Captain
Alex Zapata

Member since August 2016 Miami, United States
Background
I guide fishermen on the beautiful flats of Biscayne Bay, the Everglades, and the Florida Keys. I have been fishing the waters of South Florida and the Keys for over 20 years. My goal is to show you a great time on the water. I’m a laid back and patient guide who will work very hard to make your day on the water a great experience. I'm always willing to work hard for your success, whether you are a serious hardcore flyfisherman, tournament angler or a beginner just looking to bend a rod. Smiles is what I fish for!
Techniques
Backcountry fishing, Flats fishing, flyfishing, sightfishing the flats, light tackle and live baiting. Flyfishing for tarpon, redfish, bonefish and permit is a specialty. I also offer freshwater trips in the Miami urban canals for peacock bass and exotics. Fly casting lessons and workshops available upon request.

Hey, I'm Captain Alex Zapata

Miami, United States
Background
I guide fishermen on the beautiful flats of Biscayne Bay, the Everglades, and the Florida Keys. I have been fishing the waters of South Florida and the Keys for over 20 years. My goal is to show you a great time on the water. I’m a laid back and patient guide who will work very hard to make your day on the water a great experience. I'm always willing to work hard for your success, whether you are a serious hardcore flyfisherman, tournament angler or a beginner just looking to bend a rod. Smiles is what I fish for!
Techniques
Backcountry fishing, Flats fishing, flyfishing, sightfishing the flats, light tackle and live baiting. Flyfishing for tarpon, redfish, bonefish and permit is a specialty. I also offer freshwater trips in the Miami urban canals for peacock bass and exotics. Fly casting lessons and workshops available upon request.

My Charter Listing

Excellent
5.0 / 5
(8 reviews)
Miami
trips from US $650

Fishing Reports

Fishing after hurricane Irma and fall se
Fishing after hurricane Irma and fall se
Oct 1, 2017 Miami
The entire estate of Florida just went through one of the worst natural disasters to date in recent history: the Hurricane Irma. After causing havoc and total destruction in the Caribbean, The Giant storm entered the Florida Keys as a Category 4 hurricane, then went over the whole state as a category 3 hurricane and left as a still powerful tropical storm, bringing Florida plus for 4 more other states to their knees. Flooding, lost of power, property damages, fallen trees among other issues were the aftermath of Irma's path. The Florida Keys, most specially the lower keys suffered substantial damage and destruction and were the most affected area in the state of Florida. I'm blessed and happy to say that nothing happened to my property and fishing vessels. It took me at least 10 days after the hurricane before I was able to get back on the water to assess all the changes that the storm made to the fishery. As far as Biscayne bay, the most visible changes happened in the ocean side shorelines, where the storm surge almost "moved the shoreline in", destroying some of the vegetation and dumping more sand, sediment and debris into the shores. As result, most ocean side shorelines now have bigger and wider sandbars. It will take some time before this new shoreline and bottom configurations begin to hold crustaceans, sea worms bait fish and such, whom will start to bring the permit, bonefish and tarpon back to their feeding grounds. As far as the inside and bayside flats, no major changes were noted. As per the fishing, the fall bait migration is in full force and with the bait, the tarpon and snook have been actively feeding along the shorelines and bays. We have had some very good days catching good numbers of baby to mid size tarpon and some snook in Biscayne Bay. Find the bait and the predators won't be too far behind. Fall Time comes with the biggest tides of the year. Like I have said before, Big tides can be negative or very positive for fishing, as long as you know how to utilize them in your favor. Permit love big tides and strong current. with the right weather conditions and visibility, the fall can be a great time to encounter big numbers of big permit feeding on the flats. The permit fishing has been great when the right tide conditions have lined up with clear skies and moderately light winds. Bonefishing can be a bit tough in the fall due to big tides but those big tides send them to areas that they don't normally access due to lack of water and food. Do your homework finding those places and you'll find bones. You'll also see fish actively mudding during the lowest stages of the tides. This is also a great time to fish for big mangrove snapper, big mutton snapper and barracuda. A live well full of pilchards or finger mullet always gets the job done. As we get into November, we will soon be making the transition into winter time. The first cold fronts will start to move in and with that, some other great fishing opportunities and scenarios will open up. That's it for now. Go fishing and take the kids with you!
Continue reading
Miami shark fishing
Miami shark fishing
Sep 25, 2017 Miami
Shark fishing is one of the coolest and most exciting things to do while visiting Miami and the Florida keys. Sharks get constant attention in TV channels such as Discovery and National Geographic and without a doubt, are the most popular and widely known fish **hidden content** in the ocean. While some of these documentaries show some cool interesting stuff, many times they also create some misconceptions about sharks behavior, habits, whereabouts and customs. When it comes to fishing, People have the wrong idea about sharks, often being labeled as man eating monster and dangerous offshore-deep water targets. Sharks are wonderful creatures, almost always accesible and willing to show you and your family a good time on the water. Luckily, Miami and The Florida keys including the Everglades, rate among some of the best places in the world for shark fishing. I often get trip inquires and questions like: I have always wanted to watch or catch a shark, Do we have to go far out? Is the water too deep? What about big waves? I tend to get sea sick, could we stay near shore in shallow water? Can we target big sharks? Is it safe? Do we have to go far to catch a real big one? Iโ€™d like to catch small sharks for my kids, can we do that? All these are usual questions that come mostly from people with little to no fishing experience. They can be tourists, visitors, outdoor lovers or fishing aficionados wishing to experience and learn something different. If you fall into any of those groups, shark fishing is for you. While you can certainly book a big yacht or boat to take you shark fishing in deep offshore waters, you donโ€™t need to go that far to catch sharks while visiting south Florida and the keys. We can find different species of sharks almost all over the coastal areas of south Florida, in water as shallow as one foot to several thousand feet offshore. As inshore fishing guide, I focus on sharks species that inhabit the shallow areas of Biscayne bay, The Everglades and the Florida keys. Sharks can be targeted all year long, except when the weather gets too cold during the winter months, and they leave for deeper water. During any given day of the year with decent weather, we can can catch sharks species such as bonetheads, blacktips, lemons, nurses, tigers, hammerheads and bulls. When I say โ€œshallow areasโ€ that means that we can catch any of these species from 1 to 20 feet of water. Calm water, no big waves, no sea sickness and no long boat rides. As far as size, we can catch sharks ranging from 3lb to **hidden content**lb So donโ€™t think that because we stay in shallow water we canโ€™t hook into big animals. We can catch a wide variety of sharks in shallow-clam water, all within sight of the coast line, sometimes right next to it. Sharks can provide lots of enjoyment for fishing enthusiasts, whether they have experience or not. They are powerful adversaries that make long and powerful-sustained runs and espectacular jumps when hooked. Spin tackle, conventional or flyfishing? Your call. Sharks provide valuable learning opportunities to get you started in the fishing game. If youโ€™re a seasoned fisherman, sharks are a great target when the weather or fishing conditions are not ideal for other โ€œmore glamorousโ€ species. Also, if you have an interest in learning how to fight big fish on light tackle or even fly tackle, sharks are the perfect practice target. If you want to show your kids a good time on the water, shark fishing is a great idea. I still havenโ€™t met a kid that doesnโ€™t love catching a mean looking toothy critter! Be ready for a tug of war when you hook into one of these animals. Whether they weight 3 or 200lb they are a great contender at the end of a fishing line. Once you bring one to the boat, your guide will carefully manipulate the shark and will invite you to capture that memory forever on film. After caught and photographed, Every shark is carefully released to ensure their survival and future of our fishery. Give shark fishing a try, youโ€™ll be glad you did. Call me up and Iโ€™ll be more than happy to set up your trip. Capt Alex Zapata Flats fishing guide IFFF certified fly casting instructor Miami, Everglades and the keys
Continue reading
Biscayne Bay snappers, cudas and grouper
Biscayne Bay snappers, cudas and grouper
Oct 1, 2016 Miami
The fishing for snappers in the shallow wrecks and channels in Biscayne Bay is starting to get consistent and will only get better through fall and into winter time. we have been finding good size muttons, mangroves, yellow jacks, barracuda and red groupers. These fish have been averaging 2 to 6 pounds with some fat ones up to 12lbs. fishing for these tasty fish on light spinning tackle (10-15lbs) is one of my favorite things to do in Biscayne Bay! whenever you tangle up with one of these nice snappers, be ready for a fight! They will surprise you with fast and long runs heading straight to the safety of the bottom. You will have to do your part pulling hard and keeping them away from the rocks, seafans and coral. The secret for success has been finding the bait, usually pilchards or finger mullet. Some times we find them only minutes after leaving the marina, some times it might take 1 or 2 hours before we are able to black out the live well. it is just what it takes... find the bait, find the fish. Another cool thing is that once we get these snappers hot behind the boat, they can be caught using artificial lures and flies which is an absolute blast! This is a great way to take your kids fishing instead of trying to do some challenging and more difficult fishing like sightfishing for bonefish, permit, tarpon, redfish etc... They will love very minute of it! even catching the bait keeps them busy and interested. Give me a call and let's go have fun out there.
Continue reading
Fall time bonefish and permit fishing
Fall time bonefish and permit fishing
Sep 29, 2016 Miami
late summer and fall is my favorite time of the year for bonefishing, as the water temperatures start to cool off a bit, making the fish actively feed through the day. Fall is also the time of the year when we get some of the biggest tides. Big tides can be good and bad. For permit fishing, big-strong tides are hard to beat, as they tend to feed hard through the tide and also are able to reach areas that otherwise would be too shallow for their comfort. Add some wind and the permit fishing can be epic!! The same applies to Bonefish. the fish will take advantage of the high water to access those backwater areas full of goodies, that are usually too shallow for them to get in. The drawbacks... well, you really need to time your tides right as your window for low water will be minimum. Sometimes there will be no low water at all, making the Bonefish really hard to find in their normal whereabouts, as they will have plenty of water and places to go. It's a double edge sword, but if you know how make that high water play in your favor, the fishing can be very good. We have been finding plenty of Bonefish in big schools, tailing and waking during low water periods and then mudding and cruising during the high water and outgoing water. The permit have also been around in good numbers, providing plenty of shots for the fly fisherman willing to put his time trying to fool one with chicken feathers, and also, the spin fisherman armed with an always effective live crab.
Continue reading
Flamingo redfish and snook fishing
Flamingo redfish and snook fishing
Sep 22, 2016 Miami
I'm sure that many of you have heard about the water quality issues, algae blooms and massive grass die off that we have had lately, in many areas throughout Florida bay. Several environmental groups and the Florida fishing community have been urging to stop the damaging discharges into the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee estuaries and restoring the flow of clean freshwater from lake okechobee to Florida Bay which is key to the future and health of our Florida fisheries. Whether you are an avid fisherman or not, This should be a common concern to the general public as our water ways and drinking water sources are being badly polluted and threatened. We all hope that our politicians and government representatives start taking action and supporting better policies towards the conservation of our waterways. While is true that some areas around flamingo have taken a big negative hit, our Mother Nature is still very generous and despite the adversity, has been providing very good action around some of these areas that have suffered from loss of grass and low oxygen waters. Please DO NOT get discouraged by some of the bad reports as the fishing is still very good in the park!! The key has been to find areas with cleaner water, decent grass and bottom quality. There have been some nice schools of big redfish working these areas along with snook and great numbers of baby tarpon. We have been sightfishing for cruising and tailing reds in less than a foot of water, throwing flies, soft plastics and live shrimp at them. The fishing in the west coast around the river mouths, creeks and shorelines has been extremely good with plenty of snook, reds, tarpon and trout. The bait migration is in full force in both coasts right now, drawing all kinds of action on all kinds of predators. It's important to remark that the fishing off the west coast of flamingo has seen very few issues if any due to the water problems that have primarily affected all the areas east of flamingo down to Islamorada and key largo.
Continue reading

Customer reviews

Rating summary
Excellent
5.0 / 5
out of 5 stars from 8 reviews
Boat
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Crew
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Experience
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Photos & videos by reviewers (6)
Half day fly and spin rod sight fishing
Half day fly and spin rod sight fishing
Half day fly and spin rod sight fishing
+3
Angler rating
6
0
0
0
0
Anglers claimed
Good experience
100%
Friendly captain
100%
Recommend this charter
75%
Appropriate for children
100%
Satisfied with the boat
100%
Caught fish
80%
Sort by:
Featured  
Showing:
5 of 8 reviews
David I.
Katonah, NY
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Experience:
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Boat
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Crew
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Overall

Full Day with Captain Alex Zapata

VERIFIED   Full Day Trip on August 28, 2019
My friend and I went fishing in the Everglades with Captain Alex Zapata for a full day on August 28, 2019.ย  We had a great...
David I. recommends Silverking Charters
Mark review as helpful
You found this review helpful
David I. recommends Silverking Charters
Mark review as helpful
You found this review helpful

Evan H.
Denver, Colorado
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Experience:
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Boat
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Crew
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Overall

Half day fly and spin rod sight fishing

VERIFIED   Half Day Trip on January 16, 2021
Awesome trip, would definitely go again with Alex and learned a lot about the salt water fly technique
Evan H. recommends Silverking Charters
Mark review as helpful
You found this review helpful
Evan H. recommends Silverking Charters
Mark review as helpful
You found this review helpful

Mark A.
Arlington, Texas
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Experience:
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Boat
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Crew
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Overall

Full day with capt Alex

VERIFIED   Full Day Trip on December 8, 2018
This was a day I promised my 11 year old and it really delivered,capt Alex is not only very knowledgeable but also a great...
Mark A. recommends Silverking Charters
Mark review as helpful
You found this review helpful
Mark A. recommends Silverking Charters
Mark review as helpful
You found this review helpful

Denisse V.
Miami, Florida
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Experience:
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Boat
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Crew
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Overall

Flamingo fishing with Captain Alex

VERIFIED   3/4 Day Trip on March 10, 2017
Dad and 14 yr old son had an awesome, perfect day of fishing with Captain Alex - caught tarpon, snook, sea trout, jack, ladyfish...
Denisse V. recommends Silverking Charters
Mark review as helpful
You found this review helpful
  Alex  Zapata Captain replied

Ron M.
Miami Beach, Florida
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Experience:
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Boat
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Crew
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Overall

September fishing trip

VERIFIED   3/4 Day Trip on September 28, 2018
Everything is what it should have been except the fish did not cooperate.
Ron M. recommends Silverking Charters
Mark review as helpful
1 person finds this review helpful
You and 1 other person found this review helpful
Ron M. recommends Silverking Charters
Mark review as helpful
1 person finds this review helpful
You and 1 other person found this review helpful