Showing posts with label flats fishing miami. Show all posts
Showing posts with label flats fishing miami. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 16, 2026

Hot and Fun! June 1-15, 2026

June is here and so is the heat but so is the hot fishing.  It's been a fun two weeks to kick off June with calm mornings, plenty of silver tails and lots of options.  The last two weeks have been solid for early morning fishing for bonefish and permit making it exciting and a bit easier to target these elusive gamefish.  Fishing for juvenile tarpon has also been pretty good as we throw lures or flies at them as they roll in the early morning.  For easier fishing we have been finding sharks of all sizes on the flats and the size would depend on who's catching them with smaller kids targeting smaller sharks and adults being able to hook up to the bigger lemon and bull sharks int eh 100-200 pound range.  There have also been yellow jacks in the channels and still some ladyfish hanging around.  With the warmer water temperatures the larger snapper are off the reef but there are still a few mutton snappers prowling the channels.  Stay cool and I'll be back at the end of the month.  







Capt. Mo Estevez 

786-853-1409
www.MiamiBonefishing.com (16' Flats Boat)
www.MiamiBayFishingCharters.com (22' Bay Boat)

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing @MiamiBayFishingCharters

Sunday, May 31, 2026

Hot in a number of ways May 16-31, 2026 Report

Welcome back everyone, it's the end of May and everything is as it should be now.  The strange 20 MPH winds we had the fist half of the month are gone and they have ben replaced by the typical calm mornings and increasing heat that make May the kick off to summer in Miami. The second half of this month has been solid with weather but more importantly, fishing!  Boy is the bay going off right now with bonefish, tarpon and permit active and eating.  I ended the month with Nate and 16 year old Kit celebrating Kit's birthday bonefishing.  Oh was it a celebration! Literally, 20 minutes into our morning trip Kit had his fist bonefish in the boat. WOW!  The rest of the morning was spent taking shots at bonefish and some permit and so it has been the last two weeks and a half, it's been solid! For easier targets, there have been yellow jacks, snappers and jack crevalles filling in some time.  There have also been some big bull and lemon sharks on the prowl.  Yes it's hot but ignore that as you cast to the third school of bonefish coming at you in the last 20 minutes.  I love it! 





Capt. Mo Estevez 

786-853-1409
www.MiamiBonefishing.com (16' Flats Boat)
www.MiamiBayFishingCharters.com (22' Bay Boat)

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing @MiamiBayFishingCharters

Thursday, May 14, 2026

The slick has started! May 1-15, 2026

It's May, it's hot and it's slick!  I mean it is slick clam, no wind in the mornings and tails everywhere.  May is the month when we start our summer pattern of windless mornings, warming water and lots of bonefish, permit and tarpon early morning.  This has been the case the first couple of weeks this month, as it should be.  Here's the run down.  

There have been plenty of juvenile tarpon working the shorelines that will take popper flies or top water lures.  These juvenile tarpon have taken the place of the big migratory tarpon around Key Biscayne that sued to be the main stay of our tarpon season.  

Bonefishing has been excellent, especially early mornings as we take advantage of the calm mornings making it easier to spot their tails and dorsal fins as they move along the shallow flats.  

Permit are a steady target for those wanting the ultimate challenge.  Permit have been on both sides of the bay, the mainland shoreline and the ocean side flats.  

I haven't been snook fishing since the three mentioned above have taken up most of my time but early mornings are the best times to target them along creeks and shorelines.  

We have been catching pompano pretty regularly mixed in with small permit, jacks, snappers and lady fish.  The lady fish have been a blast on a fly rod as they crush flies and make their big jumps.  

The fishing for barracuda has been good with plenty of big ones in the 20 pound range being caught on live jacks and we have been seeing plenty of sharks but especially hammerhead and bull sharks in the channels and black tips, lemon and nurse sharks on the flats.  

That's he run down of the last two weeks.  Stay tuned for another report at the end of the month.  










Capt. Mo Estevez 

786-853-1409
www.MiamiBonefishing.com (16' Flats Boat)
www.MiamiBayFishingCharters.com (22' Bay Boat)

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing @MiamiBayFishingCharters

Thursday, April 2, 2026

Out with March with a bang! March 16-31, 2026

As we end the month of March we had a cold front to deal with, high winds, no wind, cold and heat, what a crazy month!  Thankfully, fish still have to eat so it has been a good month with a few ups and downs towards the end.  Bonefishing has generally been good, tarpon not so good, permit have been around, shark fishing has been solid and the finger channels kept the clients and me busy.  


On one trip recently with regular client Jake and his two friends Antonio and Nil we started slow and ended on fire.  We were looking for tarpon and there were none to be found, a sadly recurring theme this month as tarpon have been inconsistent, but we ended the trip with the guys releasing 10 bonefish.  Insane!  The last trip of the month I had Jesse and 14 year old Miles who wanted tarpon.  Ha, Miles hooked three monster tarpon but all three came off for different reasons.  A heartbreaker yes but man was it exciting!  


In the finger channels we've been catching tons of look downs (weird but super cool fish), snappers, jacks and barracudas.  The sharks on the flats have been on a tear and showing up in big numbers and along shorelines and small back bays the ladyfish have been super fun on lures and especially on flies.  


April will be another solid month so stick around and watch for mid April's report in a few weeks.  








Capt. Mo Estevez 

786-853-1409
www.MiamiBonefishing.com

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing

Sunday, March 15, 2026

It's Spring! March 1-15, 2026

This first half of March has been very interesting and just as expected in some ways. March is typically a windy month and that has been the case so far with two exceptions. We have been averaging winds between 15 to 20 miles an hour and although that sounds like pretty tough fishing, it’s actually been very manageable and we’ve been doing well on a number of species in spite of the wind. 


The tarpon fishing out of Key Biscayne should be pretty solid right now but only a few resident fish have been around with none of the big migratory fish 100 pounds plus making an appearance yet. I am hoping this is just a short term issue and the second half of March starts to give us many more opportunities at them. However, taking the place of these tarpon have been bonefish and permit, and those are two species I cannot complain about. In addition to really good bonefishing, pompano are starting to show up and we have done pretty well catching a number of different species for clients that wanted to just catch a lot of fish such as lady fish, barracudas, snappers and yellow jacks. We had two really calm days on Friday and Saturday and we were able to capitalize on them. On Friday Manuel made a pinpoint cast at a tailing permit early morning in really calm conditions and the permit seeing his favorite food flutter in front of his face couldn’t help but swallow the live blue crab.  Manuel was able to land a 20 pound greedy permit and it was amazing! His buddy Jimmy also ended up landing a really nice bonefish before it was time to head back to the marina. On Saturday clients Ernie, Miguel and Frandy jumped on the boat and almost immediately upon arriving at our first spot there were tails everywhere, and the guys proceeded to land four bonefish in the first hour and a half of the trip. Pretty amazing fishing and pretty amazing start to a great day.  


I'm starting to see the first wave of migrating mullet and the large mullet muds they create.  This is a great sign as the fishing around these giant schools of mullet can be super fun and it'll just get better as March continues.  That's what's been happening in Miami's inshore and flats fishing and make sure to check back in at the end of the month for the end of month report.  See ya!










Capt. Mo Estevez 

786-853-1409
www.MiamiBonefishing.com

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing

Wednesday, December 21, 2022

Not rookies anymore! December 14, 2022

I introduce you to Levi and Kennedy, a sweet couple from Jacksonville, FL and the nicest young couple you could meet.  Anyway, Levi wanted to try fishing for bonefish and mix it up with other species if needed.  We didn't need to.  It didn't start red hot and the bones made us work but eventually we found them and it was on!  Levi landed the first fish and then Kennedy landed hers and then more for Levi and another one for Kennedy.  Well, you get the picture.  It was on for the second half of the trip, we ended the trip on a high note and by the time we headed in these guys were hooking and landing bonefish like pros.  





Capt. Mo Estevez

http://www.miamibonefishing.com/

786-853-1409

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing

Wednesday, December 7, 2022

Insanity December 7, 2022

Jake, oh Jake!  He couldn't have had a better day and he couldn't be a nicer guy.  Jake booked me at the last minute for today and wanted to fish for bonefish.  Well, we did but I started off with "It's been really good but not great yesterday.".  Then, Biscayne Bay made me eat my words by providing Jake with 13 bonefish landed and 15 hooked in total!  Crazy for a half day!  It started off slow, or at least I thought because I wanted quick redemption, but it really didn't.  Within the first half hour Jake landed his first bonefish and then kept coming in the boat until the tide slackened.  Once the tide picked up again Jake was hooking up on almost every cast!  We literally left fish biting as I asked if he wanted to make a few more casts but he had to go.  Wow! 



Capt. Mo Estevez

http://www.miamibonefishing.com/

786-853-1409

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing

The Roller Coaster December 6, 2022

Great one day, OK the next, that's how it's been the week.  Today I had Peter for a 6 hour trip for an all around mixed bag of fishing.  We started off bone fishing and after much work we landed one and missed a couple of bites.  This wasn't great based on how it's been it was slow however, any time you catch a bone fish it's a great day.  Anyway, we tried snook fishing but the water level was really high and they were tucked deep into the mangroves.  Moving off to find bait I located a huge school of pilchards and quickly loaded up the live well.  Fishing two wrecks and a channel proved slow so I took one more awing at it in a channel that I hadn't fished in a while and there we landed three nice yellow jacks, a small black grouper and lost a big grouper to the rocks.  The trip wrapped up with a little more bone fishing where we drew a blank.  



Capt. Mo Estevez

http://www.miamibonefishing.com/

786-853-1409

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing

Monday, December 5, 2022

It was a grind but... December 1, 2022

I was looking forward to a great day on the water with Ted from St. Louis as we targeted bonefish and snook on fly and spin. However, Biscayne Bay had other ideas.  The forecast called for 20 plus MPH winds but the first half of the trip was nice and calm.  The fishing was also calm, the bad kind of calm.  We couldn't buy a fish other than a couple of bonefish takes on fly but they were swings and misses.  As the wind got worst as predicted we ended the day fishing for snook on lures at a nearby creek.  I found a school of mullet and Ted tossed a top water right where it should've landed, just outside the school.  Twitch, twitch, BAM!  We saw the nice snook come out of the water to crush the plug and a nice fight later we had the fish of the day in the landing net for a photo op.  Whew, tough day but at least we pulled off a nice fish at the end.  





Capt. Mo Estevez

http://www.miamibonefishing.com/

786-853-1409

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing

Friday, November 25, 2022

Thanksgiving charter November 24, 2022

Ken and 10 year old Gianna were back on board today and they are always great to fish with.  Ken and I have been fishing for longer than I can remember and it's great to watch Gianna grow up with each trip we take.  The plan today was bonefish and lots of action so we started off bonefishing and while it didn't happen as quickly as the past few days, I'm getting spoiled I know, we eventually started getting bites and hooking fish with the total being 2-4.  Switching off to action fishing I made a long run, found a ton of pilchards and threw the cast net.  They were in 7' of water which is pretty deep for my cast net but I let it sink for an eternity and when I pulled it up it was loaded with tons of silver shining pilchards.  I loaded up the live well and gave it one more throw for good measure, plus it is so satisfying to watch the cast net load up with bait.  Hitting a couple of wrecks and channels live chumming proved to be dead.  This was unfathomable to me but yes, it was dead in spit of perfect baits and lots of live chumming.  Switching to shrimp Gianna caught a bunch of trigger fish before we moved on.  Whatever you stupid fish, we're off to bonefish some more!  We wrapped up our Thanksgiving Day charter but missing a few more bonefish bites and losing a solid double digit fish deep into the fight just a couple of minutes before release.  Ouch! 



Capt. Mo Estevez

http://www.miamibonefishing.com/

786-853-1409

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing

First time is the perfect time. November 23, 2022

The first time Ralph fished with me earlier this year we didn't catch bonefish on fly but caught a nice shark instead.  Today he brought his son Alex and the goal was to get him on his first bonefish on fly while Ralph would fish spin gear.  Same as yesterday, not long into the trip Alex got his first take from a bonefish but the bone didn't stick.  No worries, a bit later he was on and this time the end result was what we all wanted, Alex's first bonefish on fly.  Along the way Ralph had quite a few bonefish eats but they weren't playing nice and wouldn't get hooked.  Meanwhile Alex had another fish on and it came off right at the side of the boat and I seem to have taken in harder than he did as I held my head in my hands and said "Oh no, what the hell?" and his response was "No worries, I'm having a great time, this is fun."  Thank you Alex!  Not long after Ralph was on and landed a nice bonefish to brake the spin curse of the morning.  The run back to the marina was nice with some fish under our belts and smiles all over.  





Capt. Mo Estevez

http://www.miamibonefishing.com/

786-853-1409

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing

Saturday, November 5, 2022

A Change in the Wind November 4, 2022

Two trips today once again.  the morning trip was with Vic and Billy.  They reminded me the last time we fished they only caught a flounder.  Oh, tough day that day.  Well, I wanted to make it up on this trip and they were up for bonefish so off we went, me stressing out hoping the craziness would continue today.  Ah, it took a little longer than usual (I've been REALLY spoiled), but after about an hour and a half we finally connected with Billy hooking up first but losing the right at our feet.  Dang it!  Next was Vic and he didn't forgive, landing his first bonefish of the morning.  This continued with good regularity until the guys decided they wanted to head in early.  The total tally was 5 bonefish landed out of 9 hooked.  Off to my afternoon trip.  


It's funny to me how things work.  I pay attention to most everything that happens on the water but miss a bunch of stuff in real life, like my wife asking me to do things around the house. LOL  Anyway, towards the end of the morning trip the wind started to kick up and when I read the forecast for Saturday the winds were cranking up to 20+ MPH.  As I waited for Patrick, my afternoon trip, the wind kept increasing until we got on the water a bit after noon.  Turns out the fishing was completely shut down at this point although water clarity was good, water temps were the same, the wind was ass bad as in the past were we've caught plenty of fish including bonefish but it may have been an approaching front/low pressure.  Anyway, we fished all over creation, no bonefish, missed a snook, caught a few cudas and jacks and snappers but no bonefish.  Although Patrick was happy and was a great guy, inside I was so frustrated.  Urgh!  


Capt. Mo Estevez

http://www.miamibonefishing.com/

786-853-1409

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing

Monday, October 10, 2022

Birthday Bonefish October 10, 2022

Jim and his son in law Arturo were scheduled to fish with me yesterday but we had some nasty weather all day yesterday so we rescheduled for today.  That was a smart move as the day was gorgeous today.  The fishing, well that was a different story.  We started off fishing for snook, a slight detour from the intended target of bonefish, since it was tough to pass up snook crushing schools of mullet all around us.  We threw lures and live mullet and couldn't buy a bite.  Many times with so much bait around it's tough to have locate your one offering in the middle of thousands of other baits.  Ok, no worries we move on to bonefish where it was also pretty slow but eventually we found some fish and Jim hooked up only to lose the bonefish at the boat.  A while later Arturo also hooks up and the fish also comes off near the boat.  This is getting frustrating!  Ok, new spot and we draw a zero.  Last spot and Arturo quickly hooks two fish and they both come off next to the boat plus he got a couple of bites that never got hooked.  Dang it!  Well, with minutes left before we head in Jim hooks up and lands his first bonefish for his birthday.  Whew!  A bit later we called it a day going 1 for 5 on bonefish.  It was a tough day but I'm not complaining! 




Capt. Mo Estevez

http://www.miamibonefishing.com/

786-853-1409

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing

Monday, September 26, 2022

Permit will be Permit September 25, 2022

John fished with me last year and wanted to catch his first permit but bonefish as a back up, we caught bonefish.  Today the mission remained the same and under perfect conditions feeling more like fall each day we found a ton of permit.  Big permit, medium permit, small permit, permit everywhere.  There was one problem, they were being permit and extra picky today.  We lost count of the schools of permit of all sizes we saw and John made some very good casts where the crab would land in front of the school, they would swirl all around it but not eat.  So frustrating!  As the tide slowed so did the fishing so I took him to another spot.  Here the tide was "running late" but we still had good current.  I told John we had the perfect amount of water for permit at this spot but there would be more bonefish than permit, I was hoping the fish wouldn't let me down.  About 15 minutes into fishing this spot John hooks a freight train and a long fight later requiring I chase the fish, John had his bucket list fish at the side of the boat, a big permit.  Yes!!!!!   We fished the same spot for the balance of the trip and he proceeded to land three bonefish.  What a way to end the trip and be part of John catching one of the last remaining fish on his bucket list.  Way to go John! 




Capt. Mo Estevez

http://www.miamibonefishing.com/

786-853-1409

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing

Monday, May 30, 2022

What a day! May 28/29, 2022

Scott fly down from north Florida for two days of bonefish and permit fishing.  The boat traffic at the marina was insane being Memorial Day weekend but once on the water it was surprisingly quiet as we focused on bonefish and permit.  Day one was insane with Scott going 7 for 9 on bonefish before taking a break and encouraging me to make a few casts which I did and quickly landed a bonefish as well.  Day two we focused on permit and while it started quite the permit finally woke up at the end of the incoming tide and Scott had a ton of shots before the breeze kicked up and ended that fishing.  We went back to bonefishing which we did about 15 minutes worth before having to high tail it back to the marina before a significant storm got the best of us.  





Capt. Mo Estevez

http://www.miamibonefishing.com/

786-853-1409

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing

Wednesday, May 25, 2022

Man on Fire May 25, 2022

John is from D.C. and likes to use artificials so that was the plan but we would be limited in the relentless 20 MPH wind.  Right when we got onto a flat there were snook busting mullet and we invested about an hour throwing all manner of lures at these 30" snook that kept flying out of the water chasing bait but to no avail.  We moved on to the next spot for bonefish and it was game on for the next four hours with John going 6 for 7 on bonefish including a solid 10 pounder plus a few jacks and missing a few bites that I'm sure were smaller, harder to hook bonefish.  The trip ended in the mangroves throwing lures for snook but John caught two barracudas instead.  




Capt. Mo Estevez

http://www.miamibonefishing.com/

786-853-1409

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing

Bucket List Eliminator May 24, 2022

Craig jumped on board today for permit and bonefishing with a steady 20 MPH wind and dirty water.  Man it's been tough conditions but it has worked out and I was hoping for the same for Craig.  I set up in an area that has been on fire and it started slow.  Oh oh!  Then he landed a jack, not what we were looking for but then....the rod doubled over and the reel screamed.  Yes!  Wait, it was a permit!  Awesome! With the permit out of the way it was time for bonefish and it took much longer than I would have liked but eventually it came and after a long scorching run Craig landed his 10 pound bonefish.  Wow!  Two bucket list foh checked off the list under terrible conditions.  Whew! 





Capt. Mo Estevez

http://www.miamibonefishing.com/

786-853-1409

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing

Saturday, May 21, 2022

Alec is back! May 18, 2022

Alec usually fishes full days with me but today life got in the way and could only do a half day in the afternoon with the goal of just catching fish and use his new GoPro.  I took him to a channel where he caught some snappers and yellow jacks and then moved on to the flats.  Here we pulled double duty, drifting the flats for barracudas and sight fishing for sharks.  We saw a shark, a bait was cast, a little coaxing was required, the shark ate, it was on!  After a great fight Alec was able to get some really cool videos and break in his GoPro.  The trip ended looking for bonefish and to keep the trip stress free I chummed up some bonefish but something REALLY bad happened.  A big stingray ate one of our baits off the bottom, freaked out and swam away really fast and with it went my $300 bonefish spin rod combo.  NO!!!!!!!  How in the world did the rod come out of the rod holder?  I've hooked hundreds of fish off that rod holder.  The expensive mystery remains.  Urgh!! 






Capt. Mo Estevez

http://www.miamibonefishing.com/

786-853-1409

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing

Tuesday, May 17, 2022

4th Quarter, 2 minutes left May 12, 2022

 John jumps in the boat and tells me he has tried to catch bonefish for years but caught tarpon and bonefish instead.  Ha, poor guy!  Anyway, off to go bonefishing we went.  Spot one produced one bite that didn't get hooked and it slowed down.  Spot two produced another bite but it was a swing and a miss.  Then......it died off.  No fish anywhere as I sweat the prospect of John not getting any bonefish with me.  That was until the tide turned.  With just a few minutes left in the trip the tide, which was running late, finally turned and man it was on!  In just a few minutes John got his first bonefish, lost another and got his second.  Whew that was close! 


Capt. Mo Estevez

http://www.miamibonefishing.com/

786-853-1409

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing



Monday, February 28, 2022

A Tale of Two Trips February 25, 2022

It's always interesting to me how each trip differs from the next even on the same day.  My morning trip was fly fishing with Juan and his buddy Juan from Argentina.  We found tarpon and they threw at them for quite some time but never hooked up.  Part of the issue is that the tarpon were moving around a lot so we would get a couple of casts in before they moved and we had to locate them again and reposition.  Usually you want them hanging out the in the same area that hints at them feeling comfortable and relaxed and hence in a better mood to eat.  We them switched to bonefishing where they had a couple of shots and as time ran out we hit some jacks but they were nowhere to be found.  

My afternoon trip was a two boat trip and I had Keith and Chad onboard.  Chad wanted to target bonefish and Keith just wanted to catch fish.  Hmm, OK let's try something.  A couple of the bonefish spots already had a boat on them so I took them back to where there were no jacks 45 minutes before with Juan and Juan.  Ha, this time it was fish on every cast including jacks, mangrove snapper, small mutton snappers and a few really nice fish that broke us off.  With boats cleared off the flats I went back and after more time than I would have liked Chad hooked up and got his first bonefish, a nice one that gave him a bunch of awesome runs.  Congrats Chad! 




Capt. Mo Estevez

http://www.miamibonefishing.com/

786-853-1409

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing