The Half Day that took two days April 25/26, 2023

How does that even happen?  Well, it starts with Dan and Bryce jumping aboard and then all hell breaking loose on the day we were fishing.  We got 2 hours in before storms and lighting ran us off the water but not before Bryce got a solid 10 pound bonefish out of it.  He hooked up right as the storm cells were forming so his timing was great and then we sped off to the marina to try and wait it out.  We waited for a while and all indications were this storm was going to take a while so we called it a day.  Since I was off tomorrow we decided to fish two hours the following morning. 

The following morning (today) was absolutely perfect in every way...except there was little to no tidal movement anywhere we went.  You know that this means?  Slow fishing.  In the process of me stressing out for two hours Dan got a bite but didn't hook up.  Yikes!  I decided to give the guys a bit extra time to see if we can get Dan his first bonefish but there was nothing moving.  Once again, right before I tell the guys it's time to head in a school moves through and Dan hooks and lands a nice 8lb bonefish.  Whew, that took years off my life!  

Congrats guys and thanks for sticking it out.  

Capt. Mo Estevez

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It's all a matter of timing April 22, 2023

Chester and I have fished plenty before and he brought his friend Mike along this time and man I was really hoping for a decent day because it has been tough.  The morning started with us looking for small tarpon to catch on top water lures.  I found some right where they should be but they were tough to convince to eat a plastic.  After fishing a few more spots for tarpon and snook and drawing blanks it was time to bonefish.  Once we started our bonefish hunt it was slow, really slow but eventually a schooled popped up and Mike got his first bonefish. Whew, that's a relief.  Now it's Chester's turn.  Chester really wanted to catch his first permit since he had already caught bonefish with me before but that looked like a tall order on a day like today.  I had just told him I tend to see permit in this area in the summer time when a school moved in and ate his live shrimp. Oh my Lord!!!!!  It was awesome and it happened moments before I told the guys we had to start heading in.  What timing Chester!!!!

Capt. Mo Estevez

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The Grind has Begun :( April 21, 2023

I saw this coming as the new moon stayed at around 0-2% for far too long.  What this means is that fishing generally becomes tough for pretty much almost all species and this was proven today.  My morning trip was with Jordan and we went straight to fish for fun yellow jacks on light tackle.  We got there, hooked up almost immediately and then there was silence.  We moved around a lot looking for fish and settled on fishing for bonefish as everything else was slow.  Again, it was a grind but Jordan got his first bonefish, albeit a small 2 pounder, but it slipped back into the water before we could get a pic.  

My afternoon trip was a 6 boat trip I organized and I had Seth and George aboard.  Seth really wanted bonefish while George was here for the relaxation.  The first flat of the trip was great with a few schools of mudding bonefish but the casts were off just enough to have the bones miss the live shrimp.  While we were poling George caught a cool bonnet head shark.  OK, off to another spot and George was on pretty quickly to his first bonefish.  Yes!  It took a bit but Seth hooked up to a nice bone that eventually came off during one of the long runs.  Almost right before we called it a day Seth hooked up and landed his first bonefish.  I won't get into the details but this meant the world to Seth and of course to me as well.

Capt. Mo Estevez

http://www.miamibonefishing.com/

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On the Fly April 20, 2023

I had Jackson for a full day of bonefishing on fly.  We started off hot with Jackson landing a nice bonefish on the 3rd cast of the trip.  Wow!  Not longer after he got another one but this one ate the fly while it was sinking.  What?!  It looked like Jackson cast the shrimp pattern right into the open mouth of another nice bonefish.  A bit later he got his third one before things got slow and we spent the rest of the day looking for bonefish and permit but cloud cover made things tough.  

Capt. Mo Estevez

http://www.miamibonefishing.com/

786-853-1409

Follow me on Instagram a  @MiamiBonefishing

Father and Son Killed it April 19, 2023

 Blaine and his son Dennis hit it right.  We started off with great weather and schools of mullet getting crushed by nice sized jacks all around us.  I couldn't pass that up so we focused on them first using top water skitter walks and that was a blast!  They both caught jacks on top water with Dennis releasing the biggest one and we also had some snook hit and miss the top water lures.  On one occasion a jack hit the plug so hard it went 4' in the air!  After having a blast with jacks we focused on bonefish where the guys ended up going an incredible 10 for 12 in the last two hours of the trip.  Crazy!

Capt. Mo Estevez

http://www.miamibonefishing.com/

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Oh this was a good day! April 18, 2023

 Blaine fished solo today and we had a really good time with good conversations.  He had never caught a bonefish and wanted to catch one, just one would be OK.  Well, we had a full day to get it done and the morning started off slow, I was worried, not again!  Eventually I found some fish and they started moving really well and Blaine got his first one to the boat.  A while passed and the wind churned up slowing the fishing down but as soon as the wind settled and fish were on the move again and Blaine ended the day with a half dozen bonefish.  He was pooped.  Good job bonefish! 

Capt. Mo Estevez

http://www.miamibonefishing.com/

786-853-1409

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing

The Two Extremes Again April 15-17, 2023

As I always point out, I have to be ready for the two extremes in my line of work and the last two days were a good example.  Saturday I fished with Syd and his two grandkids Charlie and Alan, 9 and 11 years old.  The goal was to get them on lots of fish and they caught a bunch of snappers, some jacks, mojaras and a few more.  They were great kids and Syd was a pleasure.  Based on the incredible boat traffic and the boat ramp filling up fast even before 7am I decided to take Sunday off.  

Come Monday I was back to work with Joe and his friend in order to do some bonefishing.  We had great conditions and the guys were great to fish with.  Thankfully the fishing has dramatically improved and I was almost all alone out in Biscayne Bay after a super busy weekend.  Well, the guys took full advantage of the conditions and the cooperative bonefish and they ended up landing about a half dozen bones including Joe's biggest bonefish to date.  Nice!  

Capt. Mo Estevez

http://www.miamibonefishing.com/

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Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing

Gas Shortage?! April 14, 2023

OK, so Tuesday through Thursday it rained, a lot and then I started to see lines at the gas stations in my area.  What is that all about?  Well, I read the local news and the fuel transfer pumps at the port were flooded and there was no fuel being delivered.  Thankfully I had almost a full tank in my truck and boat so I was able to fish with Mark and his friend today.  The guys wanted to fish Biscayne Bay for the first time and we had a blast catching jacks and then using the jacks for sharks.  We hooked 6 sharks and landed two.  Very good morning and fishing has finally turned around.  Now let's see about that gas shortage.  

Capt. Mo Estevez

http://www.miamibonefishing.com/

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Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing

The Highs and Lows April 8-10, 2023

Over the last few days there hasn't been much to report other than unusually slow fishing and some weird weather.  On Saturday the 8th regular client Paul and his boys were with for in the morning for shark fishing and we lost one shark.  It was tough fishing on what is usually almost guaranteed.  The Saturday afternoon was with Chris for bonefish on fly and we found some mudding bonefish but after those shots it was a dead zone.  

However, on Monday Keith was on board for a half day and he landed his first bonefish, what a thrill!  It's been tough fishing lately but there have been some silver linings.  

Capt. Mo Estevez

http://www.miamibonefishing.com/

786-853-1409

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing

Way too crazy a pattern April 4-7, 2023

This was a weird week.  I had Thursday off in order to have the boat get some much needed service but Tuesday through Friday were pretty odd with fishing really tough to nail down a pattern.  So Tuesday Joe and I fly fished for bonefish and the incoming tide was dead but the fish we saw and shots we had were all on the outgoing tide.  We had a shot at permit and a few mudding and cruising bonefish, it wasn't super slow but it wasn't great.  I was waiting for the moon phase to be just right and these bonefish gorge before their spawn but it wasn't today.  But, you know when that big feed before the spawn was?  The day after on Wednesday when Chris and his son fished with me and went 11 for 13 on bonefish, lost a snook and then missed a bonefish eat on fly.  Wow!  Then, Friday rolls around with Joe again and it was dead zone, all over the place.  Incoming, outgoing, shallow, deep, it didn't matter, it was one of those tough days when you just can't buy a fish.  Where were all the bonefish not spawning this month? Just crazy! 

Capt. Mo Estevez

http://www.miamibonefishing.com/

786-853-1409

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing

Chloe just beat you! April 3, 2023

I had Raymond and his two girls this morning, 13 year old twins Chloe and Jaime.  They wanted to catch a lot of different fish and we did just that.  The girls caught innumerable numbers of snappers, jacks, barracudas and more but the fishing was on and off.  We would get to a spot, it was great and after a little bit it would shut down.  Well, anyway, with enough fish in the boat and 45 minutes left I told them the tide was right for bonefish and they were game.  Here we staked off and waited for the schools to swim through and cast at them.  The first school moved through and we hooked up but the fish spit the hook.  Not so on the second school where Chloe hooked up and landed her first bonefish.  So cool! 

Capt. Mo Estevez

http://www.miamibonefishing.com/

786-853-1409

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing

New Start April 2, 2023

Father/son team Bill and Dakota were aboard today form some bonefishing for their first time.  We've had some weird ups and downs lately so I was holding my breath but not long into the trip we start to see schools of bonefish swimming through and first up was Bill who made a good cast in front of the school.  Bill did his part and then the bonefish did their part, kid of.  Bill hooked up and then the bonefish immediately spit the hook three feet into what looked like a long run.  Ouch!  A few schools later we found a school tailing in 14" of ultra calm water slowly moving to the left and Dakota made a perfect cast without spooking the school and was rewarded by a solid hook up, long runs and his first bonefish.  Way to go Dakota!  

Capt. Mo Estevez

http://www.miamibonefishing.com/

786-853-1409

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing

Wrapping it up March 27-31, 2023

The last few days I've been booked for a wide variety of trips, everything from bonefish on fly to just catching whatever is biting.  Fishing with local client Alec on Monday we focused on snook and sharks and it was generally slow with the sharks behaving out of sorts refusing to eat fresh fish chunks on the flats.  Wednesday and Thursday we were once again targeting whatever was biting on spin and fly with varying degrees of success but the yellow jacks saving the day.  On the last trip of he month I fished with Chris for bonefish on fly and spin and the conditions were pretty tough with a steady 20 MPH wind but Chris did get his first bonefish during our trip before we decided to head it and call it early as the conditions deteriorated.  It's been a really busy month but it's been a fun one! 

Capt. Mo Estevez

http://www.miamibonefishing.com/

786-853-1409

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing

Sunday in and out March 26, 2023

I was really trying to take Sunday off to get some rest and avoid the weekend craziness but Eric called looking to take his daughter Emily fishing and it was hard to say no.  OK, we meet up at 7am and head out to a finger channel that has been really productive.  Somehow, no one was around so it was nice and relaxing.  Well, not that relaxing since this channel has been holding tons of big hard fighting yellow jacks with 200-300lb bull sharks constantly trying to eat them when we hook up.  I warned them this would be hand to hand combat and used 4000 size reels with locked drags and handed it to them.  I explained what to do and it wasn't long before they started hooking up and doing a madman race to get the fish to the boat before the bull sharks would eat them 10 feet from the boat.  Eric and Emily did a great job in spite of us losing 2 to sharks, not bad at all.  With time running out we gave bonefishing 30 minutes before heading in.  

Capt. Mo Estevez

http://www.miamibonefishing.com/

786-853-1409

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing

Saturday Double March 25, 2023

I try not to run two trips on the weekends as they are stressful due to high boat traffic and too many people out on the water but there is always a work around.  My morning trip was with Gerard and Bennet.  Bennet is 11 and Gerard wanted him to catch some fish and have a good time.  We started early and the boat traffic was low so we were able to fish close to the marina and Bennet capitalized catching a bunch of snappers, jacks, porgies and a total of about 6 different species.  

In the afternoon I had Mike and Beth and the boat traffic and wind were starting to make things interesting.  Mike wanted big fish so we headed south, way south and fished the flats for sharks.  Man this worked out!  Right away we had lemon sharks in 2 feet of clear water all around us and Mike quickly hooked up and landed a nice lemon shark.  Not long after Beth hooked up and had some fun with a bigger lemon shark in the 100lb range until Mike took over and we got the pics.  We finished off the trip looking for snook but the weekend conditions were too much for those snook.  

Capt. Mo Estevez

http://www.miamibonefishing.com/

786-853-1409

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing