May 24, 2015 Report (CRAZY Tarpon Report!)

When I go to work everyday I never know what to expect and although I have seen a lot, Nick from N.Y. and I would experience something nerve wracking today. The plan was to tarpon fish early morning and then hit the flats to avoid the Memorial Day crowds. Arriving at tarpon spot number 1 we set up and I walk Nick through the intricacies of tarpon fishing on fly. No instruction I gave him could have prepared him for what would happen just minutes from now. Just minutes into casting at tarpon I see him strip strike, the rod bend and 130lbs of angry tarpon hits the air making several jumps right at us, 40' from the boat and closing! Nick stays tight to the fish and settles down into a long fight. Halfway through the tarpon takes us through a series of pilings and we manage to clear the menacing cluster. He was just getting us warmed up. After a brief tussle on the flat he hits deeper water and races to a nearby dock. In spite of our efforts and to our horror he gets us under a dock. My instincts kick in and I tell Nick to jump on the dock while I hold the fly rod. Once on the dock I give the tip of the rod to Nick, he grabs it on the other side and by now the tarpon is under another dock! He keeps the rod bent, I come around, Nick jumps into the boat and we speed to the next dock with the reel screaming. We repeat the process under and around a smaller, tighter dock with about 3 feet of clearance between pilings and while still handing the rod to Nick, the tarpon is under a 3rd dock! This is beyond crazy! Nick jumps into the boat on the other side of the dock and the 3rd dock is yet higher than the previous 2, they were getting progressively higher. Nick tries to jump on the dock and I grab his leg and lift him up with one arm and the fly rod in my other hand. I hand him the rod under the dock and go around for him to jump into the boat. By now the fish is out into open water where we managed to get the leader release, several times for good measure. Nicks tarpon makes another run for the docks again but we stop him short but 25' away as Nick is putting the pressure on the fish to get the hero shot and I get a DNA sample for the Bonefish and Tarpon Trust the fly line breaks where it had been shredded by the pilings. Nick got his tarpon and a workout to boot. What a morning!

Capt. Mo Estevez www.MiamiBoneFishing.com 786-853-1409 Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBoneFishing

May 23, 2015 Report

Mike and Jesus came in from Texas courtesy of their boss that treated them to a weekend in Miami for a job well done. After 1 1/2 hours of tarpon fishing and no bites but plenty of fish around we decided to change it up. Hitting the grass flats Mike and Jesus caught a bunch of trout, Jesus hooked and fought a spinner shark for a while and we were spared the unbearable Memorial Day boating traffic. Great job guys!

Capt. Mo Estevez www.MiamiBoneFishing.com 786-853-1409 Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBoneFishing

Very Proud Moment!

I opened my inbox this week and found out I was the recipient of TripAdvisor's Service Excellence Award. I truly have great clients and am thankful for the feedback everyone has provided to TripAdvisor over the last year. My goal is always to ensure my clients have a great time and catch fish and this is confirmation that I was able to accomplish just that with so many of you, thank you!

Capt. Mo Estevez www.MiamiBoneFishing.com 786-853-1409 Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBoneFishing

May 22, 2015 Report

Trevor and his brother in law John flew in to Miami to golf and fish so fishing we went. They really just wanted to keep the rods bent and catch lots of fish and not spend a long time waiting for bites so this is exactly what we did. Fishing close to the marina was good with a number of trout caught and many more missed and the weather was gorgeous. Wanting to show them more of the bay, we made a long run to some shallow water wrecks where there were schools of snapper, bar jacks and more within 20' of us and they could watch the fish swarm and eat their baits. So cool. We even had a pod of dolphins feeding 100' feet away. Our run back to the marina was slow due to a spun hub on the propeller but these guys kept me laughing and the back and forth teasing made the long trip more enjoyable.

Capt. Mo Estevez www.MiamiBoneFishing.com 786-853-1409 Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBoneFishing

May 20, 2015 Report

After a few unplanned days off, more details to follow in the next week, Eric jumps aboard and says tarpon fishing but I want to catch fish. That is right up my alley! We gave tarpon fishing 45 minutes and while there were a few rollers we didn't get a bite right away and I started to feel the natives getting restless. Or was it me getting restless? Oh well, we make a sure run to a trout flat and spent the balance of the trip catching a bunch of seatrout and there were many more which either came off or we missed the strike. We even a a docile 1,200 lb visitor next to the boat a number of times. You really can't beat fishing in Miami, you never know what you'll run into.

Capt. Mo Estevez www.MiamiBoneFishing.com 786-853-1409 Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBoneFishing

May 14, 2015 Report

My afternoon trip today was with A.J. and his 2 kids for a kids fishing session. I tried to talk the kids into letting dad tarpon fish for the first hour or two of the trip but they would have none of that. A.J. was awesome and agreed to just get some fish for the kids. Spot 1 was slow and I decided to make a long run to a small wreck inside the bay. The moment a bait hit the water near the wreck it was on! The first few fish we lost to a big barracuda but the 3rd fish we got in the boat and tossed it back out as live bait. Within seconds and just a few feet from the boat the 'cuda nails the bait and 9 year old Ava is on! A few minutes later the 'cuda make a jump and broke her off. With the 'cuda out of the way the kids proceeded to go through over 80 shrimp and caught so many fish they decided to take a break. I love it when that happens! At the end of the trip A.J. invited my family and I to watch him work and it was a blast! Thanks A.J.!

Capt. Mo Estevez www.MiamiBoneFishing.com 786-853-1409 Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBoneFishing

May 12, 2015 Report (Bonefish)

Local resident and regular client Steve hopped aboard for round 2 of tarpon fishing. Although there were fish around they weren't feeding so off to the flats we went trying to hide from the 20MPH winds with fly rod in hand. I pulled us in to the leeward side of a key that I like for bonefish and sure enough, here they came! School after school came through some of the schools were our average fish in the 8lb range with some a bit bigger but there were big schools of small fish in the 1-2lb range. I can't remember the last time I saw so many little bones. What a great sign for our fishery! On one of the schools Steve made a cast into the middle of them and in short order he was hooked up. Releasing the little bonefish as changed strategy and targeted some mutton snapper for dinner and mission was accomplished, bonefish on fly and fresh mutton snapper fillets for the table. Can't beat that!

Capt. Mo Estevez www.MiamiBoneFishing.com 786-853-1409

May 11, 2015 Report AM & PM Reports

AM Reports Matt and his 8 year old daughter Dianna jumped aboard for some tarpon fishing and smaller game for Dianna. Not long after our tarpon fishing efforts Matt hooks one in the 100 plus pound range. After an hour and 5 minute fight the tarpon breaks us off. Urgh! Dianna however was well pleased at this calamity as now she could catch fish after all. She asked if now we could "fish for real fish"! LOL Once she got a rod in her hand she was on fish on every cast until her hands hurt. What a blast with these guys.

PM Report In the afternoon Frank and Liz jumped aboard and wanted to catch some fish and have a good time. We started fishing for trout where Liz shook off the rust of not fishing for a while and started to catch trout after trout while out fishing Frank. We had a blast and I really enjoyed these folks. Capt. Mo Estevez www.MiamiBoneFishing.com 786-853-1409

May 7, 2015 Report

Local resident Carolyn and her son Jack jumped aboard for a tarpon trip. Fishing was generally slow but we found tarpon in two different spots and boy were they there! They were rolling, cruising and free jumping but in spite of our efforts they had lock jaw. At one point they were so thick under the boat that the water went from green to gray as a mass of tarpon swam and hung out right under the boat. We tried everything we could to get a hook up and get Carolyn her first tarpon to no avail. We switched to trout and they caught a number of trout including three nice ones for dinner along with a nice mangrove. Capt. Mo Estevez www.MiamiBoneFishing.com 786-853-1409

May 6, 2015 Report

From Philly on a business trip came Mike and Chris and took advantage of the day for a day on the water. Yesterday the weather was absolutely brutal but today was a different story. No cooperating tarpon around but we caught a number of trout and had a blast with these crazy guys!

Capt. Mo Estevez www.MiamiBoneFishing.com 786-853-1409

May 3, 2015 Report

Mike and his wife came down from Canada and the original plan was to hit the flats in the search for bonefish. However, with over 20 MPH winds the original plan was scrapped and we took advantage of the lighter than usual boat traffic and spent an hour tarpon fishing. While the tarpon fishing was slow we switched to fishing for sea trout and had a blast catching a number of them.

Capt. Mo Estevez www.MiamiBoneFishing.com 786-853-1409

May 2, 2015 Report

Jeff and his wife were aboard today for a laid back day of fishing on Saturday morning and that's exactly what we did. Beating the weekend boat traffic we fished the grass flats for sea trout using artificial lures and kept the rods bent while enjoying the great weather. Capt. Mo Estevez www.MiamiBoneFishing.com 786-853-1409

May 1, 2015 Report

Rob and his dad climbed aboard for a full day of tarpon fishing. The day started promising with lots of rolling tarpon at spot 1 but nothing I tried could get them to eat. We ended the day covered in rolling, cruising and free jumping tarpon without a bite. What a frustrating day! Capt. Mo Estevez www.MiamiBoneFishing.com 786-853-1409

April 30, 2015 Report (Tarpon!)

After a few days off due to engine problems and severe weather I was back on the water today with Adam and wife Lee from N.Y. Last time Adam and I fished he caught a trophy 35lb permit and today the goal was tarpon. The weather was still iffy but under dark skies and brisk breeze we headed out. About an hour into the trip a big tarpon comes up to one of our baits and takes a swipe at it but missed the bait. As the tarpon activity around us dwindled and the wind increased we moved to another spot that proved to be the winner. Less than 10 minutes after setting up Adam's rod goes off and he's on to a nice tarpon. Thirty minutes later we had the leader release and 10 minutes after that we had the photo op with Adam's first Miami tarpon.

Capt. Mo Estevez www.MiamiBoneFishing.com 786-853-1409