September 27, 2015 Report (Snook fest!)

On a guides day off my buddy Chris and I took his micro skiff down to the Everglades for some relaxing fishing for snook, tarpon and redfish. While we didn't see many reds we didn't even notice their absence due to the presence of so many snook and tarpon. Our first shoreline at first light held tons of small tarpon but wouldn't eat a perfectly tied dark tarpon fly. Once the switch was made to a gurgler, it was on! chris polled me into a creek we had heard some bait being busted and the tight creek gave me just enough room to make a cast a few seconds after a big explosion took place. Fly lands, strip, strip, strip, explosion, jump, jump, jump, tarpon on! Cool! The activity spooked the rest of the fish in the creek and fine by use as there were about 200 mosquitoes all over us. Another spot produced a snook for me and a couple more bites for us. After tucking into a creek to best avoid a rainstorm, the fishing just exploded in the calm after the rain. Total tally was 1 tarpon on fly, 12 snook, four trout, and well over a dozen missed bites by snook and tarpon as they would explode on the lure but not get hooked. I love a day off!

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

September 26, 2015 Report (Snook/Shark)

Local angler Richard jumped aboard and we hit the snook creeks before sunrise. The action was solid but very frustrating. Fishing top water they would explode on the lure but not get hooked. One of them hit the lure so hard it knocked it a foot into the air and still came back to hit it! Fishing a few different spots we decided to forgo bonefishing and look for something bigger. Shark! Setting up on a flat it didn't take long for them to move in and we released 2 sharks in the 5 foot plus range and lost one bigger to a pulled hook. Not bad for 3' of water!

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

September 21, 2015 Report

What a difference a day makes. Today, regular client Ed was aboard out of the Ocean Reef Club and I sped right to the same stretch of shoreline that had produced 2 hours worth of steady bonefish action 3 days ago. Only a few tails appeared. Not much was going throughout the day but Ed did have a shot at a big permit cruising right towards us and we ended the day targeting mutton snapper and big mangrove snapper on fly. Capt. Mo Estevez www.MiamiBoneFishing.com 786-853-1409 Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBoneFishing

September 20, 2015 Report (Bonefish Bonanza!)

Jonathan from VA jumped aboard this morning while still dark and the goal was bones, tarpon, and permit on fly. We set up on a bridge that has been holding tarpon but not today. Spot two produced two snook bites but no tarpon so we were off to go bonefishing and permit fishing. A long run later we arrived at one of my favorite spots under perfect conditions. Immediately there were a few tailing permit but they stayed out of casting distance. Then it got REALLY good! Working an area approximately 100 yards long, the bonefishing was unbelievable with school after school coming in and most of them allowing us to get off casts at them. Jonathan dropped the fly in front of these fish a number times just perfectly, including big tailing bonefish, only to be ignored. Changing flies several times was to no avail. OK, time to using spinning gear! Armed with a spinning rod Jonathan proved to be a sniper and made some solid casts time and again only to be ignored. What's up with that? Finally after 3 solid hours of constant casting at schools of bones he hooks up and several long runs later lands the prize we had worked so hard for, his first Miami bonefish. Congrats Jonathan, that was well deserved! What an amazing morning! I love my job!

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

September 19, 2015 Report

Dianna and her husband Dennis jumped aboard this morning to soak in the gorgeous Miami weather and experience Biscayne Bay. We started with a run south to the flats and target sharks but something was off. My regular shark flats had little to no current, weird! I finally found good current on a flat and set up. Within minutes the sharks rolled in 2 at a time. I told you something was off. The sharks would come into our slick, sniff around, look at our baits and move off without eating. HUH? Two subtle bites with no hook ups is all we managed in spite of our best efforts. I would cast baits in front of them, the bait would flutter in front of them and they would turn away. Can someone remind them they are SHARKS?! We finished the day catching sea trout on artificial lures in the shadows of the Miami skyline. Capt. Mo Estevez www.MiamiBoneFishing.com 786-853-1409 Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBoneFishing

September 18, 2015 Report

I was out of North Key Largo today at the Ocean Reef Club where I picked up Jay and his wife Dhuy. This was just an incredible morning, slick calm, 76 degrees and clear skies. What a difference from yesterday! I had bonefish on my mind and when they jumped aboard and said "we'll fish for whatever you think is best" I slammed on the throttle and headed to one of my favorite bonefish spots in the area. Arriving we could already see schools of bones moving about, I love it! School after school moved through and Jay and Dhuy must have had well over a dozen to a dozen and a half shots at schools of cruising and tailing bonefish. Jay was on point with most of his casts and Dhuy made some good ones as well but no hook ups. HUH???? Several times they both laid out great casts and the fish would move over them almost guaranteeing a double hook up, but nothing. Several times I saw the schools mover over their baits, mill about for a few seconds and then leave. Unbelievable! Liking our wounds we decided to shark fish in order to win the friendly bet Jay had with his buddy on another boat. Ten minutes after setting up for sharks Jay gets a call from his buddy asking for a tow because their guide boat broke down. Off we went to tow the other boat in and call it a day. So frustrating!!!!

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

September 17, 2015 Report

Chris is a local angler and last year we had fished together with his grand daughter Nicole who fought a bog tarpon for over 30 minutes. Today Nicole was on board with Chris and her sister Blue. We took advantage of the calm conditions and got into a few schools of bonefish and redfish but we didn't hook any. Switching gears I tied on some top water lures and hit the creeks for snook. Both Blue and Nicole got the hang of throwing these lures right along the mangrove shoreline and each had snook blow up on their top water lures but didn't get hooked. Yikes! As we were making our way into one of the creeks I hear a loud splash and when I look bak there was a 30 plus pound permit tailing! I poled them over, got into position and Chris made a cast but the permit had disappeared. Staying patient we stuck around and the permit popped up again but now he was about 60' away and moving towards deeper water. With the storms starting to surround us we fished a few other spots where they caught sharks, mutton snapper, yellow tail snapper, porgy, white grunts, runners and a small grouper. When the storms finally cleared we hit the flats for bones but didn't find any. I started the motor and got on plane just a few hundred feet before a significant line of showers were to hit us. The weather down here has been terrible the last week and today we were surrounded by storms and showers but never got a heavy rain on us. Capt. Mo Estevez www.MiamiBoneFishing.com 786-853-1409 Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBoneFishing

September 12, 2015 Report

Tommy had tried to book me last year but his travel plans fell apart but this year he finally got down here and we were off to fish the flats. But first we would fish a few spots for tarpon. Spot one had no tarpon but Tommy got a nice hit from a snook. Only one of the spots produced tarpon but we those tarpon wouldn't bite. On the flats we didn't find the bonefish and permit we were looking for but couldn't resist the sharks that were prowling about so we took advantage of what the day offered. Tommy ended up landing 3 separate species of sharks before we headed in.

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

September 11, 2015 Report (Mahi mahi & snook!)

I can honestly tell you I hate 9/11, it brings back the worst of memories and still raw emotion but David was once again on board and I was excited at the prospect of this morning. Meeting up at the marina while still dark, we ran offshore for some dolphin (mahi mahi) fishing. Yep, in my 16' Hewes. The weedlines were scattered and few in number but we finally found one that had bait and lots of activity. While it yielded only one dolphin, David caught a number of small amberjack on bait and on a fly rod. The glass calm water was quickly disturbed by wind around 9:30am so we headed to an inshore snook spot where David got a nice snook and some tough fighting jacks. What a nice trip this morning with David catching his first dolphin and snook. I love it!

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

September 8, 2015 Report

Client and friend David sweet talked his wife into coming this morning so she can catch her first shark. We stopped off at a spot to catch live bait for shark fishing and the weather immediately began to deteriorate. After catching bait along with a number of short mutton snappers we headed to the flats. Thirty minutes into our shark fishing the lighting began to intensify and the storms started to encircle us so we had to cut it short and head back in. Bummer! Capt. Mo Estevez www.MiamiBoneFishing.com 786-853-1409 Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBoneFishing

September 5, 2015 AM & PM Reports

AM Report Kurt is a local regular client of mine and I always enjoy fishing with him and his kids. Today however, the kids were out of town and his girlfriend Annie joined him. We aught a few trout at our first spot but it proved to be slower than I would have liked. Taking them to another spot we missed a few nice bites from snook, landed a few fish for dinner and lost a couple more bruisers to the rocky bottom below. At our last spot the fish were in thick on the shallow wreck and the action was immediate. They landed a few more fish for dinner and cancelled the dinner plans they had for the night. Cool!

PM Report Locals Eric, his daughter Margaret and her husband Josh jumped aboard for my afternoon trip and off to the flats we headed to avoid the Saturday Labor Day boat traffic as well as the storm brewing over the area we were going to fish initially. The flats had activity despite the high water, the calm windless conditions working in our favor. Eric and Josh had a few shots at a permit cruising right towards us and then a BIG school of bonefish that came right at us. With the storm now intensifying towards our west, north and south we took the safe route and began shark fishing while waiting to see if the storm would clear. Unfortunately, 10 minutes into shark fishing we made the call to head in a few minutes early to avoid the massive lighting activity starting to move towards the marina. We made it just in time with only a few sprinkles to deal with. The weather has been crazy the last few days. Capt. Mo Estevez www.MiamiBoneFishing.com 786-853-1409 Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBoneFishing

September 3, 2015 Night Report

At 8:30pm William, Mike and Spence jumped aboard for some night fishing. Waiting for the tide to turn in order to fish for tarpon, we hit a few flats using artificial lures. There was tons of bait on the flats and Spence lost a couple of nice fish on one of the flats. Once the tie turned we went to a nearby bridge and that was the last spot we would need to fish. Around the shadow line of the bridge you could see a few tarpon busting bait and schools of mullet being harassed by other predators. While we never hooked a tarpon, we had plenty of action by high flying ladyfish on several different lures. The night was just perfect, no wind and in the high 70's. Couple that with fish taking drag and the gorgeous Miami skyline and it was a great night with a bunch of great guys! Capt. Mo Estevez www.MiamiBoneFishing.com 786-853-1409 Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBoneFishing

September 1, 2015 Report

Today I had Ian, Setanya and Greg on board for a half day of fishing the bay. While Ian is a regular angler, Setanya and Greg had never fished before but it didn't take long for them to get the job done. After a quick lesson and a few tips they were off to a great start. Ian began with the hot hand and landed a few trout in short order but not long after Setanya was quickly on the board with her first trout. It took a bit but Greg landed his and I could breathe a sigh of relief. We ended the trip with Sentanya having landed the most fish and proving that girls out fish boys!

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