Shore casting Maui

If you have any time/layover in Honolulu there is a big West Marine shop with tons of gear. As for shore fishing, 4" white rapalas were always a go to lure. Small jacks, cuda and reef fish kept me busy. Seamed weird throwing lures beside 1M $ boats.

HM
 
Any idea if any of these charter companies offer processing? I’m there in December but would be nice to bring some mahi home vac sealed. I assume most is sold by the charters to restaurants though?

No processors in Maui. Last April I ended up bringing my vac packer but like another poster mentioned they only give you enough for 8-10 large portions but knew this ahead of time and asked the captain if I could buy a 17lb Mahi Mahi and a 10lb tuna. I had tipped 20% so he only charged me for the Mahi Mahi and gave me the YFT and a skippy for no charge. They get $3-5/lb so offered him $5.

I went out with Die Hard and did the overnight thing catching bait then going offshore to fish a private FAD. 15 Mahi Mahi and 12 small YFT and Skippies but it's not exactly a touristy thing.

Only Die Hard and that one Start Me Up boat do the overnight FAD buoy fishing out of Lahaina so I wouldn't waste your money on the day trips on boats that just troll locally. There is a cheap bottom fishing charter that I forget the name of and there's a few stores that rent rods and reels too.
 
Brodie this a old post.I have never been to Mawi .best I could figure .google earth will find you napili bay and acess points to the bay or half a mile NW to Bay dr. pt .navonics will show Napili bay to be a restricted area.and show hawea point trails half mile NW .halfway on the rugged trail out to the point there is a drop off on either side of the point ,pick your leeward side and cast half peeled shrimp /prawns with a little orange wool tied to the leader ,weighted and let sit on bottom .Don't eat all your bait while waiting.
 
Brodie this a old post.I have never been to Mawi .best I could figure .google earth will find you napili bay and acess points to the bay or half a mile NW to Bay dr. pt .navonics will show Napili bay to be a restricted area.and show hawea point trails half mile NW .halfway on the rugged trail out to the point there is a drop off on either side of the point ,pick your leeward side and cast half peeled shrimp /prawns with a little orange wool tied to the leader ,weighted and let sit on bottom .Don't eat all your bait while waiting.
Great comments and suggestions - really looking fwd to the trip - tourist traps have been seen and done before. Just want to relax, snorkel and try throwing out some lures. Appreciate the idea of looking at google earth for the area!
 
The Molokini early morning catamaran snorkel was worthwhile, there is some great snorkeling at the public beaches just up from Black Rock.
 
The Gazebo restaurant is great for breakfast and offers a good view for whales while you wait in line.
Honokeana Bay is immediately south of the Gazebo and is awesome for swimming with turtles.
The locals will ask why do you think several of the turtles only have three flippers. You may want to consider watching them from shore.
 

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Great updates - keep them coming! Have a calendar countdown on the phone...less than a month to go. We are just up a bit from the screen shot from @tubber. Hyaven't swam Honokeana Bay before - looks interesting. Despite all the good advice otherwise, just picked up a pair of Amundsen telescoping rods (9'). It was like going to a pet store-they followed me out the door. Now looking for a pair a salt worthy reels to pair up.
 
Since you are in that area, there is good snorkeling along the shore from the Seahouse restaurant on out at Napili Kai. You may be too early for big whale shows. The drive from Kapalua to Kahului by going around the wrong way is cool (slow with a few narrow blind corners, but you'll be hugging the land side rather than the ocean/cliff side if you go clockwise).
 
The Molokini early morning catamaran snorkel was worthwhile, there is some great snorkeling at the public beaches just up from Black Rock.
I'm taking the wife on that in less than 40 days...the Kai Kanani.
Agreed on the snorkelling at Black Rock, just an awesome cleaning station out in front.
 
Great updates - keep them coming! Have a calendar countdown on the phone...less than a month to go. We are just up a bit from the screen shot from @tubber. Hyaven't swam Honokeana Bay before - looks interesting. Despite all the good advice otherwise, just picked up a pair of Amundsen telescoping rods (9'). It was like going to a pet store-they followed me out the door. Now looking for a pair a salt worthy reels to pair up.

Are you looking for spinning or conventional?
It's worth taking a drive for Huli Huli chicken and ribs to Kihei on the days the church does their big BBQ's...soooooo good.
 
Are you looking for spinning or conventional?
It's worth taking a drive for Huli Huli chicken and ribs to Kihei on the days the church does their big BBQ's...soooooo good.
I have been looking at the Penn II Battle - presently have a smallish Cetina bait caster and really haven't spent the time to master the technique of casting it. Bought it for dropping lines off the boat with MacDeeps and such. Any other spinsters to recommend?
 
I have been looking at the Penn II Battle - presently have a smallish Cetina bait caster and really haven't spent the time to master the technique of casting it. Bought it for dropping lines off the boat with MacDeeps and such. Any other spinsters to recommend?
I've got a Penn Fierce 6000 you're welcome to borrow, spooled up with I think 65lb power pro. I might sell it next year but haven't decided.
 
I was in Kihei a few years ago and tried chucking a shimano waxwing with no luck at Kameole Beaches. Went out and bought some small weights and some frozen squid. Too big of hooks unfortunately. Been trying to do some research on shore fishing in Maui. Hopefully have more luck this year. Going to try some smaller top water plugs (rapalla)? and take a small 6 ft rod and the bigger one. Going to try further south this year past Makena Beach. There was a park further south that we hiked that had way better structure. Updates would be appreciated bigdogg1
 
Went to waileia / Kihei every year for 12 years . Fished nearly every day , keep the plugs and rapalas at home . Get some kastmasters in silver and gold , half oz egg weights, good leader, long shank hooks and a assortment of curly tail grubs or soft plastic strips . They sell all this **** at longs drugs . Fish the grubs on a long leader , 5 -6 feet in length . This is how most locals fish there , and will get you into all the types of Papio , goatfish ( Moana) , small snapper species , wrasses and a **** load more . Can also do this with squid early morning off the sandy beaches for the odd bonefish . As for spots the rocky points at Kamaole can be ok , but the further you head out to makena, la perouse bay will get you into more fish. Look up a spot called five graves , was always good to me.
 
Went to waileia / Kihei every year for 12 years . Fished nearly every day , keep the plugs and rapalas at home . Get some kastmasters in silver and gold , half oz egg weights, good leader, long shank hooks and a assortment of curly tail grubs or soft plastic strips . They sell all this **** at longs drugs . Fish the grubs on a long leader , 5 -6 feet in length . This is how most locals fish there , and will get you into all the types of Papio , goatfish ( Moana) , small snapper species , wrasses and a **** load more . Can also do this with squid early morning off the sandy beaches for the odd bonefish . As for spots the rocky points at Kamaole can be ok , but the further you head out to makena, la perouse bay will get you into more fish. Look up a spot called five graves , was always good to me.
Thanks for this - can't wait. Head out in less than a week. Spent $ on a couple of travelling Amundson rods paired with Okuma reels loaded with a cool blue/white braid. Trying to fit them into a DIY rod tube that also fits inside the suitcase is a bit of a challenge :). Will likely double up the rods in one tube and carry it on. Really looking forward to the trip and thanks again for the posts!
 
Went to waileia / Kihei every year for 12 years . Fished nearly every day , keep the plugs and rapalas at home . Get some kastmasters in silver and gold , half oz egg weights, good leader, long shank hooks and a assortment of curly tail grubs or soft plastic strips . They sell all this **** at longs drugs . Fish the grubs on a long leader , 5 -6 feet in length . This is how most locals fish there , and will get you into all the types of Papio , goatfish ( Moana) , small snapper species , wrasses and a **** load more . Can also do this with squid early morning off the sandy beaches for the odd bonefish . As for spots the rocky points at Kamaole can be ok , but the further you head out to makena, la perouse bay will get you into more fish. Look up a spot called five graves , was always good to me.

This is exactly right. I was looking for an old tackle store near Hilo but it was out of business. We started chatting with this old Chinese guy on picking weeds on the lawn and it turns out he ran the store for years....his advice was Kastmaster in shallow frothy water 2-5 feet deep were the best lures in all Hawaii. Keep playing with the retrieve speed. When snorkelling I often see BIG bluefin trevally in less than 5 feet of water. They will hammer a Kastmaster, and you can cast it a mile.
 
Did some beach fishing in maui last month and hired a local guide (insta: mauifishingadventure or ultimateadditionmaui) named Rhapsody and his buddy LJ. We ended up doing a night fish (8pm til 2am) just south of Kaanipali where these guys set up quick often. Overall it was a cool experience. We were targeting GT (ulua) which is the prized beach fish and while we did manage to bring in one very small trevalliy we didn't get a chance at a big one. From what I heard it's quite rare to actually catch a GT from shore, especially a large one (50lbs +) so just keep your expectations low and you'll be fine.

We fished 6 or 7 rods most of the night and had a mix of live bait and octopus as offerings. In order to get the gear offshore a bit the guides used a drone and an RC boat which is kinda cool to see. Both had release mechanisms on them so that they could get bait 300-400 yards offshore to preferred areas.

Sitting around drinking beer while watching 6 fishing rods in maui isn't the worst but it would have been nice to get some more action. All part of the deal I suppose.
 
Did some beach fishing in maui last month and hired a local guide (insta: mauifishingadventure or ultimateadditionmaui) named Rhapsody and his buddy LJ. We ended up doing a night fish (8pm til 2am) just south of Kaanipali where these guys set up quick often. Overall it was a cool experience. We were targeting GT (ulua) which is the prized beach fish and while we did manage to bring in one very small trevalliy we didn't get a chance at a big one. From what I heard it's quite rare to actually catch a GT from shore, especially a large one (50lbs +) so just keep your expectations low and you'll be fine.

We fished 6 or 7 rods most of the night and had a mix of live bait and octopus as offerings. In order to get the gear offshore a bit the guides used a drone and an RC boat which is kinda cool to see. Both had release mechanisms on them so that they could get bait 300-400 yards offshore to preferred areas.

Sitting around drinking beer while watching 6 fishing rods in maui isn't the worst but it would have been nice to get some more action. All part of the deal I suppose.
That sounds awesome
 
Hopefully you get a chance to do this
Anyways. You’ll be in Maui.
And I won’t be.
Enjoy your time there
 

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I brought my fly rod to Maui last year, fun to be casting but no bites

bring a full sink or sinking tip w shrimp like patterns and a slow inch by inch retrieve

bait is the best way to go imo but they’re not big fish. Unless your the 1in 100
 
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