October 30, 2014 AM & PM Reports

AM Report Alain and his two sons were aboard again for a 3/4 day of shark fishing. The morning started off with a bang with them catching a number of large ladyfish, jacks, bluefish and barracuda, some of which I kept alive for shark bait. Zipping down to the flats we staked out and see a big shark in 3' of water with fins exposed cruising for an early morning meal. We staked out, butterflied the ladyfish and used the barracuda for bait. Not long after one of the rods goes off and a big shark is on! About 80 yards or more into the initial run the hook comes free and he is off. The rest of the trip found us trying to feed sharks but they refused every bait we pitched them. As we worked off the flat we found a school of about 10 3' lemon sharks and no matter what bait we tossed them they would either spook or ignore. Geeze!

PM Report Picking up Jack for an afternoon trip we worked several different areas before settling into a tarpon spot I have been fishing lately. We immediately see a few tarpon roll and we pitch live baits to them. Five minutes later we see one flash behind the boat and Jacks rod doubles over, a tarpon jumps and we are off to the races. Fourty five minutes into the fight we almost have him beat on 10lb class tackle but he makes a mad dash for the nearby bridge. In spite of our best efforts he wraps us in a piling and we fear the worst. Deciding to break him off I move the boat to the opposite piling and he comes off and swims into open water! Sigh! Not knowing what condition the braided line and leader is in we play him gently and finally get him to the boat. A miraculous ending to an exiting afternoon trip for both Jack and I! Capt. Mo Estevez www.MiamiBoneFishing.com

October 29, 2014 Report

Paul and his friend Bob were aboard today enjoying another breathtakingly gorgeous fall day. The morning started with them catching ladyfish, bluefish and jacks on light outfits. Moving on to trout we caught a few and then moved off to the flats. Staking out we waited for bonefish to move in with the incoming tide and had a few move in but they would spook before we could get off a cast. We finished the day shark fishing and having several big sharks come in to our slick but wanted nothing to do with our baits including one lemon shark in the 300lb range that swam 50' from the skiff, into our chum, swam over our baits and kept on swimming. Rather odd shark behavior! Capt. Mo Estevez www.MiamiBoneFishing.com

October 28, 2014 Report

David was back again and we started early fishing before sun up. Going back to the same area where I have been finding snook, we found tons of bait but the snook were scattered and not as aggressive as the previous trips. Not wanting to waste the live bait we had, the finger channels were next and there David caught, mutton snapper, BIG yellowtail snapper, grouper and one fish we couldn't get to the boat as it spit the hook after a 5 minute drag scorching fight. We ended the day shark fishing but we saw only one.

Capt. Mo Estevez www.MiamiBoneFishing.com

October 27, 2014 Report

Today from France came Alain and his two boys to fish Biscayne Bay after 10 years of not visiting our waters. We spent the day fishing a variety of areas using different techniques and caught high flying lady fish, trout, snapper, and bluefish. Tarpon fishing was slow and we had 6 big sharks move in close to the boat but stayed too far from the boat for a cast.

Capt. Mo Estevez www.MiamiBoneFishing.com

October 26, 2014 Report

N.E. fishing guide Jason climbed aboard and we spent the day looking for bonefish, permit and tarpon. Today was certainly a very slow day. Although we worked hard the entire trip, bonefishing was slow. Poling some bonefish flats we found tarpon that are usually around this time of year and had numerous shots at them on fly. We had two eat the fly but they spit the fly before Jason could strip strike them. One of the takes was awesome and classic tarpon. Jason cast the fly about 6' in front of the lead fish, let the fly sink and then gave it a long steady strip just a few feet from the tarpon. The fish immediately zeroed in on the fly, swam over and inhaled in just 20' from the boat in 2' of clear water. Just awesome!

Capt. Mo Estevez www.MiamiBoneFishing.com

October 25, 2014 Report

Regular client David and his friend Matt were aboard this morning for a short morning trip. We started off looking for tarpon but didn't find any. However, Matt did catch a big flounder on a live mullet. That is a rare occurrence for us since we don't have many flounders in Miami. Today however was an odd day. Staking out on one of my favorite flats, we deployed our baits and waited. Not long after three big sharks move in and circle the area where are baits were. This goes on for a couple of minutes and they move off! Huh? Ok, deep breath. Another shark moves in, lazily swims around our scent trail and moves off. I move off to another flat and one shark moves in and does the same. Unbelievable, did they forget they are sharks?! We ended the day fishing for trout. Capt. Mo Estevez www.MiamiBoneFishing.com

October 22, 2014 Report

TJ was aboard today as he was staying at a hotel down the street from the marina and we spent the trip catching an assortment of species while keeping an eye on the deteriorating weather. On the run back from the flats we had a water spout (marine tornado) just a few safe miles from us whirling away!

Capt. Mo Estevez www.MiamiBoneFishing.com

October 21, 2014 Report

Mike and his kids were in town from England on vacation so off we went for a half day of fishing the bay. We did a few types of fishing including tarpon and ended on the flats in search of big sharks. Not long after arriving one of the rods goes off and 150 yards of line were off the spool before I could get rods in and push pole out to chase the big lemon shark. 50 minutes later we got a very angry shark to next to the boat, took some pictures and let him go. The weather was tough but the fishing was good and these guys were troopers.

Capt. Mo Estevez www.MiamiBoneFishing.com

October 14, 2014 Report

Ed and Jeff from Chicago boarded for a 6 hour trip to see what Biscayne Bay was all about. With an early start, the snook were on fire again today along the shoreline by the marina. It was incredible! What was more incredible is that we didn't hook any in spite some good casts and snook feeding frenzies. It's always a double edged sword since the snook, usually ones and twos are blasting big schools of bait, are frenzied but the sheer number of baits makes it easy for your bait to disappear and they miss it. Today was one of those days. Moving on Ed and Jeff caught mutton snappers, a grouper and then off to the flats. It was windy enough to make bonefishing tough so we opted for sharks and Ed had his hands full. Hooking into one of the smaller sharks that were around, his 6 footer, 200lb lemon shark took the bait and rocketed off 200 yards off the reel before I could get the chum bag in and the push pole out of the bottom. Fifty minutes later Ed had the beast to the boat and a few pictures later we broke him off to fight another day. It was a great way to end the day!

Capt. Mo Estevez www.MiamiBoneFishing.com

October 13, 2014 Report

A lot was at stake today, Kent was celebrating his 40th birthday with his wife Stacey and two brothers all the way from Texas and I wanted to make sure they had a great day. There were two boats today and the second boat had his brothers. Loser buys dinner and you don't want to be the boat that loses on a brotherly wager like that! The day started slow with not much going on in spite of my best efforts and a 25MPH east wind. Kent wanted to try the flats and the flats were surprisingly clean so we staked out and looked for sharks. Kent got one on quickly and released a nice 4' lemon. The day ended with a bang as we released a solid 6 footer close to 200lb shark that took an hour to bring to the boat after peeling over 100 yards of line on the initial run! Happy Birthday Kent! Oh, he wasn't buying dinner that night!

Capt. Mo Estevez www.MiamiBoneFishing.com

October 12, 2014 Report

Local angler Alec had fished with me before and wanted to take advantage of some down time so we headed out early. The snook action was unbelievable! Snook, jacks, barracuda and snappers were busting bait at an incredible pace! You could see snook jumping out of the water as they fed on the bait schools. There were thousands of pilchards also where you could here them hitting the bottom of the boat in the 14" water we were in. Cast netting pilchards and mullet, we tossed both to the snook and hooked two but lost them both, including one well over 30". We also had several bites but no hook ups. As the sun grew brighter the bite stopped and we headed to the finger channels where Alec caught mutton snappers, BIG yellow tail snappers and grouper. It was a blast the the early morning action still has is both reminiscing!

Capt. Mo Estevez www.MiamiBoneFishing.com

October 11, 2014 Report

Regular client David was back aboard for a half day around Key Biscayne. The goal was to get into fish while avoiding the 20MPH winds that was chopping up the bay ans well as getting in before the Columbus Day craziness started. Staying close to the marina the action was fast courtesy of jacks, bluefish, and a couple of snook that took swipes at his lures. No tarpon were around today but mackerel and bluefish are starting to move and that is great news! Capt. Mo Estevez www.MiamiBoneFishing.com

October 9, 2014 Report

Mike and his friend were in town for some meetings and decided to take advantage of a free day. The morning started with tarpon but the action was slow. Switching gears we fished for sea trout and had good action, including some in the 20" range. The day ended shark fishing the flats ahead of a rainstorm that was fast approaching. Before we could get sharks to move in, a large stingray hooks up and is off to the races. We broke it off and moved to a bonefish flat to wait out the storm. As we waited, a school of bonefish moves in and starts feeding just out of casting range. Urgh! A few other bones moved in but stayed the same distance away and it was tough casting to them against a 20MPH wind. After a brief period of shark fishing we called it a day.

Capt. Mo Estevez www.MiamiBoneFishing.com

October 8, 2014 Report

Dustin was back but this time very focused on one species, tarpon. The two main places where tarpon had been holding continued to hold tarpon but the bite was tough. Cast netting finger mullet we moved into position in the middle of rolling tarpon and deployed the live baits. We waited, and waited and waited. One bite is the most attention we received from them in spite of a few tricks that had been working for me. We ended the day in more tarpon but this new group of fish proved to be as reluctant to feed as the others. Capt. Mo Estevez www.MiamiBoneFishing.com

October 7, 2014 Report

Wow, what a difference a day makes! Today Greg jumped aboard with Mike and we had to wait an hour at the boat ramp to wait out the rain. Once on the water, we got rained on for 3 1/2 of the 4 hour trip. These guys were troopers and stuck it out. Fishing was slow as we tried to dodge storm after storm but we picked up a few trout along the way. A break in the weather allowed us to hit the beach in search of tarpon busting mullet schools but no one home. We did run into a school of tarpon but jacks got to our lures before we could get a tarpon bite. We ended the day tarpon fishing in an area that has been producing for me and right before we had to call it a day a tarpon hits and Greg is on! Finally! After a nice fight, the spunky 40-50lb tarpon comes next to the boat for Greg's first tarpon. Awesome!

Capt. Mo Estevez www.MiamiBoneFishing.com

October 6, 2014 Report

Taking a break from a business conference, Greg and Bob jumped aboard and we headed out for a mixed bag of fishing opportunities. Staring at a trout flat, they caught numerous sea trout and lost quite a few more. Switching gears, we went in search of tarpon and while we found some, they were reluctant to bite. Bob did catch a nice spanish mackerel on artificial and that means they are getting here, awesome! Moving to another tarpon spot, Bob hooks a tarpon on artificial but it quickly comes off. Greg on the other hand hooks a nice fish and after taking some drag, it turned out to be a nice jack. We had a nice day with steady action and lots of jokes!

Capt. Mo Estevez www.MiamiBoneFishing.com

October 5, 2014 Report

Dustin and Shelby from Texas are in town for a conference and wanted to check out Biscayne Bay. Fall is definitely in the air with cooler air temps and mullet moving in daily. Working a bridge at 6:30AM we saw a few tarpon pop bait but no hook ups for us and didn't see a ton of them. We braved the 25 MPH winds and headed to the open flats for some shark fishing. Setting up, it took less than 30 minutes to get our first bite, an aggressive 4' lemon shark. We released him boat side and dropped a few more baits. Not long after another rod goes off and just a couple of minutes into the fight the leader parts and leaves us dissapointed the now free shark swims past the boat and he is a solid 6 footer if not bigger. Dang! A 3rd time the rod goes off and another shark races towards the horizon but this time the hook comes free. With improving weather we begin to fish for bonefish and end the day taking shots at 7 schools of bonefish in less than 2 hours, some of them a solid 10+ lbs! One shot Dustin took had the bait in front of two BIG bones and they went on either side of it and never saw/smelled it. Heartbreaker!

Capt. Mo Estevez www.MiamiBoneFishing.com

October 4, 2014 Report

I was off the water for almost a week having my boat worked on by the dealer Bob Hewes Boats. With new wiring, pumps, lights and everything working I am ready for another great fast paced season. David had bought his wife Pippa a full day on the water as a birthday gift and their two sons would come along for the trip. Staking out on a bonefish flat produced a few sharks but no bones. However, the speedy sharks gave Pippa and son Tom some drag burning thrills. Later in the afternoon, we went snapper fishing so 9 year old Doug can have some rod bending action and they caught snappers using up almost 60 shrimp I had in the well.

Capt. Mo Estevez www.MiamiBoneFishing.com

September 26, 2014 Report

Randy and his wife were in town to catch the Phillies vs Marlins baseball game and hoped aboard for a half day on the water. The tarpon from yesterday were MIA as were the ladyfish in the same area. Conditions were tough to fish the flats for bonefish with heavy cloud cover so we fished a few different flats and caught trout. A bit of tarpon fishing produced just a few rollers but no takers. However, we cast netted some live mullet and in the process saw a big snook cruising along the school. We came back to the mullet schools when we saw them showering as a predator had lunch. Randy cast the live mullet into the frenzy and immediately got an explosion on his bait but the fish missed the hookset. Capt. Mo Estevez www.MiamiBoneFishing.com