Hawaii-Maui Fishing?

[Lefty-Canuck]

Hi Folks,

Any of you go fishing in Hawaii? Specifically on Maui? Going to be going there in April with my Pops and brother and thought I would see if anyone can recommend something.

Lefty

[trapper726]

Fished from Lahaina two years ago with the Hinatea. Great Captain and crew. I booked an all day trip with my sons and we had great time. I'd suggest to contact direct or if you want to check out some options go to Fish Maui and contact Capt. Mike Crawford. He's very helpful and knows all the boats and crews in both Lahaina and Maalaea.

Good luck.

[rccam1]

We will be in Maui in March. Will post how the fishing is.

[Lefty-Canuck]

That would be great! we are going in April so the timing would work out well. I have no idea on species, whats in season, etc. Thought it might be fun to get out with My Dad and brother. Kind of a bitter sweet trip....my Mother has cancer quite bad and she wanted to take the family on a holiday. So we have 8 people heading out there for a week, Mom's wish is to snorkel and build sand castles with the Grand-kids on the beach. Its something she promised them "someday Grandma will take you to a nice warm beach, like you see in the pictures". Bless her she keeps her word....

Lefty

[Whitetail77]

Funny I'll be there in late march. Thought about it after a buddy did it. He said to book the boat for yourself, but $1000 seem like a lot. Still wrestling with this one. I was looking at the "Luckey" 50 ft boat.

[Lefty-Canuck]

If you go out to Vancouver Island salmon fishing the going rate for a boat is pretty much $900-1000/day so I dont think this is too much off the mark. Plus you can probably catch fish in Maui you never knew existed!

Lefty

[Ling King]

We went last Feb with Start Me Up out of Lahaina and we hooked into a 422lbs blue marlin. Awesome Day now it is on my Dad's Wall. I have gone with them 3 times and have caught Mahi mahi each time and then of course the big blue. Great group of people.. Enjoy your holiday

[Gust]

Hi Folks,

Any of you go fishing in Hawaii? Specifically on Maui? Going to be going there in April with my Pops and brother and thought I would see if anyone can recommend something.

Lefty

April is great for Marlin and Sailfish but the most fun were the Tuna. We paid $400 per person for 9 hours and that was in 82, worth every penny. A friend goes every other year in April and does very well. The sailfish was 7 feet in length and truly stunning. Normally the fish are kept by the crew to subsidise fuel costs and such but they filleted our tuna and gave it to us.

[Levy]

I have a buddy who just got back from there and he did some fly fishing from shore and caught some pretty cool fish. I did some high speed surface water fishing for mahi mahi, and some sort of (yellowfin ..?) tuna about five years ago and ended up hooking a 258 ib bluefin marlin. It took 45 minutes to real in and was the funnest fish i have ever reeled in. Couldn't bend my arms too much for a few days but it was without a doubt a once in a life time experience. Im not sure how often people catch marlin there but i would recommend fishing in maui.

[Ken07AOVette]

I am going to be there Tuesday :sHa_shakeshout:

Well not Maui, but Honolulu. I am sure there is fishing there as well.

[needmoretoys]

We went on the Lucky last year. Great captain. He is a Canadian. You can also just fish from shore. There is no license needed in Maui or any of the Islands as long as you fish the ocean. On the lucky, they are not a long liner. He is a structure fisherman. You also get to go catch the bait. That is the most fun. I would just pay to do that.

[Racer31]

We were in Kaui ,Christmas 08 most boats there 500.00 for half day that way you do all the reeling & fighting. Most boats it cost more once you were on the water to extend the day but if the fishing or the water is terrible your not locked into the whole day.
We had a blast ,but still found half a day to be enough.

[CanadianEh]

Well... the majority of captians run out of Lahaina Harbour.

I went with one back in November called Capt Fuzzy.. He does not run boats for others.. he owns his boat and runs the whole operation.

First off let me tell you his trips are not for the faint of heart. (not saying all his trips are like this.. he will perhaps run a calmer trip) We left the harbour at midnight to do a 2 hour bait fishing trip before the main event. The bait fishing trip is included in the cost, and depends on the moon cycle ( so it could be earlier or later in the evening)

as soon as we borded his boat, he sat us down and asked us 2 questions. Do we want to catch fish? we replied with a resounding YES! the second was, are you sure you want to go where we have to go to catch fish? we sheepishly said... uhhhh yeah?! We ended up steaming 3 hrs and 54 miles north to open ocean and into 9-13 foot seas.

Oh btw did I tell you the name of his operation is DIEHARD sportfishing.. Compared to his normal catches of 10+ fish, We ended up catching 5 Ahi Yellowfin tuna and 2 nice Mahi Mahi. 2 of the tuna were beauties. My buddy caught the second biggest one on light stand up tackle.. which Fuzzy and deckhand andy were both amazed that he didnt snap it off. The line was "pinging" pretty well the whole fight.

All in all it was a great trip. Capt Fuzzy consistantly catches the most fish I have seen out of anyone in Maui. you are allowed to keep the fish you want, and he even cut us up a whoel whack of the best Ahi sashimi I have ever eaten right on the dock.

I HIGHLY reccomend going down to the lahaina harbour daily to see who has caught what each day.. I would almost guarantee he out catches all them. Check him out here. DIEHARD SPORTFISHING (http://www.diehardsportfishing.com/)

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af148/canadianfish/P1010874.jpg
http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af148/canadianfish/P1010871.jpg

[Lefty-Canuck]

Nice Catch! I would love to get into some tuna and such when we are there. Also a sailfish or a marlin would be most welcome on the end of my line. Anyone else with pics or suggestions?

Lefty

[CanadianEh]

Thanks man.. we were there for a wedding so we took one of the Mahi and one of the Tuna for everyone to share..

unfortunatly you are not very likely to catch a Marlin in Maui waters.. although it does happen...

if you really want some the best odds at catching a marlin you best go to Kona on the big island. only need to go about 40 mins out of the harbour and you are in the DEEEP blue sea ( like 5000 feet) I could be wrong... but i think Kona is one of the only places on earth where 1000+ Lb marlin have been caught in every month of the year regularly.

Sail fish I am not sure about though.

If you dare... Jump on the boat with Capt Fuzzy... he will put you in the fish..

[Big Schnizz]

Well... the majority of captians run out of Lahaina Harbour.

I went with one back in November called Capt Fuzzy.. He does not run boats for others.. he owns his boat and runs the whole operation.

First off let me tell you his trips are not for the faint of heart. (not saying all his trips are like this.. he will perhaps run a calmer trip) We left the harbour at midnight to do a 2 hour bait fishing trip before the main event. The bait fishing trip is included in the cost, and depends on the moon cycle ( so it could be earlier or later in the evening)

as soon as we borded his boat, he sat us down and asked us 2 questions. Do we want to catch fish? we replied with a resounding YES! the second was, are you sure you want to go where we have to go to catch fish? we sheepishly said... uhhhh yeah?! We ended up steaming 3 hrs and 54 miles north to open ocean and into 9-13 foot seas.

Oh btw did I tell you the name of his operation is DIEHARD sportfishing.. Compared to his normal catches of 10+ fish, We ended up catching 5 Ahi Yellowfin tuna and 2 nice Mahi Mahi. 2 of the tuna were beauties. My buddy caught the second biggest one on light stand up tackle.. which Fuzzy and deckhand andy were both amazed that he didnt snap it off. The line was "pinging" pretty well the whole fight.

All in all it was a great trip. Capt Fuzzy consistantly catches the most fish I have seen out of anyone in Maui. you are allowed to keep the fish you want, and he even cut us up a whoel whack of the best Ahi sashimi I have ever eaten right on the dock.

I HIGHLY reccomend going down to the lahaina harbour daily to see who has caught what each day.. I would almost guarantee he out catches all them. Check him out here. DIEHARD SPORTFISHING (http://www.diehardsportfishing.com/)



Here's another vote for Captain Fuzzy. Went fishing with him in December and it is definitely DieHard fishing, but he is the captain that consistently catches the most fish. I did my research and Captain Fuzzy had the best rep. We didn't do the bait fishing, but left the harbour at 2:30 am. When we showed up at 2, the 2 captains were there getting everything ready. There were also 2 other people waiting to get on a different boat, but their crew wasn't even there yet. Our boat ride was about 4 hours. We fished this spot for about an hour and a half and caught 1 Mahi Mahi (approx 40 lbs) and about 15 small tuna, so the action was very consistent. We were getting Tuna on every pass. Then we did high speed trolling on the surface on the way back, but never caught anything. I should also mention that I basically drove the boat back most of the way. When we got in, those other guys were back already and hadn't caught a thing. Captain Fuzzy cut us up as much Mahi Mahi and Tuna that we wanted. I know his boat does shorter afternoon trips, but I'm not sure how those compare.

[Marvel]

Another vote for Capt. Fuzzy. Just got back from Maui 3 weeks ago. Same deal - it was "go hard or go home". Left the dock at 2:30 am and a 3 hour run to the spot. We outfished all the other boats that I saw and they gave us more fish to take home than we could carry. The "Start Me Up" guys are one of the most advertised charter boats operations in Maui but are some of the worst at consistently putting fish on the boat.

[WalleyeDeitz]

X2 for the Fuzzy lover. I have been out with Fuzzy and love the above posters story line as we went through the same one. There is something awesome about hopping on the boat in the middle of the night when it is the only engine running at the docks. It makes you feel like you are getting something more than the others. I am assuming we went way out to the same place that the above poster did (was there a NASA bouy out there?) but anyways I am a believer in what the Fuzzster offers. We hammered the Tuna, one being over 200lbs. I have since sent 3 others on the trip and if you search on this forum I have told the story of our trip in better detail. I will try to post a picture of our catch but I always have a difficult time. Fuzzy is the bald tatood one. I actually loved the way he was down yelling in our ears as we were tiring out. A friend that hooked the 200lber was wining like a baby and Fuzzy was down from the top yelling at him not to give up and telling him he should have brought his wife as she could real in twice as fast as him. Kind of fun grinding if you ask me.

When we got back to the docs, he pulled out a big knife and cut into a tuna, mixed up some soya sauce and wasabi and we had a feast right off the fish. It was amazing.

Check things out yourself, go to the docs and see what others are bringing in. All I can say if for the full experience I too would recommend Die Hard.

Regards,

pm me your email if you want more photos.

[Woolly Bugger]

Hi Folks,

Any of you go fishing in Hawaii? Specifically on Maui? Going to be going there in April with my Pops and brother and thought I would see if anyone can recommend something.

Lefty

Lefty, when are you going to be in Maui ? I am there from April 2nd - 17th, perhaps we can share a boat if you don't mind some company. I am an avid fly rodder and am also looking to do some flats fishing on Molokai.

[Sundancefisher]

Lefty, when are you going to be in Maui ? I am there from April 2nd - 17th, perhaps we can share a boat if you don't mind some company. I am an avid fly rodder and am also looking to do some flats fishing on Molokai.

I fished out of Lahaina a few years back. I was able to negotiate with the captain for the whole boat for $600 instead of $1000. I wanted my two boys only with us. I should of had one take gravol :-(

Still the boat I picked had caught fish the day before...he was not booked the next and I hummed and hawed...gave him the condo number and said if he changes his mind to give me a call. I also got two extra hours for the price.

Worth a try. We had fun...hooked and landed a big wahoo...although the rod and reel was probably better suited for a 600 lb sail.

[swayze]

i fished in maui at this time last year. we fished on 2 start me up boats. i booked it through the fish maui website with capt mike crawford. he is very helpful in finding the right boat for you. i told him that we werent the kind of fisherman that just like going for a boat ride and we were serious about catching big fish. start me up boats will leave early just like capt fuzzy with the diehard boat. we left at 2:30a.m and had 3 1/2 hr trip out to the deep blue before we started fishing and it was rough as hell. i've bin rough water on the west coast before but this was much worse. once we started fishing we started with live bait and hooked up with three mahi mahi right off the bat. then we fished for more live bait, and after we caught the bait we began to troll back to the harbour where we slammed the giant. 485lbs blue marlin. took 2 hrs to bring in and three guys, it was catwalking like crazy, and what made it even harder to bring in was the bugger was hooked by the tail. fishing trip of a life time that i will never forget

[rccam1]

Just Went down and booked with Capt Fuzzy for Mar 30. Hope the wind slows down cuzz he said to bring a strong gut.:thinking-006:

[Woolly Bugger]

I am booked with Capt. Fuzzy on April 11th, can't wait !!

[rccam1]

Was booked in with the Fuzz only to have the boat go down with overheating problems. DANG!!! Will have to wait for the next visit to the island. Hung out at the dock for a while and most boats had some good fish. Mostly MahiMahi, nice ones, Tuna and heard of a couple Marlin.

[Lefty-Canuck]

Hi Guys,

I will be in Hawaii from April 9-16th. My Dad and i will be the only fishermen. Wooly, sorry I didn't catch your post sooner. We may be interested in sharing a boat depending on how many fishermen you have in your group. I am looking forward to our trip. PM me if you have 2 open spots and maybe we can set something up!

Lefty

[Lefty-Canuck]

Well we booked with a boat called the "Rascal" for tomorrow! Looking really forward to it, weather is hot here 30+ real sunny got a bit too much sun yesterday.....but I guess thats what pastey white Edmontonians do....come here and turn pink, red and then brown. Hopefully I'll have some pics to post tomorrow night of a great day of fishing!

Lefty

[densa44]

We went fishing last May and it was bumpy! I'm not that great a sailor in rough weather so I loaded up on Bonime which you can't buy in Canada and it worked great. The fishing not so much, but that is why it is called fishing.

Pray for a day that is civil!

[Lefty-Canuck]

I am booked with Capt. Fuzzy on April 11th, can't wait !!

Just wondering how you made out fishing? I am headed out tomorrow!

Lefty

[CanadianEh]

Hey Guys post some pics if you get a catch!! Id love to see em.

[AbAngler]

This thread is making me sad. I'm heading there on Saturday, but my wife has informed me she doesn't want to fish (pregnant). In the 11 years we've been together, this will be the first warm weather destination we've been to and not fished.

Oh well, she can be my designated driver!

[Lefty-Canuck]

Well just got back from fishing! Was a slow day on the water but I did manage to get in a decent Mahi-Mahi (my first ever), was in the 25-30 lbs range. Captain of the boat filleted her up for us and going to have it for dinner. All in all great day with "Rascel Charters", when we checked into the harbour we were the only ones so far with a fish.

The boats run flags based on your catch for the day and we were the only boat with a flag up....

Saw lots of whales, dolphins, and a bonus eagle ray who came and snagged some scraps while we were cleaning the fish.

Was hot and sunny and water wasn't too rough. I'll post some pics once I get them on the PC.

Lefty

[Lefty-Canuck]

After the hook up,
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd460/lefty-canuck/maui%20fishing/P1010995.jpg

At the boat,
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd460/lefty-canuck/maui%20fishing/P1010998.jpg

Success!!
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd460/lefty-canuck/maui%20fishing/P1020001.jpg

At the dock....
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd460/lefty-canuck/maui%20fishing/P1020034.jpg

was a slow day but totally worth it!

Lefty

[AbAngler]

Nice Mahi. Great fighters!

[Woolly Bugger]

Just wondering how you made out fishing? I am headed out tomorrow!

Lefty

Sorry Lefty, I did not have access to e-mail while in Maui and got back last night. Too bad we were not able to connect. We caught 9 Mahi amongst the 6 anglers on the boat. We left Lahaina at 2:30AM and headed about 5 miles out to catch Scad Mackerel (caught about 15 of them) in the dark which we used for bait, that was fun in itself. We arrived at the Nasa buoy around 5:30AM and like clock work had the first Mahi on within 1 minute of getting the bait in the water. We caught 7 Mahi at the buoy and then trolled on the way back with no takers. On the windward side of Lanai Fuzzy noticed some cargo netting and wood on the water so we got the live bait back in the water and caught 2 more Mahi. Andy (Deckhand) says they have seen Mahi suspend underneath a tiny coconut hull floating on the water. If something is floating on the blue water, there is probably something hanging out below. Would have liked to catch a Yellowfin or better yet a Striper but the Mahi were certainly fun. We only caught 1 Bull which was the largest at about 17 pounds. The boat trip certainly is not for the faint of heart, I lost my stomach a couple times as we had 8 - 11 foot swells and the darkness just perpetuated the motion. I will post some pictures once I get them loaded onto the computer.

[Lefty-Canuck]

Sorry Lefty, I did not have access to e-mail while in Maui and got back last night. Too bad we were not able to connect. We caught 9 Mahi amongst the 6 anglers on the boat. We left Lahaina at 2:30AM and headed about 5 miles out to catch Scad Mackerel (caught about 15 of them) in the dark which we used for bait, that was fun in itself. We arrived at the Nasa buoy around 5:30AM and like clock work had the first Mahi on within 1 minute of getting the bait in the water. We caught 7 Mahi at the buoy and then trolled on the way back with no takers. On the windward side of Lanai Fuzzy noticed some cargo netting and wood on the water so we got the live bait back in the water and caught 2 more Mahi. Andy (Deckhand) says they have seen Mahi suspend underneath a tiny coconut hull floating on the water. If something is floating on the blue water, there is probably something hanging out below. Would have liked to catch a Yellowfin or better yet a Striper but the Mahi were certainly fun. We only caught 1 Bull which was the largest at about 17 pounds. The boat trip certainly is not for the faint of heart, I lost my stomach a couple times as we had 8 - 11 foot swells and the darkness just perpetuated the motion. I will post some pictures once I get them loaded onto the computer.

Nice! Yah we only got the one fish but it was decent I estimate it at 25-30 lbs we never actually weighed it though. It was a female. Did Fuzzy let you guys keep your fish? did he clean them for you? My Dad and I took some Bonine (motion sickness med) before we went out....never even got sea legs, but man were we tired.....it makes you super drowsy but we ate and drank in the boat with no issues.

Our guide cleaned the fish for us and let us keep it all which we ate of course! One cool thing is when we were cleaning the fish the guide threw a few scraps into the ocean near the dock and a resident 6 foot plus eagle ray came and ate the scraps! I took some more fish trimmings back the next day to let the kids feed him and he was there then too.

What time did your guide get you back to shore? We left at 6:15am and came back in at 2:30pm, caught the Mahi @ about 8:30am.

Just curious in case I go back....I loved it there! Snorkelling 30 yrds off the beach with turtles, seeing whales, dolphins and flying fish while fishing...hot consistant weather...ahhhh the good life!

Lefty

[Woolly Bugger]

Nice! Yah we only got the one fish but it was decent I estimate it at 25-30 lbs we never actually weighed it though. It was a female. Did Fuzzy let you guys keep your fish? did he clean them for you? My Dad and I took some Bonine (motion sickness med) before we went out....never even got sea legs, but man were we tired.....it makes you super drowsy but we ate and drank in the boat with no issues.

Our guide cleaned the fish for us and let us keep it all which we ate of course! One cool thing is when we were cleaning the fish the guide threw a few scraps into the ocean near the dock and a resident 6 foot plus eagle ray came and ate the scraps! I took some more fish trimmings back the next day to let the kids feed him and he was there then too.

What time did your guide get you back to shore? We left at 6:15am and came back in at 2:30pm, caught the Mahi @ about 8:30am.

Just curious in case I go back....I loved it there! Snorkelling 30 yrds off the beach with turtles, seeing whales, dolphins and flying fish while fishing...hot consistant weather...ahhhh the good life!

Lefty

We got to keep as much fish as we wanted and Fuzzy cleaned it for us, we took about 5 filets home. We BBQ'd our Mahi in an aluminum pan with butter and garlic and then sprinkled crushed Macadamia Nuts on top. We also did a couple marinated in Italian Dressing as that was suggested as a quick way to prepare it, was also very good. I am not a big fish eater but enjoyed this, looked like chicken breast when cooked and very mild. We got back to the harbor around 10:00AM. Funny, we had an Eagle Ray at the back of our boat when we got back along with a bunch of small Blue Fin Trevally. I actually asked if they feed them the scraps and he says they have many times but it is frowned upon as it attracts Sharks into the harbor. The snorkeling is pretty amazing, I went to Molokini on our last Maui trip but didn't do any this time. The flying fish were very cool, I had to ask what the heck it was the first time I saw one come out of the water. I will try posting some pictures as I have uploaded them to my computer.

* I will have to remember the Bonine for next time.

[Woolly Bugger]

Some of the Mahi we caught plus the Ray that was hanging out behind the boat in the harbor. Doesn't take Capt. Fuzzy long to filet a Mahi, pretty impressive.

http://i932.photobucket.com/albums/ad167/8KCAB/P1010949.jpg
http://i932.photobucket.com/albums/ad167/8KCAB/P1010955.jpg[IM
http://i932.photobucket.com/albums/ad167/8KCAB/P1010950.jpg
http://i932.photobucket.com/albums/ad167/8KCAB/P1010952.jpg
http://i932.photobucket.com/albums/ad167/8KCAB/P1010953.jpg
http://i932.photobucket.com/albums/ad167/8KCAB/P1010956.jpg