Finest Kind Sportfishing

These guys although cool basically took us on a boat ride while they tried to catch some monster Marlin. It was obvious to me that’s all they had on their mind. They even thanked us for helping them go fishing. If you want to take a chance going for big Marlin this is the boat for you, but you want get to keep it if you do. For me I wanted to bring home food is peak mahi season but they weren’t looking for those. So they won’t be getting any more of my money.

I am an avid fisherman have fished all over the world I can tell you that the organization of this company is absolutely terrible we confirmed our reservation and also got two phone calls from them confirming our reservation for a charter on a specific day and time when we showed up at 5:30 in the morning for our boat there were four of us standing there with our thumbs up our butts because they had no name they had no reservations basically they said tough luck maybe we’ll get you out today. They did call back and all for a trip out the following day for two hours longer at the same price no discount for any type of inconvenience cause we’re moving around our schedules as we had planned a lot of our trip around this as many people do when they are on a limited time on vacation. I will say that I have been sport fishing before and at the lack of effort was definitely showing on this trip they kept getting excited that we would get an occasional bite on a troll we got one six pound mahi mahi with 6 people on the boat and they thought that was a great day they were actually bragging to the other boats about getting bites and catching one fish when we ask them how the fishing has Been it said its been on fire but, when we asked the other local boats they said on fire generally means I may have caught one fish that day. Again I will reiterate that I am an avid fisherman and I understand how sport fishing work they tried one different lure the entire time we were out there. We took straight out and a straight shot back. At least we saw some dolphins and whales and I brought some good food to eat for myself I do not suggest going with this company at all I’m sure there are better sportfishing companies out there they will actually care about doing the job the right way and trying to put their customers on the fish not just taking one shot and one shot in and never trying anything different

Only 1 star because zero wasn’t offered
Six hour boat ride. Totally understand fishing isn’t always catching but I’ve never seen a crew so willing to just ride. Literally 5 baits went in water, drove for 6 hours to Molakai and back. Tried nothing different, didn’t go by reefs, didn’t try live bait. Just captain and crew sitting up on flybridge. Only time they came down was to go to head or eat. Last thing captain said was «Hope you liked the boat ride» I’d avoid these guys like motezumas revenge

Do not use this company… I really want to take a lot of time on this review detailing everything from start to finish on how horrible this experience was… I knew right from the start it was going to be a disaster. My husband (non Unilocaler) insisted on taking the plunge and giving these guys a shot and ignored my trusty Unilocal review advice…
The guy working the booth on the pier is a complete jerk. Worse than a used car salesman and he’s a liar. I had to walk away from him. He threatened to charge my credit card o weans above the agreed on price… He’s a hustler who yelled at me and tried to make a scene. He is not only lacking serious customer device skills. He lacks the ability to talk to a lady with respect… After I asked him politely to stop using the F bomb so much to me as a lady with my son next to me. He told me that’s how fishermans talk… I refuse to let this jerk ruin this beautiful Maui day… Just please don’t give this jerk a dime…
My son and husband did say that the crew was nice… But it’s a complete rip off… scam!

My first trip deep sea fishing was with this great group of guys last January. My husband and I enjoyed the trip and would definitely do it again! Caught a 70 lb. wahoo, did some whale watching and just had an all around good time! Fabulous crew!

Went on a shared charter this morning for 6 hours. One of the worst fishing trips I have been on in my life. The captain did not say a word to any of us and went straight to the top of the boat. The deck hand nick was nice but literally was up top the whole time too. All they did was place lures on the rods and let them drag in the water. They don’t use live bait. We did not catch one fish and got one bite at the end. Obviously lures were not working and it would have been nice for them to try something different since lures didn’t work for six hours. The only time we saw the deck hand was when he switched the same lures to different rods. If the lures and the top water doesn’t work do something different and make me feel like your trying to catch fish! Not worth the money and don’t book with them

My husband and son and another father-​son team who are our friends just came home from being on the 31-​foot boat. They did catch one small fish so that was good. The bad part is the crew brought NO BAIT on the trip and did not seem skillful. They did not even think about using the fish they caught.
Not catching a lot of fish is part of the chance in fishing but not feeling like you are in expert hands is bad. Although the crew was nice, it was not a great trip.
By the way, the confirmation said they were supposed to have bait.

I called a couple of places to book a private charter 2 weeks before our trip. To my surprise, they never answered their phones, contacted me after filling out the online inquiry form, or returned voicemails. The two other places I tried contacting were right next door to the place we ended up using.
After lunch one afternoon in Kaanapali, I asked a local who he’d recommend for sport fishing. Without any hesitation, he suggested The Finest Kind. Soon after the recommendation, my fiancé called to make a reservation. Right off the bat, the receptionist provided quality customer service, very informative & let us know what dates were available.
Within 20 minutes, we ended up booking a private charter for 6 people. For most of us, it was our first time deep sea fishing so we had no idea what to expect. We lucked out and got the best crew, Captain Chris and Jason the deck hand. They were hands down the best! Jason did a fantastic job showing us what kind of fish were out there and explained what the to do when its your turn to reel one in. When we hooked one, he immediately jumped up to guide us through it. He successfully brought in all 3 fish for us. Chris was so kind and did a great job controlling the boat when we had one hooked. From his chair up top, he reminded the rest of us to keep an eye on the fisherman’s chair to make sure the line was straight and to keep an eye on the reel. Overall, it was great communication all around, which I believe played a big part bringing in all 3 fish that we hooked. They made the entire experience so much fun.
We ended up catching 31 pound Mahi & two Bonitas.
When we returned, a gentleman at the booth helped us clean our fish to take home. He did a great job cleaning and cutting our fish. None of it went to waste, we had a family dinner planned that evening, so we made Ahi Poke and grilled the mahi mahi. So delicious!
I will definitely recommend The Finest Kind to my friends and family visiting Maui.
Thank you for making my first fishing trip a memorable one.
Ahui ho!

I’m writing this review in regards to the harassment we received last week when coming off of another dock.
The man working the desk must have heard us mention our lunch plans and felt the need to chime in and harass us as we tried to walk away. Whatever issues you have with the place is not my problem.
And it’s not okay to harass three women with three small children. Not cool.

After chartering these guys over a dozen times spanning more than ten years, I figure it’s about time I leave a review. I’ll try to keep this condensed, but it’s tough considering how many awesome things there are to say about the Finest Kind.
My qualifications: I’ve fished off every boat and with every captain and crew in the Finest fleet at least once over the last decade; I’ve chartered them for tournaments, I’ve chartered with newbies, young kids, and my older dad on private and shared charters. I’ve caught fish on every boat in their fleet. I have also chartered several other Maui boats over the years, though now refuse to go out with anyone other than Finest Kind.
I’ve been marlin fishing since I was 8 which has taken me all over the world. Dave Hudson and Finest Kind are not running a business to give patrons a boat ride, nor does he hire crew and staff that have anything less than a wild passion for catching fish. The fact that he has immaculately maintained one of the last remaining original Merritt 37s in the world is a testament to the quality of this charter. I feel like I’ve grown up on that boat.
These guys work hard to get fish in all conditions, which catching fish is never a guarantee– they are always on top of live bait, trolling lures, and working fresh dead bait depending on any number of conditions that are beyond the inexperienced angler’s comprehension.
I’ll see if I can post some pictures over the years including from today with first mate Nick keeping a close eye on the spread outside in the cockpit in the middle of a rain storm. Thanks buddy.
I’ll see you guys again before the year is out. Tight lines.
–Brett

Rented the private chartered boat for the day $ 1300 with 7 people. Was told it was the Cadillac of fishing boats… maybe in 1964. Anyhow, wasn’t really aloud to do anything except wait for the fish to bite & sit inside the boat. Captains didn’t want you to get in their way while they were working. caught some tiny fish and almost had to fight for them to let us keep it to eat as they wanted to keep it for bait fish or whatever and wanted to take some pictures of the lil fish with the guys reeled it in but were «in the way» so no real good pix either. some of the party on the boat were first timers and this was a terrible experience for everyone. not fun and was like they had to try really hard to be friendly «in the wrong business & should just go fish-​not charter with tourists paying LOTS of $$$». As the time of year is really busy and booked up with tourists this was the only boat available… no wonder!!! Wait for a different boat to have an opening. Worst experience ever… our party is still rambling about it and have been on several other FUN deep sea fishing boats on both Maui and the Big Island. Next time we will wait and book with Lucky Strike again.

Afternoon before our charter I checked in and was told we could take home all the fish we wanted and the rest would go to local restaurants. Couple of hours later Nicky called to cancel our charter for the second time this week (too late to book with another boat) unless we paid an additional $ 150. We expressed our disappointment and declined. A few minutes later Captain Charlie called to accuse me of being cheap, told me I wouldn’t catch any fish from the beach, then hung up on me.

The way I see it, going fishing is like purchasing a lottery ticket. If you’re lucky, something great will happen, but more often than not you’ll come up empty handed. I’m actually really surprised at all the one star reviews for these guys based on people getting skunked.
I thought the captain and deck hand were super cool guys and they did their best, despite everybody on the boat coming up empty handed. For my $ 175 I got to see whales up close, dolphins jumping out of the water and an up-​close view of Kahoolawe.
This is the first fishing trip I’ve ever been on where the entire boat got skunked. We did a half day trip and to be honest, I’m glad we didn’t do the full day. The deck hand was engaging initially, but about halfway through the trip he went to the upper level of the boat with the captain and stayed there for the rest of the day. Thank goodness for the beautiful island surroundings because I found the trip incredibly boring.
Why only three stars? Something about paying full price and tipping the crew for taking me on a sightseeing tour disguised as a fishing trip kinda rubs me the wrong way. Again, this is fishing and there’s no guarantee that you’ll catch anything.
Based on this fishing trip, I’ll stick to driving the road to Hana or save my pennies for a fine dining experience the next time I come to Maui.

These people took my deposit and knew I wasn’t coming.
They are crooks and will be quick to ask for your Credit Card info once you call.
Be aware and don’t give them any of you’re info!!! They WILL STEAL YOUR MONEY!!!

Fantastic crew. We did a private charter. I forgot my lunch & one of the crew members gave me theirs. Caught tons of fish! Two 30 pounders! Got to bring home dolphin fish & yellowfin tuna steaks!

Booked a shared boat ended up on Hooker, nice boat good gear to bad we never used any of it. Spoke with the girl answering the phone the night before and she was so excited about all the fish the have been catching lately so I was pumped to go out the next day. Got to check in at 5:45am the next morning and the captain wasn’t there yet he got there right at 6 and shuffled us to the boat and while doing so made a joke about not being a big deal he was late because we weren’t going to catch anything today anyway. I took that with a grain of salt assuming he was kidding. In the next 15 minutes the captain went over some basic safety and said 4 more times that none of this mattered because we weren’t going to catch anything today. We all realized his piss poor attitude wasn’t a joke. He set a few lines to troll and the went up on the second deck with the first mate and that was the last time any of the passengers spoke with either of them until we pulled into the dock after our 6 hour $ 200/​pp boat ride. The only fishing that was done all day was when we got back to the dock captain and first mate both said they were working for tips so please be generous. They also thought telling us that all other 15 boats got skunked today too and that for the last few weeks one fish was caught per day out of all 15 boats that went out. If the fishing sucks don’t lie to me and tell me it’s great and at least bring out light tackle and let the paying passengers try for smaller fish. Biggest ripoff on Maui waste of a day and a waste money. The lack of fish had a lot to do with the time of year but this was nothing other than fraud.

My family (two parents and teen kids) booked the Ikaika Kai boat for 8 hours through Finest Kind Sportfishing. The captain was Neil and the shipmate was Hunter (who is also a captain). Both were good and serious and friendly. Neil is highly attentive to detail and is obviously very experienced. The boat was super clean, on-​time, the weather was perfect. But, results count in fishing and we got skunked — no fish, not a bite. As the day dragged on, it became hotter, somewhat boring, and awkward with the crew who tended to sit up above us at the wheel listening to a radio we could only barely hear above the constant engine noise from the back of the boat. I did not get the sense that they made many adjustments through the day nor did I get a sense of them radioing around much to see where the fish might be biting. We did visit the dock the day before and saw a few boats bringing in a bunch of tuna and mahi mahi so perhaps this was just a strange anomaly.
At the end of the trip, instead of pulling up to the dock for the victory photo with the catch, we pulled into the gas pump and told the day was over. We did tip them for their efforts, and we don’t blame them, but the company offers nothing for its customers when you get skunked. Buyer beware… and we know it happens… It’s hard to roll four or five stars for $ 900 plus tip. Nevertheless, if your expectations are set right regarding the fishing, and you have your lucky horseshoe, I do recommend these two skippers who seemed like pretty decent guys the first few hours they interacted with us.

We chartered a boat with 4 people last year in Feb with these guys. 3 of us caught mahi mahi. The 4^th person caught a spearfish over 50 pounds! Upon catching it, we asked them if we could release it and they said no. So, knowing now that we had to keep it, they told us that it was not good eating and that only the hawaiians would eat it and make jerky out of it. They said they would «get rid of it». We were not sure what that meant. When we got to harbor, They cleaned and fillet our mahi for us. We took what we knew we could eat and gave them the rest to enjoy. They also kept the spearfish because it was «junk» fish. They took my friends picture with the fish (the record so far during that time), and we left.
Come to find out from some of the locals, that spearfish IS good eating and not only that, we saw it at the Fish Market for almost $ 20.00 per pound. Needless to say I was mad as hell! I emailed the owner for an explanation. He said he would look into it and respond to my complaint. He never did, and I will never use this company again.