Fishing Hawaii???

[Ace]

Hi all,

Thought I would throw this out there and see if there was anyone who has done any deep sea fishing while in Hawaii...I'm going over Christmas break this year and started researching charters, so I was just curious if anyone out there has had any experience with one they would highly recommend or maybe one to stay away from. Thanks!!

--Ace

[JeffS]

My wife and I did a 1/2 day charter while on our honeymoon in Kauai. I can't remember the name of the boat but our hotel set the whole thing up for us.

If your interested in keeping what you catch, check that out before you go because on our boat the skipper kept all the fish. They offered us enough meat for 1 meal. Since we were at a hotel and did not have access to a kitchen it was not a big deal.

We had a great time, we both thought that a 1/2 day was plenty. You get pretty tired from fighting those big fish and if it's hot the sun can really tire you out as well.

As far as recommending charters if your staying at a hotel or resort they can recommend a good one, and probably have a particular charter that they use primarily. If you staying at a condo or camping, look online and checkout pictures of the boat, etc.

Have a great trip.

[traveler]

Ace; how serious do you want to be, and what do you want to catch? How much $$ are you looking to spend? I haven't fished Hawaii myself, but have fished offshore in Mexico a lot, and done a bit of research on Hawaii. As mentioned above, Hawaii skippers tend to keep the fish and sell it at market to offset the cost of the charter, they also tend to kill way too many billfish. You can certainly hire a captain who will release marlin, but they are the more expensive ones.

[CFRay]

I went on a full day shared charter this past April out of Lahaina on Maui. Finest Kind Charter. I was one of five people. Only one small tuna caught for the day and it was not my turn. The others on the boat were nice, the weather was perfect, not a bad day. I did get tired of hearing twin diesels grumbling away beneath your feet for 8 hours and only a single fish. This boat had the captains station above where we sat. Did not get to talk with him much as he was not close by. The mate was a good guy and spent some time with us, but after awhile he crawled up with the captain and the five of us were by ourselves. I suppose that goes with no fish being caught or raised.

[titelines]

My dad and I took a 1/2 day charter out of Lahaina a few years back. I don't remember the name of the charter, but we had a blast. I got a Mahi-Mahi, as well as a couple barracuda. My dad got a couple fish, but they weren't gamefish. We were in a hotel, so we didn't keep any of the fish. The Captain said they sell it to the local restaurants or hotels.

Funny story: We moved around quite a bit and ended up by an island that the Navy used for live-fire practice. There were a couple boats with diving charters nearby. My dad hooked onto something and spent a few minutes with it. Suddenly, the line just took off and he just had to hold on. This lasted maybe 10-15 seconds, then the line went limp. He reeled up, and said something was still there. He hauled it up and it was a large fish, but it was cut off right behind the gills. One of the diving boats called us and said they were leaving due to some large Hammerheads in the area.

[hydro]

I read an article a while back about guys who take their windsurfing rigs out rigged with trolling tackle. They surf around until they get a strike then drop the sail, turn around and grab the rod to fight the fish. They get towed about by the fish until one of them tires out and is subdued. Sounded pretty wild but plausible.

[hydro]

I had to do this....

Alfred Prados landed this 182 lb Ahi in 1980 about two miles off of Maui, fishing off of a 12' windsurf board.

[End of the Line]

I took an all day charter out of Lahaina a few years back off Maui too. I caught a Mahi-Mahi and so did one other person for an all day trip. We went around the back side of Lanai and worked our way over to the Navy's live fire island from WWII too. I did pay for my fish only to keep the meat. (I think it was about $80; $2.00/lb for a hanging fish and I am sure I only got about 4-6 lbs of actual meat). I felt bad for the other people who didnt even catch a fish on our trip so I offered half of my fish to a couple of gentlemen from San Fransico who I think they felt like they had just won the lottery when they accepted. As a note the other boats all did the same as us or worse that day.

I went in mid Feburary with Start Me up Charters.

[smeese]

Sounds awesome ACE Have a good time. Fishing in Belize was a blast last october.

[Ace]

Thanks for the info everyone!! We booked our flight tonight, the only requirements I have for the trip are to go fishing and to get a picture of me having a cold beer with my feet in the sand while my buddies are all ice fishing:-) On to charter research...Thanks again!

[Big-Al]

Which island are you going to have time the the charter? Are you island hopping by airplane, cruising, or on one island? There are charters available on any island in a lot of cities so first I would narrow down where and when.

We went out of Honolulu, Oahu for a full day. There were four of us. We each caught a mahi-mahi. My wife's was close to 50 lbs. This trip was way more enjoyable then the two I had made in Mexico. The boat we went on would carry up to five. The captain and first mate were first class. It was an older boat, but a beauty. We were out of the harbor before daylight and back about four.

If you want to post an email I can give more info on the name of the boat and phone numbers, etc.

[tillerdude]

My better half and I were on a charter called the Vixen a few years ago in February on Big Island. The charter captain's name at the time was Remi. We each caught a Marlin and Dorado along with some other tuna. However, we were told that we were very lucky as the winter months are not as productive as the summer months. Good times.

On another note we caught sm bass and Peacock bass on one of the lakes in the mountains on Mauii.

Good luck wherever you go!

[Desperado]

when you call a Hawaiian guide, you should tell him "I'm gonna be there the last week of December so I'd like to go icefishing"

Let us know what kind of response you get

[Ace]

I will most likely be fishing while on the big island, the majority of our stay will be there...I will be on Maui too, but I don't know if we will be able to fit it in then. I'd like to make a day of it if I can...

[traveler]

Kona put hawaii on the map. I'd try to go out of there if possible. Good luck!

[Ace]

We will actually be staying in Kona for the majority of the trip. I will be sure to post pics if I catch anything!!

[Scudly]

Lots of folks may not know this but going to Hawaii from mind- September -- February is not ideal. This is when the tradewinds come in and the waves really get big. For instance sailboat charters off the Napali Coast shut down end of September. We went mid-Sept one year. Going up the coast (following the current) was great but coming back, really rough.

Keep an eye on the weather. I'm just not into deep sea fishing bobbing up and down in 6+ foot waves.

[Go2fish]

If you can get on a share boat the Die Hard out of Lahina Maui with capt fuzzy will be tough to beat. He goes out at about 4am and is back by noon. He drives out to the FAD's and catches a bunch of Ahi and we got several Mahi Mahi. The last time I was there the share boat got cancelled cuz someone booked it for themselves, the shareboat is a crapshoot cuz you need a min of 4 people I think but I would do that for sure. Search Fish Maui

[BUSHWAC]

I was in Kona last November and did a half day for Marlin with no success. I was on Bite Me fishing charters. My brother did the same half day the year before and they did catch a fair sized Marlin on their half day trip. The hot Marlin bite is over by November/December but I wanted to try anyway. I was hearing the name Sea Strike around the marina as a great option. The Wahoo bite should be good by then. Our half day charter was approx $400 for the morning run. They were very professional and friendly.

One place I will recommend is the Kona Inn for dinner. It was fair priced and the food was great!! The best I had on the big Island!!

[Ace]

Anyone have any recommendations/opinions for a half day charter versus a full day? Is 4 hours enough time to fish by the time you motor out to the spots?

[JeffS]

I posted before that my wife and I went on a half day charter in late September of 2005. We stayed on Kauai and caught more fish than we expected.

Someone else stated that late fall and early winter was not the ideal time to visit Hawaii. I would say that compared to the upper Midwest any month in Hawaii is ideal. The post listed that the trade winds change during these months. The post also listed that the Napali coast had some very high winds during this time. The thing that I learned in Hawaii was that the weather is very different from one place to another. Have a great time.

[traveler]

No first hand info, but from what I've read, a lot of the fishing is in close in Hawaii. That being said, I'd still do a whole day. I have spent a lot of days offshore fishing, and it can turn on and off in the ocean just like it can on a local lake. Tides, moon phase, etc...can have an effect on when the bite happens, and you want to be on the water when it does.

[Jeff Jr.]

I fished out of Kona a few years ago. I was on board the Sundowner captained by Darrin Issacs, son of Captain Norm Issacs on ESPN's "Big Game Fishing The World". I believe Darrin now charters out of Miami though. We were there in August which is supposed to be the best month of the year for marlin. We did not catch a fish. Darrin was very up front with us and said one out of four years is tough and we were there on that one year. You will be fishing a very short distance from the harbor as the bottom drops off incredibly fast. Also the wind blows out nearly all the time plus the mountains block the winds creating very calm conditions. There are many charter boats so shop around and ask a lot of questions. As in anything else there are some excellent charter boats and some poor ones too. I will go back some day and I'd likley call Darrin and ask for recommendations.

Good luck and have fun!

Jeff S

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