August 28, 2015 Report (Sharkfest!)

Ken jumped aboard again today and while I was excited at the weather report which called for slick calm conditions and the prospect of fishing for permit like we did on Saturday arriving at the marina proved different. It was still dark and the flags were moving pretty good so the breeze just axed our early morning permit aspirations. No fear, a back up plan is always available, we'll snook fishing instead. Working one of my favorite snook shorelines Ken tosses the top water lure against the shoreline and starts to work it back. Just a few feet away from the shoreline it gets slammed by a nice snook, it jumps and makes a run for the mangroves. Stopping him short the snook starts to come to the boat and right at the boat it spits the hook. Ouch! We had a few more snook strikes but the action quieted as the sun got brighter. Shark fishing was next and they were all over the place, it was common to have 3-4 5'-6' sharks around the boat. Ken hooked one 5' plus and landed him a number of long runs later. In the meantime sharks were still all around the boat and one of them got brave and ate the butterflied barracuda we were using for chum right off our bow, 3 feet from the boat! Great, our chum is gone and just like that the chum and the sharks were gone but not before hooking a 4 footer on lighter tackle but it spit the hook. The day ended bonefishing where Ken had several shots at bonefish but they were spookier than usual and would spook before they got over our baits.

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

August 25, 2015 Report (Guides Day Off Adventure, Flats Boat in the Stream!)

On my day off local angler Joey and I decided to move off the flats and into a bit deeper water. Armed with lures and a sense of adventure we launched my flats boat and headed offshore. Arriving in 800' of water and finding some weed lines the second weed line paid off with the quarry we sought, mahi mahi (dolphin as we call them in Miami). I really wanted to catch dolphin on fly but as we hooked fish and left them in the water none of their companions would follow them to the boat leaving me without targets to throw a fly at. At the end of our 2 1/2 hour trip we had hooked 6-8 fish and kept two for dinner. Very cool morning!

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

August 22, 2015 Report

Ken is a regular client of mine from VA and is in town on vacation for a week so we headed out today with his friend Steve. Today was one of those days. Starting at first light my intent was to target permit in slick calm water and we did. Ken and Steve had over a dozen and a half shots within the span of 2 hours, it was insane! The permit were cruising on the surface, floating and tailing. If a permit does it, they were doing it! Shot after shot and no hook ups. They even had shots at a school of tailing permit, laid the cast out perfectly and waited. The school moves over the live crab and they spook when 99% of the times that scenario results in a hook up. When the permit fishing slowed we got into several schools of tailing redfish and still perfect casts were ignored. Moving on and licking our wounds we shifted to bonefish and small sharks moved in instead. Finally we targeted big mutton snapper and Steve hooks up to a nice 8-10 lb mutton that I saw eat on the surface. After a nice fight and several screaming runs later the fish is close to the boat and spits the hook! Really? Sometimes you just have to shake your head. Capt. Mo Estevez www.MiamiBoneFishing.com 786-853-1409 Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBoneFishing

August 20, 2015 Report (Shark Wrestling!)

Joey and his friend Kelly from MD. jumped aboard this morning for some shark fishing under pretty skies. Kelly had never fished before so today would be her first time fishing. Having great tides for shark fishing we went straight for it and the sharks showed up quick! Minutes after setting up one was tailing on the flats and a few minutes later a 6-7 footer came right in, I dropped a bait in front of it and it circled around the bait but didn't eat. What? Really? Eventually we got a few to eat and Kelly got 2 sharks this morning. I'm greedy so I really wanted more for her and Joey but the 5-6 footers would come in and then move away refusing to eat. On one occasion I sight cast a shark for her, it eats and she fights it for a minute or two only to have the shark spit the bait and never got hooked. Bizzare! After landing her first shark, Joey decides he wants to get up close and personal with the shark. Having fished with Joey a number of times in the past and trusting his skills (he's a shark fisherman) I agreed and over the side he went. I have to admit, there were a few close calls!

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

August 16, 2015 AM & PM Reports

AM Report Tom and his friend David are affiliated with the Bonefish and Tarpon Trust through support and Tom's daughter is a scientist that works for the BTT so with a nice early morning low tide they jumped aboard for some bonefishing. I headed straight to a flat that has been producing well for me and we waited for bones as the tide came in. The bones certainly showed up with a good number of tailing fish but they remained out of casting distance. Poling a few other flats provided a few shots at mudding bonefish but no hook ups. PM Report Ibrahim and his new wife Bahtta are from Kuwait and they were in Miami on their honeymoon. Bahtta had never fished before so I really wanted her to catch a few fish this afternoon. We hit a few spots that were slow but the last one held some fish and Ibrahim had a blast videoing Bahtta catch her first fish and her second and her, well you get the picture. Having had their fill we headed to the flats for some shark fishing. We didn't have to wait long until they showed up and we were able to sight cast to sharks which we fun and kept both Ibrahim and Bahtta busy. These were great folks and we had some great conversations and tons of fun!

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

August 13, 2015 AM & PM Reports

AM Report My morning trip was with Arnold, his daughter Daniel and his grandson Nico and with no specific agenda for the day we headed off to the trout flats. We had quite a few bites and lost a few next to the boat to spit hooks. Spot number two had some nice jacks on it and as soon as I cast for Daniel she was on! During the fight there was a burst of faster than normal drag screaming and Daniel brings in just the head of her jack. Mr barracuda struck again! Once that occurred the fishing stopped. I wonder why? Geeze, mr. barracuda has a way of intimidating his neighbors. We headed south to buy ourselves some time with the tide and snapper spot one had tons of fish on it including a nice grouper we could see in the clear 6' deep water. Of course, if we can see mr. grouper he can see us so he didn't eat. Moving onto the same flat as yesterday for shark fishing the tide had already turned and we were getting some good current. After about 10 minutes the first rod doubles over but the shark spit the bait before getting hooked. A few minutes later with the heat rising the gang decided to head in early to hit the pool and A/C back home.

PM Report It's always interesting to me how quickly the weather changes in Miami. My morning trip had clear skies, calm winds and hot weather. My afternoon trip with James and his two boys Peyton and Jason from Tampa had cloudy skies, breezy and much cooler. The goal was to get the kids on fish and some fresh fish dinner so we did just that. James had the hot hand early on and then the kids started to catch up. These guys were a lot of fun and they're vacationing in a houseboat in Miami. How cool is that?!

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

August 12, 2015 Report (Shark Fishing!)

Regular client David brought his friend Steve aboard and off we went on a half day trip of mixing it up. Arriving at a typically productive bonefish flat and seeing nothing for 45 minutes we moved on to a nearby snapper spot and landed quite a few snappers including some other species for shark bait. Once the tide turned we hit the flats and had some shots at BIG bar jacks with lock jaw. Settling into our shark fishing efforts we didn't have to wait long. Within five minutes of setting up, a nice 4 footer moves in, then another one. Before we knew it the rods were doubling over within minutes of dropping our baits in the water. We hooked a total of 5 sharks and landed 4 within an hour. The shark fishing was as hot as the weather and Steve got quite a work out with David getting one of his own. What a great way to end our trip today!

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