Deep Sea Fishing in Kauai

Fishing Time: 7:00 to 8:30 AM

Weather: Partly cloudy, rainbows everywhere

Moon Phase: Full Moon

Best Bait: Giant squid trolled on surface

Who Went: Uncle Mike, Cari, Devin, Addison, Dayton, Dunc

Our family Hawaii trip was finally here and that meant our fishing trip in Kauai was also here.  We chartered a private boat out of Lihue, Kauai with Breakaway Charters, and Captain Jeff.  After one week in Oahu and another week in Kauai, it was our last day and last adventure before we had to return home to the mainland.  We went on a couple other ocean adventures prior to this fishing trip and on the first one we all got a little seasick, so on the next adventure we all took Dramamine and did great. We thought we were bulletproof going on the fishing trip with Dramamine.

As we left the harbor the scenery behind us was gorgeous, but the captain was quick to prepare us for the rough seas ahead.  “Hold on,” he said, the first 10 minutes are the roughest as we go through the breakwater. After what seemed like 30-40 minutes, we all started wondering if we were still in the breakwater because it never calmed down.  I have never been on seas like this.  You literally couldn’t stand up unless you were holding onto something for dear life.

We trolled using a squid pattern as we headed toward deeper water, and it wasn’t long before we had the first fish on.  Dayton was the first to tassel with a little yellowtail tuna.  I was getting anxious watching my youngest at the back of the boat by himself.  The boat would rise over a wave and then Dayton would ride the wave down what felt like 15-20 ft with nothing but water behind him.  I remember thinking if someone fell in you would never see them again.  Little man did great though and put the first fish in the boat without anyone going overboard.

As we continued trolling, the scenery and rainbows were incredible.  There seemed to be a rainbow in every direction.

As we continued trolling, I looked at Cari and could tell something wasn’t quite right.  She was the first one to ask for the puke bucket and she never put it back down.  Dayton followed soon after and then Addi.  Devin was still holding strong, so he was next to reel in a fish.

Just as we reached deeper water one of the reels started zinging and line was flying off the reel.  Devin jumped up and began the best fight of the trip.  I knew it was something special when the captain and his helper started getting excited.  The fish jumped three different times and it looked big.  Dev kept after it and after a grueling 10–15-minute fight all on his own, the fish came to the side of the boat and the helper pulled him in.  It was a beautiful short-billed spearfish and the captain said it was a monster for that species.  It's also a native species that is only found in Hawaii, which was really cool.  Dev was stoked!  However, after the stoke wore off he joined the puke crew and now all four were sick.

I asked the puke crew if they could hold out a little longer to try and get Uncle Mike on a fish and they all nodded yes then put their heads back in their buckets.  Luckily it didn’t take long and the reel was screaming again.  Mike had another great fight and pulled in a really nice Mahi Mahi, which was the species I was hoping we would catch.  

After Mike caught his fish in the captain looked at me and asked what we wanted to do.  We now had 4 of the 6 puking their guts out.  I told the captain the trip was already a success and lets head back to shore.  He agreed and told me this was as good as fishing gets in Kauai and we were extremely lucky to have landed that many fish, and all different species so quickly.  Then he looked at his helper and said, all we need now is to double up on some Wahoo on the way back into shore.

Ten minutes later we did just that.  Two reels started screaming and Mike and I each took one.  We ended up catching two beautiful Wahoo’s.  The captain told me we were one fish away from the Kauai grand slam.  All we needed was the skipjack tuna.

We were on the water a total of 1 hour and 30 minutes, so I feel extremely lucky for the success we had and even though everyone got sick we will remember that trip forever and what a great experience for all of them. Ocean fishing and puke buckets!