February 28, 2011 Lahaina Harbor, Maui

[Das it]

Aloha from Lahaina Harbor. The billfish bite off the leeward side of Maui is extremely hot. Striped marlin have been attacking lures in packs and some anglers have been returning to the harbor with double digit counts of marlin bites. In addition to the striped marlin, some shortbill spearfish and nice blue marlin have been around. There has also been the usual steady trickle of mahis and tunas coming into the harbor. Overall, the fishing is great right now. For more information on the fishing, call Deli at 808-667-7879 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Hawaii time or email startmeupfish@gmail.com. The pictures below contain our anglers and some of their catch from the past week.


Roger Stern had a very interesting fishing trip. He was able to enjoy the thrill of catching this mahi and was also fortunate enough to witness what he called an epic battle. Steve Stupak, an 18 year old from Minnesota, caught an approximately 650 lb. blue marlin just south of the Lanai lighthouse in 100 fathoms. The fish would not give up on the short corner purple softhead and, after six attempts, ate the lure. An hour and ten minutes later Steve was the successful angler of a huge blue marlin. In accordance with Start Me Up’s policy for marlin over 500 lbs., Steve’s trip was free and a 300 dollar donation was made to a local charity. Congratulations to Steve on his fish of a lifetime.

There were striped marlin all around for Amanda and Mark Quam and Ann and Matt Sutton. They successfully caught and released two near the Lanai lighthouse and picked up two mahis as well. With all that action, these anglers described their morning as awesome.

Mike and his twin boys Nick and Alec trolled the 100 fathom ledge and got a couple of bites. They converted on both bites, landing these two mahis.

Shantel Williams landed this mahi on a short morning trip. That’s not a bad way to spend a morning.

The proud father and son team of Manning and Connor Louie also did a short morning trip and came up with this mahi. They will certainly have fond memories of their fishing experience.

Tom Carroll, Jim Lawrence, Rich Roman, and Mike Dennison were able to bring some good seafood back to the harbor. They caught a couple of shibis and a mahi.

Roger Paye and his wife Cindy caught and released a striped marlin and boated a 28 lb. aku. That is a big aku, or skipjack tuna, which are actually called otaru when exceeding weights of 20 lbs. Michael O’Brien also got lucky and caught and released a striped marlin. This group had a great day on the water.

Ben Rock, from West Virginia, was rock solid when he reeled in this mahi. Ben came across his mahi while trolling the 100 fathom ledge off Lanai.

Nathan Millar did a four hour afternoon trip and hooked up to a striped marlin in the vicinity of LA buoy. Nathan caught the fish, which was released, and said that he had a great time on his first fishing trip in Hawaii.

Jim Higgins also caught a fish on his first fishing trip in Hawaii. Jim boated this mahi while trolling near the Lanai lighthouse.

Jace McNaic and Caroline and Mitch Bartrem didn’t need a very long time to find the fish. They were on their way in from LA buoy on a two hour trip when these fish bit. Working together, Jace, Caroline, and Mitch brought the mahis to the boat.

Johannes McDonald, all the way from South Africa, landed a nice cow mahi and Doug Hansen and his wife caught a fish for the dinner table. They all said that they had a fun day.

With a total of ten marlin bites, Shaun Sutton and Gary Coleman were each able to catch and release a striped marlin. All of their action came while trolling on the backside of Lanai.

In this case, the picture does not tell the entire story of the trip. Although Sheldon and Melanie Burch and Dean and Debra Scammell did get a mahi on the boat, they missed eight marlin. Most were striped marlin but one was a nice blue marlin. All of the action took place behind Lanai. This trip is just another example of how tough billfishing can be.

Gwen Miller, George Russell, and Rosanne and Gene Schmaltz did an afternoon trip and fished relatively shallow water along the inside ledge. The ledge produced these two mahis and there were plenty of whales to be seen.

Even with all the billfish around, Jason Chisholm was still happy to catch this nice mahi.

Maui Fishin lures, made by Captain Steve Carroll, are always on display in Start Me Up’s booth at Lahaina Harbor. Captain Steve designs and produces these baits, all of which have been productive. The large lure has caught numerous marlin. Captain Steve is partial to the marlin lure in black and red although the so-called Coors Light colors have also been used with great success. The smaller flat-head lure also works great. The lure is not very big, but makes a lot of noise in the spread. Captain Steve’s small bullet lure, though, is a favorite among quite a few captains, especially in the color blue. The small bullet is a favorite because of the proven ability to catch all types of fish time and time again.

This is one of Captain Steve’s larger marlin lures. With Start Me Up Sportfishing embedded in the head, some anglers take these lures home as souvenirs. Some of the anglers actually choose to use the lures back at home. One angler, for example, intended to use a Maui Fishin lure to target walleye in Canada. Anglers could also opt to use Maui Fishin lures while fishing on Maui, where the lures are known to work well.

This is the Maui Fishin small bullet lure. Pink has been another one of the very productive colors, but the shape of the lure head itself is so good that the fish probably don’t even care about color.

Thanks for checking out yet another Start Me Up fishing report. If anyone would like a daily report for Lahaina Harbor, call our booth at 808-667-7879 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Hawaii time or email startmeupfish@gmail.com. Our next report will probably be posted within a week. Until then, tight lines.

Aloha,
Jonny

[Double D]

With a total of ten marlin bites, Shaun Sutton and Gary Coleman were each able to catch and release a striped marlin. All of their action came while trolling on the backside of Lanai.

Although Sheldon and Melanie Burch and Dean and Debra Scammell did get a mahi on the boat, they missed eight marlin. Most were striped marlin but one was a nice blue marlin.

What are you guys doing to improve your hookup ratio?

Glad to see you are starting to release the billfish

On a side note, I want this dudes hair

[Das it]

What are you guys doing to improve your hookup ratio?

Glad to see you are starting to release the billfish

On a side note, I want this dudes hair

We do all we can to improve the hookup ratio. We try to keep the double hook rigs sharp and rigid. I was also a fan of the hair.

Jonny