It depends on the time of year. In the busy season, which is usually when kids are on spring, summer, or Christmas break, many Maui fishing boats can get pretty booked up. You may want to call us at least three or four weeks in advance if your schedule is tight. If your schedule is flexible or you will be fishing when we have fewer visitors, booking a week or two in advance should be enough to give you plenty of options. Because we book primarily private charters, we suggest flexibility in your schedule if you are looking to book a share charter.

We always suggest booking early in your vacation so that in the very unlikely event we have to reschedule due to weather, you will possibly have another day open to come out with us.

Avet Reels is who we use for our primary reel choice. Founded by two brothers, Harry and Sarkis Alajajyan, Avet Reels are all designed, machined, and assembled in Chatsworth, California. Every part including all internals are made in house with the exception of bearings that are sourced from suppliers around the LA area. Avet Reels combines innovation, quality, and versatility to create reels that cater to all anglers, from beginners to seasoned pros.

There is very little overlap between the species of fish, size of the fish, and style of fishing, sport and bottom fishing are fairly different. Sport fishing (also called trolling or big game fishing) usually involves dragging artificial lures on the surface behind the boat out in deep water for fish like Mahimahi, Ono, Tuna and Marlin. If a fish hooks up, one of the passengers is chosen to try to reel it in. If your number isn’t called, you get to cheer on the person reeling in the fish. The stakes are high and although you are less likely to catch a fish, if you do it is likely to be bigger than the average fish caught bottom fishing. We will often try this type of fishing on our way to and from the bottom fishing spots (’cause we know we won’t catch anything with the hooks in the boat) but mostly focus on the bottom fishing. Bottom fishing can also use artificial lures but we usually use bait like squid. Bottom fishing is done with the boat stopped drifting over “spots” where there is known to be concentrations of fish like snapper, jacks, wrasse, goatfish, and many others, in relatively shallow water (100-300 ft. deep). Once we get to our bottom fishing spots, each passenger is given their own rod and instructed on how to use it to drop pieces of bait (the crew is happy to help you bait your hook if you prefer), down to the bottom and each has a chance to catch their own fish from start to finish. The most successful anglers are the ones who forget everything they know from other fishing styles and follow the fishing instruction from their captain and crew. Most of the fish we catch are small but the tackle is relative light so its a perfect match. If you do hook into a big one on light tackle, you are in for a really fun challenge.

You are more than welcome to bring your own snorkel gear, especially if you are already comfortable using it. If you have little ones coming along and they are used to a particular set of gear, certainly bring that. We have top of the line SeaSport silicone-based gear which is provided to all of our guests. We do not provide wetsuits, if you’d like a recommendation on where to rent one please give us a call.

We do not recommend bringing your own fishing gear, as we have customized everything to suit the style of fishing that we do on Maui. But feel free to give us a call and we are happy to discuss. Since it is your charter we will do our best to guide you to success.

Our standard trip length is 4 hours, but we are happy to run longer charters to get to deeper spots, or have more time for trolling/sport fishing. Some guests find that four hours is plenty of time to either catch dinner or to get tired of trying. You never know what is going to happen, sometimes we have a great day fishing, and sometimes we have a great day catching. Give us a call for our recommendation based on your party, particularly to accommodate the ages of everyone onboard. We recommend shorter trips for younger family members.

Every day is different and although most of our fish are caught on the bottom, we can also catch some big game fish like Mahimahi/Dolphin fish, Ono/Wahoo, Ahi/Tuna, and even Marlin while trolling to and from the bottom fishing spots. We have even caught a 350 pound marlin on the way out to the bottom fishing spot one morning. We get a much wider variety of fish on the bottom fishing gear. Most of our guests are interested in taking some fish back to the condo to grill up so we usually start by targeting the tasty ones. Snapper, like the blueline (Ta’ape) and gray (Uku), are very tasty though the blueline snapper rarely exceed two pounds. Goatfish like the Moilua and Kumu are caught less often but are equally tasty. Several species of trevally (jacks) are also found here and we can catch any of them. Among the more common are the bluefin trevally (Omilu), goldspot trevally (Papa Papio), amberjack (Kahala), and the highly prized giant trevally (Ulua). Some of these are very good eating especially when small but all are highly prized as game fish, especially the Ulua which is considered to be the most highly sought after inshore game fish in the state. About 30% of our fish are endemic, so it is quite possible that you’ll catch something you’ve never seen before. We have caught over sixty different species of fish on our bottom fishing trips but if you don’t come out and try your luck, you probably won’t catch any of them.

Every day is totally different. We usually say that on at least 9 out of 10 trips, everybody catches something, usually several somethings, and since we target the tasty ones, it is usually enough for a delicious appetizer or dinner. Our record is 59 fish in one 4 hour trip (mostly little guys). Bottom fishing generally offers more of a hands-on approach, while sport fishing tends toward waiting for the big one to bite and sometimes only one person in your party being able to get in on the action.

We catch a lot of really nice and interesting fish here in Maui and if you have room for one of them on your wall, the crew will be happy to set you up with one of two options to commemorate and create a legacy piece for your family.

Gyotaku by local Maui artist Brian Heustis: If you’re looking for a way to display your favorite catch in a unique and time-honored art form, then Gyotaku, otherwise known as fish printing is the perfect choice. This Japanese art form has been the inspiration of artists and art enthusiasts around the globe for hundreds of years and I know you'll love how it brings your fish back to life. Maui Fish Printing is known for expert craftsmanship and finely honed skills reflected in every final product. Commemorate an experience from a fishing trip or your personal best and display it through art. I have over 20 years of experience in the field and will customize each of your fish in accordance with your preferences and your fish’s specifications. Each species of fish provides a unique work of art that will be proudly displayed for years to come.

Fish Mount from Gray Taxidermy: Gray Taxidermy specializes in handcrafting custom fish mounts of all freshwater and saltwater fish species.

All mounts are custom made in the U.S., one mount at the time, making each and every one of them unique.

We have been in the marine Taxidermy business for over 50 years. With over 500,000 custom fishmounts created we have the knowledge and experience to craft the ultimate trophy mount.

A mounted fish from Gray Taxidermy will commemorate a memory of a lifetime. Our world-class artists take pride in reproducing the rich vibrant colors and true beauty of each species in every mount they create. Our goal is to recreate your fish to resemble the way it looked during the memorable day you caught it.

We continue to travel the world to create our one of a kind fish molds which are a vital part in order to build a museum quality fish mount.

Bottom fishing on Maui is great for kids. We usually fish where the water is calm and with a small number of passengers and the captain and crew both available to help out, even young kids get a chance to bring in some nice fish. Our private charters are the most ideal way to fish with young ones so that we can go at your pace and not worry about appeasing the masses.

This depends on the weather and the crowd. We may end up going as far as 9 or 10 miles from the harbor down the coast to get out of the wind but usually stay within 3 or 4 miles from shore where the water is calm in the 100 to 300 foot depth range.