October / November Everglades fishing report Capt. Alex Zapata November 27, 2019 Flamingo - Saltwater Fishing Report Greetings to all, it's been a while since my last report and is time to catch up with all you guys. I'm happy to say that I can't remember the last time I had a slow day fishing in the park (even during not so ideal weather) which speaks volumes about the great improvement in fishing and water quality around flamingo this year. My time is mostly spent on the flats between islamorada, key largo and flamingo, pushing my boat around in the shallows, sightfishing for redfish, snook, trout, sharks and tripletail among others. The redfishing has been as good as it has been in years. Days hooking 20 to 30 reds have been the norm. These fish have been in about a foot of water or less, tailing or cruising. Some big snook have been around as well. Although, the redfish appear to be taking over some of the areas that were once dominated by the snook, so catching quality linesiders has definitely taken additional planning and strategy, targeting different areas, under special conditions and techniques. With the arrival of the first cold fronts, the fish are adjusting and moving to their winter time places and patterns. Cold fronts usually come along with strong winds and some rain (pre-frontal condition). This makes the fishing tough in some areas but also makes the fishing easier at others. Once the cold front comes through, the wind usually shifts from West to East and it gets sunny and warmer (post frontal conditions) which makes the fish more active again. Great days can be had in winter time using the right approach at the right places. Most guides and anglers migrate to the traditional and effective jig and shrimp combination this time of the year. However, if you're not a fan of live bait and prefer sightfishing with lures and flies, great trips can be had in the backwaters of the glades. weather conditions such as wind direction, water temperature and cloud cover will dictate where to go and what our chances will be.....Your choice and preference as client is my choice. Give me a call and I will work my tail off to show you a great time on the water. IMPORTANT NOTE: If you are arriving in Miami and wish to fish in the Everglades, you need to be ready to travel and have transportation. Whether your captain chooses to access the everglades from the keys, flamingo marina or everglades city, all these locations are about 1 hour and 45 minutes from the usual tourist spots that most people stay at when visiting Miami (like south beach, key Biscayne and Miami Beach). Be ready to travel in order to meet your guide at the chosen location. Renting a car is the best way to go and way cheaper than using Uber, Lyft or taxi service. Car rental service in the USA is very convenient and cheap, specially when booked ahead of time. If you are coming ONLY to fish, you might want to ask your guide about the best location to look for lodging, according to the chosen area for your fishing trip. Capt Alex Zapata

The fishing in Biscayne bay was excellent in August to say the least. The highlight of the month was definitely the strong bonefishing we've been having. There have been some giant bonefish around, actively cruising, mudding and tailing in very shallow water. Some of these fish have been in the 10lb range and bigger....the type of fish that have made Biscayne bay and the keys world famous. These fish have been showing in nice groups of 10-30 fish. Some days, I've found them tailing right in the middle of the day, a somewhat unusual pattern in the hot summer months, as the fish tend to tail more in the early morning or late afternoon hours. The tricky part of bonefishing in the summer in the bay is fishing around stormy weather. A slick calm day with beautiful clear skies can turn into an ugly one in a matters of minutes. Lightning is nothing to play with and you need to look for shelter immediately after thunder starts developing . Also, make sure your skiff is 100% sea worthy in case you need to race a storm or to face heavy winds and waves, if getting caught in the middle of one. This is the time of the year when your bilge pumps, electronics and engine need to be running flawlessly. Be safe out there!. Now, the positive side of these storms..... after the storm is gone, the wind usually lays down to nothing, the water temperature cools down and.... those bonefish, permit and tarpon start tailing, finning and rolling like there is no tomorrow!!. If you know how to take advantage of these windows of opportunity, you can have the most amazing times of your life on the flats, in just a couple of hours. Permit fishing has been great as well. We've been finding them in the deeper edges, channels and shorelines. The tarpon have been patrolling the island moats and shorelines along with some snook. I've always said it.... the summer time months offer the best and most consistent fishing of the year for flats fishing in Biscayne bay, the keys and the Everglades. As we get into September we are gonna start seeing bigger tides, which can make tarpon, permit and specially bonefish difficult. The fish still have to eat and you can still find them and catch them if you follow the tides and understand how they work. The bait migration is right around the corner. Soon, we will start seeing schools of mullet and pilchards working their way south. This event will fire up the fishing for tarpon, snook, jacks, barracuda, sharks and my favorite, the mutton snapper and groupers. These fish also hit flies and lures with reckless abandon when chummed up with live pilchards. Needless to say, I'm ready and excited to get the dust off my cast net!. That's all for now, give me a call and let's go catch some! Capt Alex Zapata

Mild weather conditions for the past few weeks have kept the fishing in the park very good to say the least. I've been primarily poling my skiff in very skinny water, sight fishing with clients after snook, redfish and trout. The redfish have been tailing and throwing wakes during slick calm conditions along with laid up snook and trout on potholes. Also, spent some time fishing the creeks out west with a lot of success. We caught tons of mackerel, small to medium size snook and redfish. Got on some big tarpon as well but the fish were all spread out in a big area and not very interested in our offerings. The fishing for big tarpon in the back will be on any time now when the weather gets right. Needless to say, as always, I am eager and ready to put my fly and spinning anglers on some solid backcountry tarpon fishing this winter time season. Winter time is best for the angler that comes with an open mind, ready to adjust to whatever Mother Nature brings for the day of his/her charter. Northerly cold fronts affect fishing opportunities in some areas but also active it at others. Cold weather? Expect great creek fishing for snook, redfish, blackdrum, Jacks, Ladyfish, snapper and sheepshead. Mild weather? Fish come back to the shallows ready to chew. Tarpon, snook, redfish become available for the fly and sightfishing aficionado. Give me a call and let's go fishing Capt Alex Zapata Flats fishing guide IFFF certified fly casting instructor Miami, Everglades and the keys

Biscayne Bay has been providing good catches for anglers looking for steady rod bending action. The best fishing has been and still is snapper fishing along with barracuda, yellow jacks and grouper. The abundance of bait has made my snapper trips a lot easier by being able to load up on bait in no time before heading out to my favorite spots. The colder weather brings more and bigger snappers to the patches, canals and shallow wrecks as winter time goes on. Spanish, cero mackerel, big barracudas and the occasional cobia also come in close in big supplies with the colder weather so except great fishing for these species as well. Bonefishing and permit have been in the slow side with only a few fish around. Bonefishing can be good during mild weather with big schools working the ocean side shorelines but they go out deep as soon as the cold weather settles down. Permit fishing on the flats is not a good option in the winter time. However, a few show up here and there during hot weather days. That's all for now, give me a call, I'd love to show you a great time out on the water!! Capt Alex Zapata Silverkingcharters

Capt. Alex Zapata October 25, 2018 Biscayne Bay - Saltwater Fishing Report I am a flats/fly fishing guide. There is nothing I love more than hunting fish from the back of a skiff with a push pole, sightfishing and casting a fly or lure to a permit, bonefish, tarpon, snook or redfish. In the meantime, the type of fishing I specialized on, is considered one of the most technical and difficult styles of angling in the world of fishing. Sightfishing for permit, tarpon, bonefish, redfish and snook can be quite challenging. Add Flyfishing in the equation and things get way more technical. Try to do this type fishing with an angler that doesn't have at least minimum skills (or that has no interest for it) and the situation can get chaotic. While sight-fishing is still my first love, that doesn't mean that sometimes I don't get saturated of it, or simply, as much as I want to do it, I have to turn it down to match my client's profile. As a fishing guide, I've always found the need to have a repertoire designed to satisfy clients of all levels and interests. Like I said before, our shallow water fishery in the keys is considered to be one of the most challenging in the world, when compared to other places such as Mexico, Bahamas, Cuba, Belize, where the fishing pressure is less and the fish are less educated(and more abundant in some cases). Therefore, less demanding on the angler side when it comes to casting technique, accuracy and approach. In other words, much more forgiving. To be honest, a high percentage of the "average" client or tourist, not very familiar with flats fishing (or sometimes no fishing skills at all) that calls for a fishing trip, has little or no skills to face technical shallow water fishing, which can be very frustrating for both, guide and client. Under these circumstances, is not worth it to have a miserable time out there trying to make the client perform and do something he's not prepared for. Weather can also be a factor. Try to sightfish with clouds, rain, high winds, high water and it’ll be like hitting your head against the wall. Bait fishing becomes a great alternative under any of those conditions. After all, isn't fishing supposed to be fun? So then, what other choices would I have for that client or when would be a good time for that client to come and fish? Fall time is the answer!! As the fall's bait run continues to move south, the fishing couldn't get easier and friendlier: castnet a bunch of white bait or mullet and you can almost guarantee that something will bite the end of your line!. Fall is my favorite time of the year for laid back fishing in Miami catching tasty mangrove snappers, groupers, muttons, powerful Jacks and greyhounding barracuda and houndfish. Fishing with your kids? This kind of fishing is the perfect fit. I've been having lots of fun putting clients on some nice catches and also going out myself and catching dinner. Whether you are a technical/hardcore flats fisherman that enjoys doing something different every now and then, or just a person with very little to no fishing experience, Fall fishing is hard to beat if you only have one goal in mind: to have a laid back time out on the water. Hope my reports are of help for you. Thanks for following and let's go have fun! Capt Alex Zapata Flats fishing guide IFFF certified fly casting instructor

It's been a great couple of weeks fishing out of flamingo in the everglades national park. The highlight has definitely been the amount of Tarpon we have been on and also a good snook bite along the west coast. The tarpon have been everywhere and very hungry to say the least. We have been hooking as many as 15 fish and landing a few as it is usual with these acrobatic gamesters. They have been ranging from 5 to 30lbs with some bigger fish along the coast and the river mouths, feeding on the schools of mullet. Winter time is coming and as I am writing this report, we are going through the first cold front of the season. With the arrival of cooler air and water temperatures, some great fishing opportunities start to show up as well. As the water starts to get colder, the fishing in the park gets hotter! The snook, redfish, blackdrum and seatrout will start to congregate in their usual winter time whereabouts. They all concentrate at certain spots when the water gets cold. Find one and you usually find a bunch. The snook and redfish will be cruising in protected bays and backwaters during those windy/cold days. The water gets pretty clear and shallow in all these places, which makes it ideal for sightfishing and flyfishing. Spanish mackerel and cobia will soon start to show up in the gulf and the tarpon fishing will be good during decent weather conditions. I'm really looking forward to winter time in the park! got openings for the upcoming months, Give me a call and let's go catch some fish. Capt Alex Zapata Flats fishing guide IFFF certified fly casting instructor Miami, Everglades and the keys **hidden content** **hidden content** **hidden content**