Finally got it done October 1, 2022

I can't start this report without mentioning how close we came in Miami to be clobbered by hurricane Ian and how I've been praying for the poor people in Florida's gulf coast, northeast Florida and the folks in S.C.  At this time there are still clients and friends that live in Naples that I have not been able to reach and I'm becoming worried.  Lord help them.  

On to the report.  I had Fax back on the boat today.  Last and first time we fished we found a bunch of finicky bonefish and didn't land any.  Today we had slightly less than ideal conditions that seemed to both improve and worsen, if that makes any sense.  Anyway, fishing started slow with plenty of spots on the west side of the bay too fresh to fish but a few bonefish popped up along the way.  I ran oceanside and there Fax was able to land his first bonefish and we missed a few more bites.  Moving back to the west side we were able to upgrade his bonefish from a 6lber to a 9lber.  Nice job Fax.  There were no shrimp in the bait shops due to the storm but I had live blue crabs and the nickel sized blue crabs saved the day.  

  

Capt. Mo Estevez

http://www.miamibonefishing.com/

786-853-1409

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing

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

Pregame Show September 24, 2022

David from yesterday's trip was here to attend the Dolphins/Bills football game and so was todays clients Scott and Evan.  We stuck to the west side of the bay close to the marina as part of a three boat trip I organized and began to target snook using lures.  The snook were no where to be found but in their place were barracudas and nice sized jacks.  The jacks were crushing the lures and making long runs in 2' of water, how cool!  Once the action died down we wrapped it up on a wreck after cast netting some bait and live chummed.  The guys caught a bunch of snappers and Scott landed a big barracuda on a live pilchard and no wire, what!  Very cool trip and even better guys.  

Capt. Mo Estevez

http://www.miamibonefishing.com/

786-853-1409

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing

Dad Son Trip September 23, 2022

I had very cool repeat client David on board today with his 10 year old son Giovanni.  David wanted to keep it light and fun for his little boy so we fished some wrecks and kept the rods bent on snappers and blue runners.  Fishing for sharks proved slow but we ended with a bang in a finger channel where Giovanni caught a bunch of snappers in quick succession.  

Capt. Mo Estevez

http://www.miamibonefishing.com/

786-853-1409

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing

A day of one 'fers September 19, 2022

Alain was back in town and as always he wanted to fish.  We've been fishing for almost ten years and it's always good to fish with him.  I picked him up and the conditions were gorgeous so off we headed to the first spot, the port of Miami.  Here we set up and fished live pilchards I bought from one of my commercial bait guys and freelined them behind the boat in the current.  It started slow but then he started catching nice fat school master snappers and then sporty 7lb jacks.  We also lost a couple of really nice fish that broke us off after a prolonged fight.  All of a sudden I see a small 40lb tarpon roll and and I fired a live pilchard at it which lasted about 30 seconds before he inhaled it.  I handed the rod to Alain and the tarpon ran and jumped spitting the hook.  Ouch!  Ok, off to the flats for his favorite fish, sharks.  They were MIA in the hot 89 degree water and slow moving tide.  Once the tide turned we fished another spot where he hooked and lost a monster snook before we wrapped it up.  It was a cool day with plenty of rod bending fish but dang we couldn't keep the trophy fish on the line.    

Capt. Mo Estevez

http://www.miamibonefishing.com/

786-853-1409

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing

Bonefish MIA September 13, 2022

I had Bryan today for some bonefishing but he wanted a back up plan to ensure he caught some fish.  We fished high and low for bonefish and they were MIA with the water temps being 88.5 degrees.  Ouch!  Keeping the trip moving I took him to a couple of wrecks that produced only small snappers and the bay being largely void of significant life plus no schools of bait for me to cast net.  With time winding down I took Bryan to an oceanside wreck that had the same water temps but here there were schools of yellow jacks and a big barracuda.  Bryan was able to land a bunch of yellow jacks and snappers, but the 'cuda...  We fed the barracuda a live snapper only to have him eat it and spit it out several times being extra spooky.  In the end we made a day of otherwise tough fishing and Bryan took home some tasty yellow jack fillets.  

Capt. Mo Estevez

http://www.miamibonefishing.com/

786-853-1409

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing

Three trips, two days September 9-10, 2022

What a blast!  A group of guys were down for business meetings and some have been friends since middle school and they all wanted to fish.  The morning trip was two boats, me and a buddy of mine and the race was on to see who would catch more fish, size didn't matter (geeze, I wish that were true in so many of my experiences.  Err, but I digress! :).  Both boats stayed close to each other and the trash talking was fast and furious with us falling way behind fishing at my buddy's spot.  This was enough, we took off and fished one of my spots where my guys tore it up on snappers and jacks and the total tally was 42 fish on my boat.  The guys on the other boat largely refused to give a final number.  Hmmmmm.  LOL  

The afternoon trip on the same day was OK but a bit tough with a strong south wind kicking up but we caught some fish.  At the end I tried to chum up some bonefish just to have a 37' center console anchor 30' from us.  Urgh! 

Saturday was the last trip of the group and it was on fire with the guys catching tons of mangrove snappers and jacks plus a big barracuda.  Very cool people, very cool trips and what a way to get the weekend started.  

  

Capt. Mo Estevez

http://www.miamibonefishing.com/

786-853-1409

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing