Lahaina Maui sport fishing
Owner-operated! Captains Jon & Josh are the former crew of ACTION, and are among Maui’s most successful fishing teams. They’re best known for their early morning, offshore sport fishing charters targeting mahi mahi, and ahi tuna, but they also regularly land ono, marlin, and other gamefish. They consistently receive five-star reviews, and have a large list of repeat clients who return to fish with them year after year. Booking these guys in advance is recommended.
In 2022 Automatic welcomed veteran fisherman captain Steve Carroll to their team. Steve operates 4, 6 & 8-hour custom charters aboard Automatic II. The acquisition of this second boat, along with capt Steve’s expertise makes Automatic Sportfishing one of the most versatile fishing companies on the island, suitable for anglers of all skill levels.
At the end of every charter, your crew will clean and cut a generous portion of the day’s catch for the guests. Generally, they’ll give you as much as you feel you can reasonably eat while you’re here. If you plan on shipping fish home, there will be a $3.00 per pound processing charge for any fish over 50lbs (fish weight before cutting).
Both boats feature:
- Shimano Tiagra 130 class for trolling tackle
- 25 class Talica/Shimano Spheros reels for light tackle stand-up gear
- Fishfinder, GPS
- Twin control stations, auto-pilot
- Modern marine head (bathroom)
- Shaded salon
- Sleeping bunks
- All tackle & ice provided
- Bottled water
- No fishing license required
- Automatic Sportfishing accepts, Visa, MasterCard & American Express
- Vessels are licensed for up to 6 guests.
CHARTER OPTIONS:
Full Day, Extreme Sportfishing
Offered 7 days a week, year-round. 8-10 hours
Automatic’s Full Day Extreme sportfishing charter will last an average of 9 hours dock-to-dock. These trips typically leave between 2-3 am, so you can be farther offshore in Maui’s most productive waters just before first light.
This early morning trip – sometimes referred to as a “buoy trip” – is Automatic’s specialty! Their preferred destinations are FADs (Fish Aggregation Devices) located a few hours offshore. The FADs are designed to support their own mini ecosystems and at times can be literally teeming with fish. It is here that you’ll have your best chance at multiple hook-ups of mahi-mahi and ahi tuna. You have a good chance at marlin and ono too! Live bait is used whenever possible.
Minimum recommended age: 12
Trip duration: 8-10 hours
Departure time: 2:00 – 3:00 am
2023 RATES
Private Price: $2,000.00. Rate increase effective May 1: $2,400.00
Share Price: $450.00 per person
Prices are plus 7.166% tax and fees
A gratuity equal to 10-20% is customary
Shared charters require a minimum of 4 people for full confirmation. Until that time charters are considered tentative and subject to cancellation. If that occurs Fish Maui will contact you, offering suitable alternatives if they exist.
Full and 3/4-Day, Custom Fishing Charters
Offered 7 days a week, year-round. Private charters only
Automatic Sportfishing’s 6 and 8-hour custom charters are able to provide a more varied fishing experience compared to your typical 6-hour Maui sport fishing trip. They usually involve a combination of both inshore, lighter tackle fishing as well as offshore trolling. The best time for this kind of trip is during the fall and winter months when the bite tends to fluctuate between inshore and offshore, but it can be productive during the spring and summer too. Live bait, cut bait, jigging and artificial lures are all used. Depending on the season, you may be targeting the larger predatory reef fish like uku (gray snapper), ulua (giant trevally), kahala (amberjack), mahi mahi (dorado), and ono (wahoo). Typical departure time is around between 5-6am.
Minimum recommended age: 10
Trip duration: 6-8 hours
Typical departure time: 5:30 am
2023 RATES
6 hr Price: $1,700.00. Rate increase effective May 1: $2,000.00
8 hr Price: $2,000.00 Rate increase effective May 1: $2,400.00
Prices are plus 7.166% tax and fees
A gratuity equal to 10-20% is customary
Half-Day, Inshore Fishing Charters
Offered 7 days a week, year-round. Private charters only
Automatic Sportfishing’s half-day charter is recommended for families with school-aged children (8-12), as well as people who may not be comfortable going farther offshore, or simply don’t want to spend more than 4 hours on the water. You have a choice of either trolling, or bottom fishing, or both. Be aware that a successful day of trolling usually requires more than 4 hours of fishing.
Minimum recommended age: 8
Trip duration: 4 hours
Departure time: 5:30 – 6:00 am
2023 RATES
4hr Price: $1,200.00 Rate increase effective May 1: $1,500.00
Prices are plus 7.166% tax and fees
A gratuity equal to 10-20% is customary
Automatic Sport Fishing Reviews
Scratch one off the bucket list
Just finished one of the best fishing experiences of my life. Landing an Ono (Wahoo) is now crossed off my 'bucket list'. Went out this morning with Captain Johnny and deckhand Pono on a share boat after spending a couple of hours scratching up live bait (not an easy task today, and something that very few other charter boat captains even bother with) we ran hard to a Fish Attracting Device that Captain John had chosen to be at just as dawn was breaking. That is one of the advantagesof this trip, the ability to be the first boat to the widest selection of FADs or wherever Johnny believes his clients will have the best probability of catching fish. We started with dead baits in order to beat the trigger fish that would try to steal those. Wits once the sun was up a little higher. The Mahi (Dorado) were there and began hitting the baits that were presented but not taking the hook, just the baits. Johnny switched to the live baits we had worked so hard collect earlier and we began to get hookups and bring Mahi to the boat. He then had Pono mix dead baits back in and our hookup rate continued to improve. After landing 10 or so Mahi one of the group boated a small Ahi Yellow Fin. Johnny again switched it up and had Pono replace the bait hooks with skirted lures and we continued to hook and land fish. When the bite slowed a little bit he changed up again to the Kelp Patty special, a 5 1/2 " silver and pink lure that one of the other captains in fleet has also had success with. Had not been in the water more than a minute or two when it was slammed by an Ono that sawed right through the 80 lb. leader on the strike. Never willing to give into the fish Johnny had Pono dig out the other lure of the same type and rig it to the line on one of the 50s and out it went. Only to meet the same fate a minute or two later. This time I actually saw the Ono come out of the water on the strike and thought he just slammed it and missed. Until I realized that the line on that rod was, once again, just line in the water with no lure. Now it was game on and Johnny had Pono switch to a couple of bent butt 80s with much heavier high speed skirted trolling lures. Meanwhile one of the 50s still out hooked up and the guy in front of me in the rotation landed one of the bigger Mahi caught this morning. It was not long until one of the 80s went off. This time the Ono was not able to saw all the way through the leader on the strike and after stripping a fair amount of line I was able to bring the fish to the boat. Johnny came down from the fly ridge and together he and Pono made certain that I could cross 'catching an Ono' off my fishing bucket list.
I have fished with Captain Johnny since he was a deck hand years ago. And I have always enjoyed his intense desire to catch fish, even on those rare trips where it is more fishing than catching. And suffice it to say that I will continue to fish with John every time I come to Maui until I am no longer able to crank a reel.
If you want to take the sport fishing trip on Maui with the highest probability of catching, the 2:30 am 9 hr trip on the Action with Captain Johnny is your best possible choice.
Excellent Fishing Experience!
Captain John and deckhand Rob are exceptional fishermen and guides. We had a private charter for four us and it was a trip of a lifetime. Within minutes of our baits hitting the water we had a triple hook-up of tuna. My buddy reeled in a 78lb Yellowfin Tuna. Rob and John got it on the deck and we were back to fishing in short order. We hooked up a gain in about 15 minutes and boated a 98lb Yellowfin! By the end of our time on the fishing grounds we had caught 5 smaller yellow fin and 6 or 7 Skipjack which made excellent Poke.
Great Trip! I would definitely book with this boat and crew again.
Start Me Up Captain Johnny Hands Down the Best
Went out on the 10 hour trip out of Lahaina harbor wit Captain Johnny and his deckhand caught 13 fish in total between the three of us on the trip, as I was informed prior that we needed 4 people to go out, but Johnny took us anyway. The sea was a bit ruff weather was great caught Ono, Mahi Mahi, Tuna Captain Johnny Allowed us to keep most of the fish (which is a plus, but not expected) as we went fishing with him. This was on the Action boat and Thanks Start Me Up and Lili Crawford for her recommendation. I'll will be coming back to go fishing with Captain Johnny.