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

WINDY! February 2, 2021

 Sometimes I just want to cancel a trip when I look at the weather and boy today was one of those days.  Although we had clear skies, there was a whole lot of wind, gusting to around 32 MPH.  Dang!  But, James and his wife had booked me and we really had one decent spot to fish in that wind so we went for it.  It worked out.  They caught snook, yellow jacks, snappers, rainbow runners and a few more species.  The fishing was actually very good and we had a blast.  I was glad I didn't cancel! 

Capt. Mo Estevez

www.MiamiBonefishing.com

786-853-1409

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing

First timers get it done! January 28, 2021

 Very cool trip today with Dylan and his dad Dan who were down from Wisconsin on a guys only trip to Miami.  Dylan booked me at the last minute and the weather was awesome!  All we did was fish one spot and never left.  The guys caught snook, grouper, jacks, snapper and a few other species I can't recall (am I getting old?).  The largest snook of the morning was in the landing net and then made one last run and the hook came free.  As we fished I noticed some tarpon rolling so we spent the last 20 minutes tarpon fishing but didn't hook one.  I had scanned them on my Raymarine side scanner and had them dialed in but they were being tarpon and ignored crabs and big live shrimp.  In the end, the guys killed it! 

Capt. Mo Estevez

www.MiamiBonefishing.com

786-853-1409

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing

It was an honor today January 5, 2020

 There are times when you meet someone that is a little different than most and that can be good or bad, HAHA.  But, today I met Jan and spent 6 hours fishing with him and can tell you it was an honor fishing with him.  See, Jan is a retired breast cancer surgeon who I suspect has saved the lives of many women through his gift and passion for his craft.  Also, he is an IGFA representative who has travelled the world fishing and promoting conservation for the betterment of fish stocks and the local populace.  And there is more as he is the holder of 90 current IGFA world records!  Of course he is as humble as they come and I didn't know about this until more than half way through our trip.  But he had one goal and that was to bonefish but it wouldn't be easy since we had a strong cold front pass through the night before dropping the air temperatures.  Well, long story short, Jan caught a nice fat bonefish in the 9 lb range and had shots at many more on spin and fly as we did our best to hide from the wind and look for the warmest water possible.  And there is one more thing to this trip but I won't ruin the surprise until we get confirmation in about 3 months.  Be sure to stick around.....

Capt. Mo Estevez

www.MiamiBonefishing.com

786-853-1409

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing

December 26, 2015 Report

Kids fishing charters are always a blats and today was no exception with David and his two boys 7 and 8 year old Elias and Theo. Staying close to the marina I took them to a spot perfect for kids and sheltered from the close to 20 MPH winds. We used up almost 100 shrimp as they aught a number of snappers, blur runners, jacks and even a small grouper. To add to the excitement, a manatee came up next to the boat, took a breath of air, looked at us and swam away. After about 2 hours of constant non-stop action the kids were worn out and took a "cheetos" break. Elias had never fished before but he mastered the fish catching routine rather quickly. The kids had a blast, the fish wore them out and Elias is now an expert!

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

July 20, 2015 Report

Vince and his friend had fished with me back in February and today he boarded with his brother Max and his nephew Lucas. Lucas had never been fishing before and was anxious to see what it was all about. The fishing started slow due to the slack tide but I reassured them as soon as the tide turned things would get better. And they did! Once we had a good current flow the fishing turned on and Lucas had his hands full. He had the hot hand today and landed the two biggest mutton snappers, the most fish and hooked the biggest fish, one that burned up the drag and gave him a scorching 10 minute fight, even chasing the fish with the boat barely helped. Once Lucas began to make some head way on the fish it broke him off on the bottom. NO! Along the way we had several double hook ups and a triple hook up for good measure. What a morning!

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

April 1, 2015 Report

Father/son charters are always a blast and Patrick and his son Graham were no exception. From the moment we got to our spot for the day the rods were bent and stayed bent. Along the way there were tarpon around and we had one eat our bait but spit it out before we could come tight. Urgh!

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

January 3, 2015 Report

Casey and Shawn wrapped up their stay in Miami today and they brought Casey's brother Kyle with them. After loading up on live bait we fished a few spots for snook as we tried to avoid a hard east wind. A few snook took our baits but we either lost them to the mangroves or they would swallow the baits but we did catch a big mangrove snapper and several barracudas. Moving on to another spot we lost 2 groupers to the bottom. The last spot was red hot and the rods bent within moments of hitting the water with mangrove snappers, yellowtail snappers, grouper, trigger fish and a few other species.

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

December 22, 2014 Report

Dan and his wife Ashley were in town from N.J. and took some time to explore Biscayne Bay. The fishing started slow with a few trout, caught by Ashley who reminded Dan she usually out fishes him anyway, and no tarpon to be found. We ended the day fishing the finger channels in between the flats and caught snappers before heading to the flats to look for sharks. The shark were apparently hanging out with the tarpon as they were MIA so we called it a day.

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

December 14, 2014 Report

Local resident Alejandro had his nephew Andres and friend Javier in town from Columbia and wanted to take them fishing. Conditions were nice today but a little cloud cover kept it in the low 60's most of the morning and a steady 20 MPH wind had us limited where we could fish. In spite of that we found fish at almost every spot although it was slower than I would have liked. Andres lost what was probably a nice snook to some pilings and the tarpon that were around would cooperate. Even still, the kids caught fish, had a great time and were able to catch some fish they hadn't experienced before.

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

December 12, 2014 Report

Good friends Jason and Brian were on a brief vacation before they headed to opposite ends of the country and wanted to get some fishing in. Under another day of clear skies, light breeze and early morning temperatures in the 50's, today was certainly more productive than yesterday. Peeling drag consistently, we went through over 50 baits in about an hour and a half. The action was non-stop with snappers, small amberjacks, big blue runners, yellow jacks a few mackerel cut offs, trout and a few mystery fish we couldn't keep away from structure. We caught fish on baits, soft plastics and lures. What a blast to see rods bent every few seconds, this is what winter in Miami is all about!

Capt. Mo Estevez www.MiamiBoneFishing.com

November 4, 2014 Report

Dane and his friend took a few hours off from meetings and boarded in over 20 MPH winds. We ducked from the wind all morning and caught some mackerel, lady fish, bluefish, and briefly hooked a tarpon. By the time we got back to the dock the wind was increasing so it turns out we timed the trip perfectly. Capt. Mo Estevez www.MiamiBoneFishing.com 786-853-1409

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

Biscayne Bay Report Week of April 23rd

Week of 4.23.11

This week has been a week of diversity for me. One day we tarpon fished the Oceanside of Biscayne Bay with Dr. Carlos V. and when that slowed down we were off to bonefish. The tarpons were moving south along the Oceanside flats and moving well in the early morning with each string holding lots of large fish. When we switched to bonefish later in the day, the bonefishing was really good as well with numerous shots at bonefish throughout the rest of the day.
The following trip would be with Dr. Daniel R. who wanted to learn how to fish Biscayne Bay. We were busy all day, first on Oceanside tarpons, then off to the finger channels for some rod bending fun and then we wrapped up the day on the west side of Biscayne Bay getting into about plenty of snook.
The last trip of the week was with a great couple from Philadelphia, Debra, Jack and their kids. With the wind blowing 20 MPH from the east and having no place to hide in the flats around Stiltsville, we pressed on and found bonefish around Soldiers including one school of big fish pushing massive amounts of water. This is always an awesome sight!

Well, it’s been a good week and off to enjoy the next one. Get out there, have fun and make that drag scream!

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

Spring in Biscayne Bay

Winter is finally fading away and the warmer air of spring is approaching. I am excited! The bones and permit have been active and this day was no exception. My good friend Grant gave me an opportunity to take the bow for a bit and boy did I enjoyed the experience. We started off by having a great shot at a monster permit of fly but it was not to be. Then two shots on fly to two big bones, same disappointing outcome. My turn was up and Grant took full advantage. One school came by, he took his shot and the fish milled around his shrimp, but no takes. Are you kidding me?! Next school moves through and this time he connects.

After a brisk fight and a healthy release I take the bow. Just a few minutes later, another school moves through and I take my shot, same outcome and we have two bones in the boat.

A couple of schools too far away later we move on. After a checking out a couple of other areas we call it a day fully enjoying our 3-4 hours on the water. Things will continue to heat up as long as the water temps do also. Get out there and enjoy it!

By the way, check out my new website!
www.MiamiBonefishing.com


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

Biscayne Bay Report

Winter is fading away and spring is making its way towards us, what a relief! With the air temperature being in the high 70's to low 80's over the weekend, water temperatures rising and strong tides, the fishing has been very good. Bones are eating flies and shrimp well on both sides of Biscayne Bay, oceanside and west side, and some permit are being caught as well. Night time tarpon fishing has been good as they take advantage of the the strong tides flushing large shrimp out of Biscayne Bay. Government Cut and Haulover inlet have both been producing, some nights 5-7 fish pushing the 100lb range. We'll have some nice weather for the next few days including some early morning rising tides which will have the bonefish tailing. What a sight that always is! That's it for now. Give me a call if you want to experience Biscayne Bay for yourself.

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