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

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

Not this time! November 22, 2022

Yesterday David and I met up at the marina for the first of our two day trip.  But, it was pouring rain and the wind was howling at about 25 MPH, pretty tough for fly fishing.  We called it a day and met up today instead with his buddy Clay.  The forecast was way off again today for, for the better with cloudy skies but no wind and no rain.  We focused  the first half of the trip on bonefish where the guys each caught their first bonefish on fly, yes!  Using a heavy shrimp pattern and a slower strip than normal in order to keep the fly deep in the unusually high tide we scored and missed a few more bites but the trick worked and the guy's patience paid off as we had two bonefish in the boat before the first hour of the trip.  Once that slowed down we made a long run to cast net live pilchards and then live chum a wreck.  This was fun and a great way to wrap up an already great trip.  The first couple handfuls of live pilchards produced constant explosions and the guys wore themselves out catching yellow jacks on fly with awesome surface explosions on baitfish patterns and gurglers.  I love it and the guys did too! 

Capt. Mo Estevez

http://www.miamibonefishing.com/

786-853-1409

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing

They got bigger and bigger! November 19, 2022

Fax and I had moved our last trip to today because of significant wind but today was looking only slightly better.  Anyway, we hit the water and I was apprehensive as to the state of the fishing after four days with Mike.  Ha, it started slow and I was secretly freaking out but part of being a guide is having a good poker face, plus it helps if you're covered with a buff.  :)  Anyway, eventually the overcast skies and increasing wind kept us moving slow through the different spots until Fax hooked up and landed his first bonefish of the morning, a nice 8 lber.  A while later he lands another one about 9lbs, then another one about the same size until he landed the last fish of the day at about 11-12lbs.  Dang Fax!  It worked out, the fishing is back on track and by the time we headed back it was blowing a steady 20 MPH.  What happened to the typical perfect weather pattern of November?  

Capt. Mo Estevez

http://www.miamibonefishing.com/

786-853-1409

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing

Four days with Mike November 14-17, 2022

Mike and I always have a great time and these four days were no exception.  We changed it up between Biscayne Bay and Everglades National Park and the theme for the four days was tough, slow fishing.  It's incredible how fishing can go from epic to slow in a matter of ONE day!  Anyway, day one is Biscayne Bay we targeted bonefish at a number of different flats but all was slow until half way through the trip when Mike landed a cool bonefish on fly.  The morning did start with shots at small tarpon and although we got several eats, they never did get the fly in their mouths.  Why, how????  During the trip we targeted snook as well but that proved to be slow.  Day two in the Everglades the highlight was a couple of snook on fly for Mike and I landed a small red on lures.  Day 3 back in the bay and we fished a couple of wrecks that had small blue runners on them and then wrapped up the day with a last minute bonefish on fly.  The last day was back in the glades and this time Mike had a tone of shots at small tarpon, landed a snook and a nice lemon shark on fly.  Tough fishing but great company, great conversations and lots of laughs.  We'll get 'em in February Mike! 

Capt. Mo Estevez

http://www.miamibonefishing.com/

786-853-1409

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing

Spoiled man! November 13, 2022

Well, this turned out for the the best.  Stan had booked me for bonefish on fly and spin for Friday but after some change of plans on his end and an open slot on mine we changed it to Sunday.  I was expecting loads of boat traffic but it turned out to be fine and off we went.  I can tell you we had to be patient and work for it but eventually Stan got one on spin, a nice bonefish to break the ice and reward him his first bonefish.  Switching to fly he got another one, the biggest of the day before landing another one on spin.  Three for three, not bad Stan! 

Capt. Mo Estevez

http://www.miamibonefishing.com/

786-853-1409

Follow me on Instagram @MiamiBonefishing