Start Me Up Sport Fishing Charters

Awesome awesome experience. We had Matt and Chris as our crew and them two as a pair are amazing they really know their stuff. We caught 5 fish for the six people we had for our trip. I highly recommend this fishing charter company, but more specifically getting Matt and Chris for your crew!

I don’t know what all the negative reviews are about these guys are great! The captain and deck hand were both very professional and good at their job. The boat was well maintained and very comfortable. Trolling was slow the day I went but we caught 16 yellow fin tuna earlier in the morning between three guys. What more can you ask for?
I will for sure go with these guys agin next time I’m in Maui and I will tell my friends!

Average fishing boat. Both captains were professional knowledgeable. The whole trip was about six hours and unfortunately only one person caught a fish. However they shared among the entire crew. Price for the tour was totally reasonable. No live bait. This is my second time fishing in Maui and I don’t think I’m going our again. Only good fishing was on Kona.

There are way too many negative reviews for this charter outfit… Time to look for another.
Thank you Unilocal.Thanks for saving me headaches and money!!!

I wish I would have come to Unilocal before booking with this outfit. First time for this type of fishing for us. The guys we were with didn’t seem to really care either way if there was fish caught. My husband did get one one the line and managed to reel it in close to the boat. The guy who was supposed to land it messed up and it got away. I get they make mistakes, but don’t fly the flag that said they had a catch and release on the trip. Misleading. It was a $ 500 boat ride. This was a once in a life time trip for us. Not everyone has
$$$ to waste.

Ugh! If only I had checked Unilocal!BEFORE booking this trip… It’s an expensive boat ride people, you won’t be catching any fish… these guys didn’t even act as though they expected a bite, never looking at the gear after setting it out.
None of their other boats that went out the same morning got a bite either.
This was my first fishing trip, but an experienced father and son were very upset. What a waste of money!

On my second trip with this outfit, we had a different captain and first mate, Chris and John, if I recall correctly. The one thing I can say about this crew is that they were really nice and didn’t harp on the fact that they expected tips like the other crew. That’s the only reason I’m giving them 2 stars instead of one.
The whole trip was entirely disappointing. When we arrived, the captain told us that we were going to be reef fishing followed by a trip out to some buoys. I should have backed out then, I signed up for a deep sea fishing trip.
What I failed to realize was that the reef was pretty close to the harbor. So instead of calling everyone and telling them to show up at 4:30 or 5 am, they still make us show up at 2:15 am, we get on the boat, drive for a while and then proceed to drift over a reef for two hours in the dark. So we’re out there trying to catch trash fish that are line-​of-​sight predators in the dark for two hours, breathing wicked diesel fumes the whole time. The first mate even said that the only reason we were reef fishing was because «there’s nothing better to do». Here’s an idea: how about burning the three hours of dark to get out to blue water so we can be fishing for pelagics at sunrise? How about letting us sleep for two extra hours?
To add insult to injury, reef fishing is an entirely different technique than I have ever used. We were given bare minimum instructions to hold the reel and don’t do anything to set the hook, the fish will set itself, and then you point the rod into the water at the fish and start reeling. It turns out that’s not *exactly* the correct technique and we lost a ton of hits that could have been landed. If I’m going to be forced to go reef fishing, I would at least like to be taught how to do it correctly.
So we end up wasting the sunrise bite trying to catch fish that we can’t even take with us. We caught snapper that they plan to sell to restaurants, but apparently the restaurants will have to test all of the fish for some parasite or bacteria before they can serve them, or else you could get deathly ill… or at least that’s the story I was told.
Then we move into high gear — not even trolling — and spend an hour or so heading out to a buoy that is CRAZY hopping with baitfish. Literally, tiny tuna are jumping out of the water to try and hit lures that were dangling at the edge of the water while the crew are removing baby tuna from the other lines and tossing them back. Unfortunately, we don’t get out there until a couple of hours after sunrise, by which point all of the bigger fish had gone deep. So we spend about 30 minutes there (yes, less than an hour in an area that is teeming with circling birds and bait fish), and then proceed to leave the area to troll open ocean for hours, with no hits, for the rest of the trip.
There is little doubt in my mind we would have had an absolutely stellar trip if we had headed out to the buoy for sunrise. And yet at the end of the trip, the captain makes some random comment about how we didn’t have any luck. I’m sorry, but as far as I’m concerned, they squandered all the luck sitting over a reef at sunrise and spent way too little time at the most promising site.
Bottom line: I didn’t drag my rear out of bed at 1:30 AM to spend three hours sitting over a reef in the dark. I signed up for deep sea fishing with an early start to hit the sunrise bite, and I felt completely screwed over. At a minimum, if they’re going to change the type of trip where it makes zero sense to leave at 2:30 am, let us sleep for an extra couple of hours.

My hubby and I are on our 1 year anniversary in Maui. We plan our fishing trip with Start me up 3 days before the trip was start we were so excited about it. But here is a hick up !!!
On the date that we suppose to go on the trip they told us to show up by 5:45am and be ready to get on the boat. we up early with hope that we will catch some fish today. we show up on time and wonder why nobody was here not even staff from Start me up. ok we just wait!!!
as the time go by now is 6:15 the sun was rising STILL NOBODY SHOW UP. we know something was wrong but we just kept waiting just to see someone from Start me up will show up so we could ask what is going on. Around 7am someone show up with the truck from the company woo hoo ok now we can see what is going on. walk toward the man he seem to know who we are but try not to acknowledge us. then we ask what Is going on we were suppose to go on fishing trip the man answer: Oh you are … the office call you and we are cancel the trip because not enough people. WHAT !!! WE NEVER GET PHONE CALL and by the way we book the trip for 3 days if it wasn’t enough people then you have a lot more day to remind us. anyways we were disappointed because be plan to go fishing but life go on right.
then we were just walk away and talk about how disappointed we are about this company.
all the sudden the young man who wear the hat from Start me up yell at us about what we are saying about his company that he work and start to want to fight my husband. over all the Experian with this company is the worst. Warning for future customer if they want to go on fishing trip try someone els not Start me up. !!!

I would not recommend, it wasn’t my first choice to fish with them, lucky strike were not available for the day I can go out to fish and some how finest thing screw up my reservation, so ended up I got not many choices so I take a risk to join start me up. After I read all the reviews it doesn’t seem right, and My husband and I stopped by their booth and their people aren’t seem friendly at all. I should trust my gut feeling! Now I paid 400 for 6 hrs fishing but not even had a bite. Captains did their job but I think when you are in the speciality in sport fishing and charging customer not a cheap price. you should deliver what customer looking for, catch fishes ! but they didn’t. That’s mean you are not good in what you do. It’s a big ocean and it’s about your technique and captains decisions. Nope, not Again! Not s big disappointment and very bored trip. Go another fishing charter for better chance. Just Giving my 2 cents Guys! There are many choices than choosing start me up.

Terrible fishing trip. Ive fished all over the world for Marlin and this was the worst. No effort put in by Josh and Roy. No live bait. No chumming. Nothing. They try to scam you and say they keep the fish and sell to the market when the fish should be yours. Then all they said when we didnt catch anything because the water was too warm. Then why did you take my money? And all they ask for is tips. No way

It’s all about the tips and hustling the fisherman… our captain picked the only one onboard who selected the fish go to the captain to sit in the chair .to catch the only fish we caught all day (6hour trip) while the deckhand worked the fisherman for tips and chatted them up it’s all about the hustle and selling the fish to the local stores… both the captain and the deckhand were named Josh… If you want a boat ride and lots of talk about catching Marlin this ones for you.

We had an excellent boat with great and well maintained equipment. Josh and Roy did a great job accommodating us and were knowledgeable. Overall, I highly recommend Start Me Up.

Had a great time with Captain Yuka and deckhand Cat. Took our bachelor party out and caught lots of variety of fish including a 166 pound Marlin we will have mounted

Went on the 6 hour trip that leaves at 5:30 am. Our crew was Josh and Jay. Josh was nice, but spent most of the time driving the boat and smoking. After fishing for hours we came back completely empty handed. I understand that’s fishing but it seems difficult to not catch a single fish in 6 hours. The charter is pricey at roughly $ 200. For that amount of money you expect some action or a partial refund. Nevertheless I went home disappointed. I’ll probably try a different charter company next time.

We went on the «Action» boat that leaves at 2am with captain John, and had a great time!!! Caught 8 fish! The captain was cool, he filleted a sample of each type of the fish for us to take home to try.
Don’t pay any attention to the obnoxious deck hand and just work through the captain for whatever you need and it will work out fine. Be prepared to forfeit your catch at the dock as they observe ancient Hawaiian tradition, and pay a 10−20% gratuity.
Overall, I would refer this charter to those who are looking for a fun experience, and don’t mind giving up their catch.

We got on the boat, they set up the poles, we sat on the boat for 4 hours, staff did not talk to us, when we did come back they told us it was a slow day and no one else caught any fish, imagine my surprise to walk down the pier and see one fishing boat with 3 20lb Ono and another with 2 Marlin. That aside I feel like something could have been done to enhance our experience. This was a disappointing trip and we do feel as though we wasted our money and more importantly, our time.

Ignore the grumpy dude in the booth. He’s not gonna be on your boat!
The captain (Chris) and deckhand on our boat were excellent… And we got skunked. They have around six boats, so you may not know who your crew is, but they all seem professional and competent.
Don’t forget your free visor for checking in, and ignore the attitude from the grumpy dude in the booth when he rips it off the wall and slams it on the counter

My boyfriend has waited years to go sport fishing in Maui and he just got back from the worst fishing experience of his life. He is very, very disappointed in the whole experience with Captain Jason. The captain went in the OPPOSITE direction of all the other fishing boats and basically never talked with the participants on the boat. They motored for 3 hours straight our — again AWAY from all the other fishing boats — and them motored back in for 3 hours.
The folks need to understand that people come from all over the place to have at least a fishing experience. It is not event the fact that they didn’t catch any fish, but that they never even got to get a pole in their hands!
As they returned to the harbor, many other fishing boats were coming in with their fish flags flying because they came from the fishing grounds.
The captain and deck hand did talk a lot about how they need the tips to make money — but who wants to tip someone who never talks to the customers and did not seem to put out any effort to try fishing.
Bleh!

While I understand that there is never any guarantee to catch fish, I do expect to hold a fishing pole at some point, which 4 out of 5 of us did not, despite PAYING MONEY TO GO FISHING. Instead we watched these 2 guys have a bad day of big game fishing.
We get it: sometimes you don’t catch anything, but if that’s the case, allow us to experience our own bad luck. Let us spend the last hour with our lines casted and a cold beer in our hands. That at least would be better than what ended up being an early wake up, 6-​hour boat tour of the perimeter of Larry Ellison’s island.
This fishing trip was the equivalent of paying big money for a basketball lesson, only the instructor spends the whole time making you watch him practice half-​court shots. After a while you just want to grab a seat and try not to throw up.
All jokes aside, I’m just not certain these guys are motivated to provide a memorable experience for the families they take out on the water. If we are paying close to $ 1000 (!) to go fishing, then we’d like to actually do something that resembles that activity. We caught absolutely zero fish in 6 hours, save for a lone barracuda which we promptly were informed had to be thrown back due to it’s poisonous nature. That was it. The rest of the time we were just cruising around, either looking for good ‘spots’ or waiting for the big fish to bite our trolling lure, which never actually happened.
The highlight of the trip was a tie between seeing Larry’s private yacht and the deckhand’s girlfriend taking off her t-​shirt.
My advice: take your money to a local fish market, and eat like a king.
Or if you want to go fishing, find another company.

When you here the words «FISH ON» its coming from another charter boat! Defiantly not from a START ME UP fishing charter.
Went on 3 separate charters with them and not one fish to show from my money. Hell at least the Skipper & Gilligan found land on there 3hr cruise, cause these captions couldn’t locate fish if there lives depended on it.
I’ve scene photos and heard the story’s but it’s funny when u walk down the dock you ever see any fish flags on there boats or fish displayed from happy customer. It’s all the other boats at the dock that get all the fish.
Don’t take my word, just drop down $ 700 and the wish you went to McDonalds for a filet of fish sandwich for $ 2 instead of going on there boat.
Keep in mind also don’t get to keep your fish that you don’t catch. You have to pay them for the amount you want to take home. The boat sells your fish to local restrarunt.
And to add insult to no fish they want a tip on top of that as well.