February Fishing Report

I know we have not posted a fishing report for several months now and I apologize.  My mother was ill and I was tending to her before she passed away so something had to give and that was the fishing report for several months.  I am working on getting back on track, so here's a start:

Bass fishing on Kauai has been good this past month for largemouth bass.  Tom has been catching largemouth in the 4-6lb range with a few as large as 7lbs.  He is also catching smallmouth bass and freshwater papio.  The Peacock Bass are not biting yet, they usually don't come up to bite until warmer weather in May and into the summer months.

For the offshore fishing, now is getting into the good time for Mahimahi and Striped Marlin with that bit even better as we get into the month of March.  Striped Marlin are like skinny Marlin and generally run in the 100lb range.  If you can find a nice pile of Mahi's, you can come up with multiple hookups and the stripies seem to like to hang together so multiple catches of Striped Marlin have been reported.  Blue Marlin, Ono and Ahi are also around, just not in as good of numbers as we see in the summer months, but boats are catching some.  A 600lb plus Blue Marlin was reported caught off Oahu in February, so they are out there.   It's much warmer in Hawaii than on the mainland, so take off those snow boots and come fishing in Hawaii in your flip flops!

September Fishing Report

September is kind of an extension of the summer season yet getting into fall and usually still a good time for Ahi and Blue Marlin.  We also get Mahimahi year round as well as Ono, with the Mahimahi catches increasing in the fall as we get closer to October.  Blue Marlin have been caught and released in the 200-500lb range recently.  Several nice large Blues that we know of have also been weighed in the past few weeks at 500, 620 and 670lbs .  The largest Blue Marlin we are aware of for 2017 is the Blue caught in early April weighing in at 925 lbs, which beats the previous best of 771lb caught in Kona on January 28th and the 774 caught in mid May.  If anyone knows of a larger one caught this year in the islands, please let us know.  Blue Marlin catches usually peak in the summer months so they may drop off a bit as we near the fall season.  We also had a rare 901lb Black Marlin caught in Kona at the end of July which based on historical records appears to be the 5th largest Black Marlin ever caught in Kona.  Boats are also reporting some Ahi in the 100 plus lb range, with the largest that we know of this year in mid-April weighing in at 242lbs.  Ahi are usually around more in the summer months so those catches may decrease as well as we get into the fall months.  October is usually excellent for Mahimahi.  For the bass fishing on Kauai, guide Tom reports the small mouth bass bite has been excellent lately with very active, hard fighting, jumping bass in the 2 to 5lb range.  The freshwater papio bite has been excellent as well in the 1-3lb range.  Freshwater papio fight extremely hard so they are fun to catch.  Papio can get up to 40lbs in the river where Tom fishes and he recently spotted several in the 20lb range.  The large mouth bit has tapered off recently, but he is still getting some in the 6-7lb range.  The Peacock Bass bite has not been as good this year.  The Peacocks are there, but they take patience to catch using live bait so Tom suggests going for the small and large mouth bass and papio for a more exciting and productive trip.  September is generally good weather and light winds so the fishing conditions should be good this month.  

June Fishing Report and Outlook

June is usually the start of the best time for Ahi and Blue Marlin.  We also get Mahimahi year round as well as Ono.  Blue Marlin have been caught and released in the 100-700lb range recently.  Several nice large Blues have also been weighed in the past few weeks with the recent largest weighing in at 774 .  The largest Blue Marlin we are aware of for 2017 is still the Blue caught in early April weighing in at 925 lbs, which beats the previous best of 771lb caught in Kona on January 28th and the 774 caught in mid May.  Blue Marlin catches usually peak in the summer months so they should be increasing as we approach the start of summer now so there's always a shot at a the big blues.  Boats are also reporting more Ahi in the 100 plus lb range, with the largest still so far this year in mid-April weighing in at 242lbs.  Ahi are usually around more in the summer months so those catches should increase.  We are also still seeing some spearfish caught in the 20 to 30lb range. Spearfish are like a skinny marlin.  So there is a good variety of summer species being caught right now.  For the bass fishing on Kauai, guide Tom is still getting  good sized lagremouth bass in the 5-6lb range as well as smallmouth bass, freshwater papio and barracuda.  The Peacock Bass bite best during the late spring and summer months so the Peacock bite should start picking up hopefully this month as long as the weather stays warm.  The other bass species are biting so there's a good shot at catching.  June is generally good weather and lighter winds than in the springtime so the fishing conditions should be good this month.  

Largest Bass This Year

Earlier this week, Tom Christy our bass guide on Kauai caught the largest bass he has seen so far this year.  It was a huge 8lb largemouth bass.  He reported he was out with clients on a trip and they were almost done fishing for the day.  Tom had not fished as he usually doesn't fish when clients are fishing, but the clients encouraged him to make a few casts.  On his third cast, he layed the worm into a brush pile floating on top of the water.  As the worm began to sink and he drug it through the floating sticks and leaves, he saw the hugh bass take the worm.  He had time to point it out to his clients and they could see the mouth of the bass with the worm in it's grasp.  Boom! Tom set the hook!  He brought it to the boat, took photos of course and then set it free.  We will post photos as soon as we get them from Tom (he's not a tech guy so it takes him a while to get them to us!)

Bass Fly Fishing Tips

If you are a fly fisherman and would like to try catching the famous Peacock Bass on fly, Tom our bass guide on Kauai welcomes you to bring your fly gear and give it a try.  Tom recommends top water poppers and big, bulky flies in dark colors such as black, brown and red.  Remember to bring everything you will need as fly gear is not readily available on Kauai.  Tom will still bring spinning or bait casting gear for you in case you want to change out.  

May Fishing Report and Outlook

May is usually good for Ono, Blue Marlin, Striped Marlin and Spearfish.  We also get Mahimahi year round and the Ahi should start coming around more as we head towards June.  Blue Marlin have been caught and released in the 150-490lb range recently.  Several nice large Blues have also been weighed in with several of the largest we know of so far this year caught the first week of April weighing in at 600, 608 and 622 .  The largest Blue Marlin we are aware of for 2017 was caught early April weighing in at 925 lbs, which beats the previous best of 771lb caught in Kona on January 28th.  Blue Marlin catches usually peak in the summer months and they seem to be getting better into mid-spring right now so there's always a shot at a the big blues.  We also had a nice Black Marlin reported at 357lbs.  Boats are also reporting more Ahi in the 100 plus lb range, with the larges so far this year in mid-April weighing in at 242lbs.  Ahi are usually around more in the summer months so those catches should increase.  We've also had quite a few spearfish caught in the 30 to 40lb range. Spearfish are like a skinny marlin.  So there is a variety of fish being caught right now.  For the bass fishing on Kauai, guide Tom has reported some good sized lagremouth bass recently in the 6lb range as well as smallmouth bass, freshwater papio and barracuda.  The Peacock Bass bite best during the late spring and summer months so the Peacock bite should start picking up hopefully later this month.  The other bass species are still biting so still a good shot at catching.  May is great weather in Hawaii, so it's a great time to go fishing in Hawaii.