SportFishing and Charters Forum - Fishing in Hawaii?

I’m going to be in Hawaii for a week and was thinking about just messing around with some local fishing… My brother-in-law and I thought about going on a day charter, but maybe so the wives will stay happy, we might just fish off the rocks, surf… etc.Can anyone recommend where, what and how? We will be on Oahu.

Thanks!

The locals have pretty much destroyed the shore fishing. You'll be much happier with a charter. If you insist on fishing from the shore, go in a group and never alone. And, don't leave any valuables in your car. Hawaii, especially Oahu, is not the paradise that some would lead you to believe.

Most of the population of Hawaii lives on Oahu and many fish from shore so the easily accessible places have slim pickings. The remaining good shore fishing spots are either inaccessible or restricted (private) to the casual angler.

Chartering a boat is probably your best bet to get into some action, and you can take the admirals along too. If you'll be staying in Waikiki/Honolulu, there are many good charter boats nearby at Kewalo Basin. Here's a link to just one boat's website:

Honolulu Charter Boat (http://www.magicsportfishing.com/slide/gallery.php)

If you'll be staying on the North Shore, then you'll want to check out the charter boats in Haleiwa Harbor. Here's a link to just one of them:

Haleiwa Charter Boat (http://www.kuuloakai.com/scrap_book.asp)

You didn't say when you're visiting but keep in mind that our waters are generally rough. The summer is big yellowfin tuna season, with blue marlin also here and into the fall. The tuna get scarcer as summer turns into fall and the big blue marlin get scarcer into winter. The mahi are generally winter/spring fish and the ono (wahoo) are spring/summer fish. But none of that is a hard rule and anything can be caught at any time. One other thing - we eat most of our fish so be sure to talk to your charter boat beforehand about their catch/release and keep/share policies to avoid a bad ending to a good day.

Good fishing.

Whatever you do, do NOT book with "Live Bait Charters". I had a terrible expereince with them. Captain (a fill in, not the regular) and 1st mate, both asleep on the fly bridge for an hour and a half. Boat had autopilot, but no means to alert them to anything in our path. While they slept, I became look out. Also, spent the first hour and a half running to, and catching live bait. Only to spend the rest of the day (except the last 1/2 hour) using lures. We caught 45 live bait in the morning (small mackerel). We only used two of them the entire day, and like I said, only in the last 1/2 hour did we do that. Not a single hook up that day. The captain and 1st matedidn't even try. They barely went through the motions. Total rip off.

We went with the Boom Boom 2, Captain Tony Brown. He gave us the trip of a lifetime. We caught 2 blue marlin @ 700lb & 200Lb. Also caught a 70lb spearfish and 4 20lb Bull dolphin. Here is the web site.

http://www.boomboomsportfishing.com/index2.html

He is located in Ko Olina

Thanks for the info guys… I should have mentioned that we will be in Waikiki and will be there actually next week… June 17-24

I appreciate the info… Thanks a Million!

I second the recommondation of the guys on the Kuuloakai. I fish out of Haleiwa and they are by far the niciest and they know how to catch fish.

Anybody have any reports on Guides out of Maui. I will be there in September. Not planned as a fishing trip but it would be nice to spend a day on the water. Last trip we went out of Honolulu don't remember the boat but no fish. I remember 10 boats working on the radio with no hookups reported. Had a great day even without fish.

Thanks in advance.