Maui Deep Sea Fishing

Most Maui shared and charter fishing trips will be departing from Maalaea Harbor (5-15 minutes from Kihei/ Wailea) and/ or from Lahaina Harbor, which is 10-20 minutes from Kaanapali/Kapalua Resorts.

When you go out sport fishing in Maui, you will almost certainly be going out on the leeward part of the island. The captains and their crew are Maui fishing experts who know these waters very well, but don’t be surprised if their strategies are determined based upon the catch quantities and bite locations of the previous days, the reports from other boats and the changing of ocean conditions that can definitely alter the location of fish. Fishing the FADS (Fish Aggregation Devices) on the West side of Lanai, trolling the Marlin alley along the South shore, hunting for birds off Kuia Shoals on Kahoolawe, or making a run up to the North shore of Molokai are all viable options for day trips out of Maui.

You should reference the Fish Calendar. You can see that every type of fish that can be caught on Maui has a particular time when that fish is more likely to be caught. Maui Big Game fish including Marlin, Tuna, Mahi Mahi and Trevally are usually caught in the months of of May and June. In general, Peak Fishing Season in Maui is from March to September. (see our "Fish Chart") Maui fishing charters go out all year long because fish can be caught at all times of the year.

In Maui the conditions on the water can vary considerably depending upon the day and the time of year. In general, the rougher weather and water conditions are during the stormy winter seasons. Winter seas can make things uncomfortable in Maui, but in between the storms are some of the most delightful days of the year to fish. These in-between storm days are likely to not have any trade wind conditions to deal with and the waters are often very flat and calm.
That is big change from the Summer months when the seas are much more predictable with constant trade winds blowing in from the northeast. The Summers in Maui are usually quite warm and have plenty of sun. There is also a lot of fish in the waters surrounding Maui, with excellent current circulations that help to make Maui fishing charters ideal.

The waters of Maui are home to the Pacific Blue, Striped and Short Billed Marlin. The shoreline is also known for Skipjack and Yellow Fin Tuna, Mahi-mahi, Wahoo (Ono), Trevally, Shark, Barracuda, and Hawaiian Salmon. All of these fish are commonly found on restaurant dinner menus.

Maui is known to provide some pretty fantastic bottom fishing. This type of fishing is done with the boat stopped (not in gear trolling), and sometimes anchoring is required. That said, captains will usually prefer to go over top of the favored locations that are proven grounds for fish such as jacks, snapper, wrasse, goatfish, and more. In general, Fish that are hauled up from the bottom are usually smaller than what you will catch when sport fish trolling massive lures. Bottom fish will usually weigh no more than 1-5 pounds, but you may be the luckier type that hooks into much larger fish.

The State of Hawaii has placed Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs) in the waters surrounding the main Hawaiian Islands. These buoys attract schools of tuna and other important pelagic fishes, such as dolphinfish (Mahimahi), wahoo (Ono), and billfish. FADs allow fishermen to easily locate and catch these species.