Hawaii Fishing - Deep Sea Fishing and Sport Fishing in Hawaii
Hawaii fishing is an activity that can be found on all the islands. There are many fishing choices. View all your options here at Tom Barefoot’s Tours!
Hawaii Sport Fishing is World Famous!
Hawaii fishing is perhaps the single most important category of tours available on the Big Island of Hawaii and the Big Island of Hawaii is certainly the spot on the islands where you will find the best Hawaii fishing. The islands of Oahu, Kauai and Maui are also recognized as being excellent fishing locations for both Hawaii sport fishing and Hawaii bottom fishing charters.
To set the record straight however it needs to be made clear that as far as Hawaii fishing goes, the single best spot on the islands to fish is the island of Hawaii, which is otherwise known as the Big Island. Deep sea fishing in Hawaii is at its best on the Big Island and there would be very few anglers who would argue that Hawaii is not the sport fishing capitol of the world. The district of Kona on the island of Hawaii is the area from which all the fishing excitement begins and Kona is the home of a series of important world renown fishing tournaments each year including the Hawaii Big Island Invitational Fishing Tournament. Although Kona is well known for being a place to catch all manner of large fish such as the Skip Jack and Yellow Fin Tuna, Ono, Mahi Mahi and Opakapaka the single most sought after and most highly coveted Hawaii fishing prize is reserved for the immense Pacific Blue Marlin. These species can easily tip the scales over the 500 lb mark and the world’s largest ever caught was a smashing 1265 lb giant pulled out of the waters near Kona in 1983. One of the reasons Hawaii fishing off the Kona Coast is so good is that the water trenches deep immediately as you leave the harbor and within minutes you will find yourself in thousands of feet of water. Large fish hunting in the deep waters here will make their way to the surface as the Island of Hawaii ascends before them. Many a tournament in Kona has been won by catching fish almost as soon as the fishing vessels leave the harbor and this was indeed the case in 1998 when the fishing vessel Humdinger hooked into the largest fish of the tournament just 18 minutes after leaving the dock on its last run of the day on the last day of the tournament.
The Big Island of Hawaii Provides the Best Deep Sea Fishing in Hawaii
Without question Kona is the unquestionable king of fishing locations in Hawaii but what is extraordinary is that it is generally the least expensive to fish out of. This phenomenon is a result of the fishing being so good out of Kona that it attracts many more boats that come to fish here. With the extreme number of boats comes competition and with the competition comes more competitive pricing. Fishermen in Kona take their fishing seriously and most boats only take out private charters. Although share boat charters can be arranged for as well, they are not nearly as prevalent as those found on the other Hawaiian Islands. The attitude of Hawaii fishermen in Kona is that their preference is to “go for the gusto” and catch the big fish. Taking one or two guys fishing on a full day charter who are really into the spirit of the sport is much more to their liking than taking six unrelated parties out on a half-day charter and teaching them how to fish. Hawaii fishing is at the top of its game off the Big Island and this is where the big boys come to play.
Although the point has been made that Hawaii sport fishing is best on the Big Island this does not necessarily mean that the fishing on the other Hawaiian Islands can be compared to that of a weak sister. The island of Maui boasts two harbors to fish from, Lahaina Harbor and Maalaea Harbor and the deep water on the back side of Lanai or Kahoolawe is within an hour’s troll. If the waters are calm enough the channel over to Molokai can also produce good fishing results as well. Quite a number of Hawaii fishing charters work these waters regularly and many of these boats are well known for their fishing prowess.
Deep Sea Fishing in Hawaii can Provide the Highest Level of Excitement!
Oahu’s sport fishing charters primarily leave out of Kewalo Basin and the most successful of the fishing charters seem to be the ones that make a B-line out to the northwestern corner of the island at Kaena Point. Traveling southwest toward the Penguin Banks is another strategy and each is deployed with regard to how the fish are running, what the previous day’s fishing was like and what the other fishing captains have reported on their radios. The fishing fleet is fairly small on Oahu but the trips can be hard to get on because of the large volume of clients wanting to get out on the water to test the fishing.
Fishing tours leaving from Kauai have similarities to the Big Island in that the drop-off from the harbors can be very steep, very fast. A number of the boats leaving out of Port Allen make a living out of catching fish almost right off the coast but some of the most rewarding fishing tours from there go out to the Na Pali Coast and these tours then add the additional dimension of being a sightseeing boat as well because the views of Na Pali from the ocean provide a vision that is one of the most beautiful sites in the world.
Hawaii Fishing Charters (By Island)
