Aloha from Lahaina Harbor, Maui, Hawaii. The bite off the west side of Maui has not changed since the last report. Small tunas are everywhere and, as a result, there have been some blue marlin around. Of course, mahis and onos have recently found their way into the fish bag as well. If there are any questions about the fishing, feel free to call Deli in Start Me Up’s Lahaina Harbor booth at 808-667-7879 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Hawaii Time. Deli can also be contacted via email at startmeupfish@gmail.com. The following fishing report contains some of Start Me Up’s anglers and their catch from the past couple of weeks.


The Manson family went out for an afternoon of fishing and ended up catching and releasing a blue marlin. The approximately 125 lb. blue marlin grabbed the all black softhead lure running in the short corner position and immediately made two spectacular jumps.

Brothers Alex and Nicolas are serious about fishing and were happy to catch this mahi. Nevertheless, the brothers will be in search of a bigger fish the next time they go out.

Tanner Spurgin also went out twice with Start Me Up during his visit to Maui. On his second attempt, Tanner tagged and released an estimated 150 lb. blue marlin.

This group of young anglers was in the zone and had a real shot at catching a marlin. Unfortunately, they did not get the big bite that they were looking for even though they watched another boat hook up right next to them. Marlin fishing depends a little bit on luck and these anglers have plenty of years ahead of them in which they could get lucky and catch a marlin.

These anglers didn’t catch the biggest fish out there, but the mahi and shibis were ideal as table fare.

This greedy ono bit a lure that was designed to catch marlin, which was just fine with angler Kenny Heyes.

The Prokops had a nice day on the water and came back to Lahaina Harbor with a pair of mahis. The mahis were a big part of that night’s dinner plans.

This young angler took advantage of the afternoon bite to catch his mahi. He was excited about his catch and was not afraid to get his hands dirty while taking some memorable photographs of his catch.

Vickie and Jake Ruth found their mahis at a FAD buoy and quickly put the fish on ice using natural baits. After their mahi action, Vickie and Jake went on the troll in search of a marlin. All in all, they had an enjoyable day of fishing.

Kestlie Allreed dragged around some small lures in the afternoon and came up with this kawakawa. Any fish can be fun for the right angler on the right tackle.

Matty Hersch found out firsthand that tunas are strong fighters for their size and that shibis are good to eat raw as sashimi and poke.

Eric Green had a good time catching his ono. Eric also had a good time seeing his two blue marlin bites even though both fish did not hook themselves well and got away.

There’s nothing wrong with going out in the afternoon and catching a pretty fat ono. These anglers were happy to do just that.

Mahis can put up quite a fight when they tense up and force the angler to reel them in sideways. Mahis can also provide a spectacle with their brilliant colors and aerial acrobatics. With these positive attributes, it’s no wonder that this angler had a great time catching her bull mahi.

Camden Kinosian was the sole angler that reeled in this ono but the whole family took part in a great adventure on the water.

Doug Adler was hoping for a big fish when he heard about the marlin that have been around. Nonetheless, Doug was not sorry to catch this mahi mahi.

This young angler’s name is Kai, which means ocean in the Hawaiian language. Kai caught his mahi at K buoy on an opelu. There was another tough mahi at the buoy that managed to shake the hooks after getting foul-hooked. Kai caught another bad break when a blue marlin missed the hooks on two separate bites on two different lures. Kai had another mystery bite that again did not result in a solid hookup. Unfortunately, the fish simply miss the hooks sometimes and there is nothing that can be done to rectify the situation.

This nice kawakawa fooled everyone when the fish grabbed a comparatively large lure running behind a bird and took quite a bit of line against a stiff drag. This angler remarked that reeling in the kawakawa was a workout.

The Stringer party took advantage of some especially nice weather and headed up to the north shore of Molokai, where they enjoyed some amazing views and caught a mahi and a shibi.

Maui resident Cindy Sue Lombard wanted to catch a marlin. Luckily for her, her son-in-law is Captain Steve Carroll, who is a member of Team Start Me Up. Cindy went out with Captain Steve on a four hour afternoon trip in search of a marlin and got hooked up reasonably quickly. Once in the chair, Cindy demonstrated good technique.

Cindy brought her blue marlin to the side of the boat, where the fish was estimated to weigh about 250 lbs.

Admiring her blue marlin at the side of the boat was enough to satisfy Cindy so the fish was tagged and released. Captains Steve and Craig were thrilled to help Cindy get her first blue marlin.

Thanks for taking a look at this Start Me Up fishing report. Any questions can be directed towards Deli, who can be reached at 808-667-7879 or startmeupfish@gmail.com. Until the next report, tight lines.

Aloha,
Jonny