Come Spear in MAUI, Hawaii

[Stodelle]

If you are heading this way and are looking for someone to go out with or take you to some good fishing spots, PM me and we can hook up. I am fortunate enough to work from home, so I am free to go just about anytime. I usually go out 4-5 times per week and you are more than welcome to go.

I have some extra guns and gear, so even if the wife insists you take golf clubs instead of spearing supplies, no worries!!!! I also have several "lesser known" areas we go out from that are family friendly. In other words, while you're out spearing, your wife and kids will ahve good beaches, restrooms, food, closeby. Keep that in mind and we'll see you in Hawaii.

[23angler]

you need help with that work at home job.

i would love to be able to do that and in maui too. wome people have all the luck and the rest of us have to work.:D

[Sliptip]

Stodelle, Ever harassed by tigers. Just curious after watching a story about a female swimmer being killed by a tiger in the "front yard" of her Maui home in '91.

[Stodelle]

The area where she was killed is called Olowalu. it is an actual Tiger breeding grounds during the summer, so not many people go to the outer reef there. You can swim out close to 3/4 of a mile and still stand up. It's after it drops off that they show up.

I personally have never seen one yet.....note the word "YET". I have seen other sharks though. we have another area further up the coast from that one where we have lost 2 swimmers this year alone. 1 was a confirmed shark vs surfer fatal and the other was a "missing swimmer" but they found his mask and snorkel in the water.

[uluabusta]

I remember that incident because I was on vacation and diving for tako (octopus) across from my hotel with some of the hotel workers in the Kihei area that day. The woman's home was right there on the beach in Olowalu and she was supposed to have been going for her daily swim which was less than a 100 yards out from shore, in less than 10' of water when beachgoers saw her attacked by a large tiger shark. The water was supposed to have been murky that day and according to a friend who lived on Maui at that time, that area used to have a lot of turtles and people used to enjoy swimming with them. I also remember him telling me that people were talking about a monk seal and a lot of turtles that were sunning on the beach that day prior to the attack. Coincidence? Might be a sign to stay out if even a seal and the turtles don't want to be in the water. I remember this because while fishing from shore I have twice seen a large tiger shark attack a turtle floating on the surface and I have even seen a very large monk seal lying on the beach with what looked like a large (healed) bite wound on it's back.
Here on Oahu I once swam past a group of at least 10 large turtles huddled together in an open water area of only about 40' deep. I didn't think anything about it until I got to shore and one of the tour scuba instructors asked me if I had seen the large shark that divers from another tour group had sighted and were talking about. It seems that they saw the shark attack and kill a turtle as they were doing some type of drill and one of the female divers freaked out, blew out her mouthpiece, took off her mask, hit surface, and tried to swim for shore screaming and crying. The instructor and the guy she was with had to go after her while the rest of the group raced for shore.

[Stodelle]

Went out to Olawalu this weekend (8/8). My wife saw the usual signs "Sharks may be present" but was immediately scared by the "Shark Bites/Attacks have occured in this area".

Oh well, I got a jobfish and a parrotfish. But I did see a turtle go screaming past me faster than any I've ever seen. needless to say I stayed close to the shallowest coral head I could find for a while just to be safe.

While diving in another area on Saturday, a swimmer practicing for the upcoming ironman triathlon was chased to shore by a 8' tiger. Some kayakers came zipping out to warn all the tour boat operators who imemdiately pulled everyone from the water. i started heading into shallow water and warned another spearo who was on his way out. I ran into him later on shore and he said he did see it but not that bad.

They are hear, but not out to kill everything in the water.

[syrespect]

All these stories are very familiar since i onced lived in Maui not too long ago. I've dove around olowalu once but I wasn't too into it since i had met this one old lady on shore telling me that "this place is a old shark sanctuary". Now that freaks me out! I had my fair share of shark incident in Maui and oh not so good! There's a good spot in South Maui next to a beach called "little beach" where there is alot of fish but just don't look in those dark holes, cause they'll swim right out! Have you heard of McGregor's Point? one of my first dive spots and always get good luck over there! I dove just about everyday over there and it's pretty decent but there are many secret dive spots where fish are tremendously abundant! TRY HANA!

[Stodelle]

I won't ask what you were doing at "Little beach" (nude beach):D

I have always looked down towards Macgregor Point and wanted to try it, but I haven't yet. I never see people down there and one of the guys at Maui Sporting Goods said it's kind of dead there.

I believe the area you are referring to near little beach may be where we all were chased out by the Tiger. Basically, the Maui Prince is the last hotel, then the coastline kind of wraps around and that's where Little Beach is. It's the area next to the "Big Red Hill" but we do get some really nice fish coming in there. I went out last Friday to an area further Past the Little Beach area and immediately upon entering the water had a huge Bull Uhu (parrotfish) that was easily pushing 2'. I'm planning on going back there, hopefully this week, to get some more dinner.

[syrespect]

Hey Mc Gregors pt. may not have alot of people diving around there but for me i'm usually the only one there all the time. I tend to have my good luck days at that spot. Hey Stodelle, try it out one time and go left right before the first point and there's a "house" ;) the spot i'm talking about has a stop sign right on the side of the road with a rugged road going down to the beach. They have ukus out there too but they don't get that big. give it a shot! All the MSG boys are pretty good, but most of them don't go diving on that side of the island, so it's all up to the west side guys to take care of it. good luck

[Stodelle]

I've got a record fish scouted up on the West side, so I'll stop off there if I can this weekend. I'll let you know how it is.

[thecrab87]

Out of curiosity, is ciguatera a concern for any of you?

The #1 reason that I don't dive that whole side of the island much, from La Perouse through Windmills, is because of the much higher incidence of cig. Olowalu is one of the cig hot spots for sure. It boggles my mind that people will eat roi (the main culprit) from Olowalu.

Forget the tigers, at least you'll go fast. The second cig hit I had left me in extreme pain for at least 8 weeks.

The #2 reason I don't dive that side much is because it's relatively fished out. Red Hill, Little Beach, MacGregor Pt, Olowalu? It's just too much damn work to catch anything at those spots! Plus, I like going to the beach and seeing no one, as opposed to dodging boat traffic, having to answer tourist's questions, etc.

Willie Mahin
aka the Haole Crab
Maui, Hawaii

[syrespect]

You know. you're right about being fished out on that side of the island but that's where your skills comes in place. I've done all my diving on that side since I lived in Lahaina. I've gotten lucky with good fish on that side since I dove like everyday. About the Roi's? I've shot and eaten roi's from kihei all the way to Honolua Bay. I don't know if i'm lucky but if a good size one approaches me i'll shoot the bastard! I usually have a way of testing it before i attempt to eat it.