When the client is right and I'm wrong March 15, 2022

Alex has been fishing with me for years and we are more friends than client/guide and he had been texting me for days about the weather and the possibility of cancelling today.  The night before I looked at the forecast and told him 20+MPH winds, 50% rain and looks like it'll be a repeat of yesterday, doesn't look good.  While his son Matthew really wanted to go anyway we decided to cut the trip from 8 hours to 4 hours.  When we met at the marina it wasn't 20+ and the skies were clear and the weather only got better as the trip progressed.  Stop one was for tarpon to try and avenge the tarpon for a few years ago that ate Matthews bait and started jumping right at the boat only to spit the hook a few feet from the boat.  The tarpon numbers have definitely been increasing and I located more fish than yesterday.  Using live shrimp we were able to hook two big tarpon in the 100lb range, one for Alex and one for Matthew but unfortunately we lost both after a number of jumps and long runs.  

Switching it up after the schools decided to leave we worked jig and shrimp along structure in another area so Matthew can get his fill of "catching".  After he got that our of his system we turned to bonefishing and we gave it some time.  After missing a bite it was time to head in when suddenly Matthew hooks up and does a great job fighting his first bonefish.  Man what a close call that was, that was like 4th quarter, 2 seconds left and the offense scores on a hail Mary.  I love it!  

Capt. Mo Estevez

http://www.miamibonefishing.com/

786-853-1409

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing

It's not always sunny pictures March 15. 2022

The wind continues to howl since Saturday with today a steady 20 MPH gusting higher and I had two trips today.  The morning trip was with John and his son Dillon and we split the fishing between spin and fly fishing.  I located some tarpon and Dillon threw flies at them while John threw live shrimp but today they wouldn't play.  I was limited as to where we could fish because of the wind and almost constant rain but we ended catching a few jacks on fly before heading in.  

After going through what I did in the morning I warned Matt and Grace of the fishing and weather as they stood on the dock and asked them to think it through.  They thought it through and they we in so I idled out of the marina with only slightly better conditions.  I found some tarpon by a bridge and invested some time but no bites all the while taking waves over the bow in the rough water courtesy of a stiff 20 plus MOH east wind.  With the tide about perfect for bonefish I took them bonefishing and Matt caught his first bonefish.  Whew, I'm starting to feel better!  Then Grace says she wants to catch fish to eat so off we went to the spot that barely had any fish in the morning.  OK, it shouldn't come as a surprise at this point that the spot was really good with them landing a bunch of snappers, jacks, blue runners, big mojarras and small mutton snappers.  When it was time to head back Matt had scored his first bonefish, Grace had her fish to eat and the weather had cleared up significantly.  Wow, what a day.  I've been beat up and pounded by the weather all day.  I'm exhausted!  

 

Capt. Mo Estevez

http://www.miamibonefishing.com/

786-853-1409

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing

Meet Tyson the hero March 14, 2022

I had a two boat trip today where I had Mike and his 6 year old son Tyson aboard.  The trip was really for Tyson so off we went to get Tyson on some fish and keep him busy.  I have to tell you, he was really cute and really smart definitely outfishing dad.  Anyway, it was a cool trip with Tyson catching 11 fish (he kept track) and easily beat his brothers in the other boat.  You rock Tyson! 

Capt. Mo Estevez

http://www.miamibonefishing.com/

786-853-1409

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing

Oh it started! March 12, 2022

Ha, the forecast was right for once!  Boy that wind, oh my!  Mike and Corey had a half day with me today and when we idled out of the marina the wind wasn't too bad, the water temps were great and we had just about the perfect tide for tarpon and bonefish.  Stop one was the same bridge where I found some tarpon yesterday and the hunt began.  As I scanned the bridge with my Raymarine I could see 2-3 tarpon on every other span but no big numbers like yesterday.  The biggest group we saw was about 6 fish, not enough to keep me there fishing 6 fish plus something in my gut compelled me to go bonefishing instead.  I moved off the bridge, made a run to a bonefish flat and staked off in order to mitigate some of the now 18 MPH winds.  I was happy we were in a bit of a lee and the tide was pouring out so I was feeling like we were where we needed to be.  Thank God I was proven right because just a few minutes in the rod doubles over and Corey quickly tries to react before the rod straightened back up in almost an instant.  Dang it, that was the first bonefish of the morning.  Just a few minutes later the rod doubles over again and this time the fish stayed on leading to Corey's first bonefish a few minutes later.  Yes!  After the release the wind started to increase and the fishing shut down.  The next spot yielded a bunch of snappers for Mike and the last spot was dead except for Mike's nice 5-7lb jack.  By this time the wind was all of 25 plus miles an hour and increasing by the minute.  Whew, we got it done before it got really bad.  

Capt. Mo Estevez

http://www.miamibonefishing.com/

786-853-1409

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing

The calm before the storm March 11, 2022

 All hell is supposed to break this weekend starting tomorrow morning with winds in the 30MPH range but the important thing is that it wasn't happening today when John boarded my skiff.  Man John was such a laid back guy and so fun to fish with.  He wanted to target tarpon and bonefish, oh and snook and permit so we targeted the ones that would give us the best shot in our 4 hour trip.  With the outgoing tide I went back to where I had found some tarpon two days ago and they were still there but this time there were a few more.  So, I set up and deployed two baits and not long after John hooked a 50lber that jumped and spit the circle hook.  About 10 minutes later we got hit again but no hook up and then a third time before the action died off.  

I looked around a few more places for tarpon but there were just a few fast moving schools so we targeted bonefish and John went 1 for 1 landing his first bonefish and a solid 10 pounder.  Wow!  We headed in after a few minutes and enjoyed the glory.  

Capt. Mo Estevez

http://www.miamibonefishing.com/

786-853-1409

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing

They're back! March 10, 2022

All the way from frosty Chicago came Jeff and Drew.  This father son duo are so much fun to fish with and Drew is a fishing junkie.  We usually fish several times a year and they were in town for spring break and Drew wanted tarpon.  Drew has wanted tarpon for a long time and it seems every time we fish they are MIA.  And....the streak continued.  Tarpon fishing in Miami so far has been the worst I've ever seen but I found a few for Drew around bridges but they wouldn't eat as tarpon often do or don't.  With the wind blowing harder by the hour I took advantage of the tide and went bonefishing.  Not long after I spotted a couple of bonefish moving in, we made a good cast in front of them and a few minutes alter Drew had his biggest bonefish to date in hand.  Nice!  Not long after Drew hooked an even bigger fish that gave him some incredible runs but spit the hook moments after splashing his tail in the grass.  I think the bonefish probably rubbed the hook out when he tailed.  After it slowed down we ended the day on a high note catching some mangrove snapper dinner for the family to enjoy.  Congrats on the bonefish Drew! 

Capt. Mo Estevez

http://www.miamibonefishing.com/

786-853-1409

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing

Two great families March 9, 2022

I had two families today and the morning trip was with Mike and his 9 year old son Jackson.  The goal was to keep the rods bend and make sure Jackson caught some fish and he sure did.  He kept busy fighting jacks and snappers and had a blast.  

The afternoon trip was with Aaron, 13 year old Haley and 9 year old Troy.  Man these kids can fish.  Aaron let the kids stay busy and enjoyed watching them compete to see who caught more fish.  They caught mangrove snapper, yellow tail snapper, barracuda, chubs and yellow jacks.  In the end Troy won, 14 fish to 13 fish plus dad caught three for a grand total of 30 fish.  LOL these kids were great!

Capt. Mo Estevez

http://www.miamibonefishing.com/

786-853-1409

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing