish that kept us busy for the remainder of the day. This strange shark/skate came aboard and promptly released. You never know what you are reeling in down here! Capt. Mo Estevez www.MiamiBoneFishing.com

January 6, 2013 Report

Massive cold front approaching, 3,900 cancelled flights and long time client Glenn, was on the bow focused on the task at hand, hooking one of the many bonefish that were surrounding the boat. With perfect conditions we spent the first few hours surrounded by well over two dozen schools of bonefish in slick calm water only inches deep! We eventually hooked four fish and landed this double digit fish that almost spooled us. Every flat we went to held big bonefish but with only a couple of hours left and the wind picking up we decided to change gears and target other species. Glenn caught several nice fat trout and a huge lady fish that was in a big school of rolling fish. We ended the day with a short but fast run back to the marina successfully beating the approaching black storm clouds. We had a fantastic day with lots of drag screaming action! Capt. Mo Estevez www.MiamiBoneFishing.com

January 4, 2013 Report

Matt and his son Ryan were with me today to catch some fish and hopefully Matt's first bonefish. Conditions were certainly tougher than forecasted but we pressed on. With a good tide we set up on a favorite bonefish flat of mine and began to chum for bonefish. Ryan released a shark in the process but more sharks moved in and we had several cut offs so we moved off the flat and into the deeper channels for the snapper and grouper action that had been so great just two days before. Today however was much slower. While we did catch fish, the conditions proved to keep the bite slow and not as red hot as just days before. Capt. Mo Estevez www.MiamiBoneFishing.com

January 2, 2014 Report

Day two of fishing with Ed and the gang and the winds were a bit lower and from the south so this gave us an opportunity to fish shorelines a bit. We started on the leeward side of a point and had a school of redfish swimming toward us but they hit a deep trough and dissapeared before we could gt a good shot at them. We moved in to a favorite spot of mine and saw a big snook but no hook ups. We did land a few trout before moving back to the finger channels. Once at the finger channels we discovered the chum bag was missing but we made do with what we had and still caught fish and had a great time. Capt. Mo Estevez www.MiamiBoneFishing.com

January 1, 2014 New Year's Day Report

Happy New Year's everyone! Ed, his son, nephew and friend were aboard today to learn the ins and outs of successfully fishing Biscayne Bay. The morning started with a solid 20-23 MPH east winds and a white capped and frothy bay. We started fishing some grass flats for trout and while the fishing was slow due to dirty water, we did hook a few, landed a few more and missed a few more strikes. With the tide now in full swing, we anchored in one of the finger channels and didn't have to move for the rest of the trip. With a hot bite, we went through 72 baits in about an hour. We caught mangrove snapper, yellow tail snapper, trigger fish, mutton snapper, big grunts, large blue runners and red grouper. There were also several big fish that we couldn't turn or lost right at the boat before they were identified. The big heart break was Chris losing a monster that slammed the 10lb class braid outfit, ran about 100' against an almost locked drag only to break him off on the jagged rocks below. I'll lose sleep over that one tonight and I know Chris will also. Ouch! Capt. Mo Estevez www.MiamiBoneFishing.com