Maui

Twitch

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Do any of you have any experience with fishing charters in Maui. We’re in the planning stages of a trip for next year. From what little digging I’ve done it looks like striped marlin and mahi mahi seem to be in season or just getting to be the season when we’ll be there. Hoping to get a day or two in between the snorkeling and all the other stuff island time brings about. Thanks in advance for any advice.
 


Kurtr

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Been twice first year went all day and caught one mahi mahi and a spearfish. Can’t remember the boat it was alright . Next time went to the marina and the captain said he would take the money but would be like stealing fishing was so bad which was good because just like everything there it’s super expensive. First time was December second was beginning of January. This was in 2002 and 2005 for me if I ever go back don’t know if I would do it again lots of driving around trolling with a few fish. It was and experience .
 

KDM

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If I was looking at doing something in Hawaii, I would look into a hunt. Even if you don't get anything, WHAT a way to see the island, the ecosystem, and something other than water and a city. Now as for the fishing, I have quite a few Navy buddies that were stationed over there, and they said that the fishing is pretty much so-so all the time. The locals like to spearfish stuff which keeps the numbers in limbo most of the time. They could get discount prices on charters through the military and they still didn't go. Most would prefer to go snorkeling and just hang out on the beach. Just a thought.
 

Bfishn

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I believe the best fishing in Maui is April-July, which is obviously not when most people are there. I was there in June last year and did a shared charter out of Lahaina with a boat called “die hard” they leave earlier and go farther out to the bouys than the other charters. The bouys are generally where you will get the mahi and tuna. You then troll back in for the bigger fish. We caught yellowfin, skipjack, and mahi at the bouy and then got one nice wahoo on the way back in and lost another.

I would ride down to the marina every day and check catches and die hard was definitely consistently the best, and even though weather conditions seem the same everyday, even their catch rate was highly variable day to day. They did usually get tuna and or mahi every day but numbers and size varied. I did see them also get wahoo, marlin, short billed spearfish . Most boats don’t get out to the bouys so they are just trolling for the big fish around Lahaina which can just turn into a boat ride, and you likely won’t get any mahi or tuna. The best part was the gallon sized ziplock bag of fish I got that I grilled the rest of the trip, freaking amazing.

You can research charters on yelp, trip adviser etc to make your choice. Die hard isn’t for the faint of heart because they get out in rougher water, so dont think you are too tough to take something for sea sickness. The two guys on my boat that thought they were tough were both chumming ��. Hawaiian waters are no joke and it was rough, and our capt said that was about average. He said rarely do they have a charter that nobody chums.
 
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Twitch

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what would everyone recommend for the ultimate tropical fishing destination?


Not exactly tropical but my best excursions to date have been a few times out of Islamorada Fl, and our charter in Alaska.
 

KDM

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what would everyone recommend for the ultimate tropical fishing destination?

Unlimited funds = Tropic Star out of Panama
Limited funds = Something in Key West (maybe Dry Tortugas)
 
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Bullsnake

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hit up one of them multi party fishing boats, $40 bucks for a bout 2 hrs of fishing, not always sold out so plenty of room, that's what we did when we went a few years ago anyway. cheap and got out on the water
 

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