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Kaunakakai Fishing Report

Updated Mon, Nov 9, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

Kaunakakai: Molokai's south shore harbor town, facing what USGS calls the longest continuous fringing reef in the U.S.

4/5
Good. Solid day ahead.Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.
Next tide
High 3:23 PM
Air / High
74 / 83 F
Wind
ENE 9 mph

Sources: NOAA tides 1613198, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Monday
9
November 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

4/5Good. Solid day ahead.Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.

Kaunakakai offers the kind of conditions this water was made for. Today brings cloud cover, wind ENE around 9 mph, falling pressure near 1016 hPa and a high of 83. Tides: high 4:00 AM and 3:23 PM, low 10:52 AM and 9:02 PM: the moving water either side of each change is when this place feeds. Water sits around 78 F for the season (estimated). With the new moon, the solunar majors run 11:19 PM-1:19 AM and 11:41 AM-1:41 PM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Giant trevally (ulua)Good

This band covers Hawaii's water for most of the year. Work rocky shorelines and outer reef drop-offs with bait at night or surface lures at first light; tracking shows ulua keep to small home ranges.

Mahi-mahi (dorado)Good

This band covers much of the season off the Southeast and in the Gulf. Search Sargassum lines and current edges, where bait collects.

Tomorrow: Similar at 84 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Tue, Nov 10, 6:30 AMHow this report is made β†’

Before you go

Hawaii requires a fishing licence from age 9, from $5.00 for residents, and salt water needs its own licence here. What a Hawaii licence costs and where to buy it β†’

Chasing giant trevally (ulua) here? Check the size and bag limits with DAR before you keep anything. The season dates for Hawaii, read off the agency, are on the Hawaii seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings.

Tides

NOAA station 1613198 (Kaunakakai Harbor, Molokai, HI). Fish the moving water either side of each change.

Mon
HIGH4:00 AM2.5 ft
LOW10:52 AM0.5 ft
HIGH3:23 PM1.0 ft
LOW9:02 PM-0.0 ft
Tue
HIGH4:33 AM2.5 ft
LOW11:40 AM0.5 ft
HIGH3:54 PM0.9 ft
LOW9:30 PM-0.0 ft

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp74 F
High / Low83 / 74 F
WindENE 9-19 mph
Pressure1016.0 hPa, falling
Sky / Rain68% cloud, 2%
Sunrise / Sunset06:35 / 17:48
MoonNew Moon, 0%
Water temp (seasonal)~78 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunsetPRIMEPRIME

Which day to fish Kaunakakai this week

The best day on Kaunakakai this week looks like Tuesday Nov 10, at 5 out of 5, against 4 today.

Best day this week: Tuesday, Nov 10 β€” excellent at 5/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Nov 9 β€” Good

Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.

Solunar majors
11:19 PM-1:19 AM and 11:41 AM-1:41 PM
Minor period
6:41 AM-7:41 AM
Sun
06:35 to 17:48
Moon
New Moon, 0% lit
Sky and wind
Showers, 16 mph
Rain chance
2%

Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out: how the score is built.

Species guide

The species that matter on Kaunakakai: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Giant trevally (ulua) illustration

Giant trevally (ulua)

Best: night and low light (IGFA)

Giant trevally (Caranx ignobilis), ulua in Hawaii, is the largest of the Indo-Pacific Caranx jacks, a reef predator that in US waters is fished mainly around the Hawaiian Islands, from shore and from boats. This band covers Hawaii's water for most of the year. Work rocky shorelines and outer reef drop-offs with bait at night or surface lures at first light; tracking shows ulua keep to small home ranges.

Mahi-mahi (dorado) illustration

Mahi-mahi (dorado)

Follows warm water; spawning timing varies by latitude

Mahi-mahi (Coryphaena hippurus), also called dolphin or dolphinfish, is a fast-growing open-ocean fish of warm water, caught in US waters from Massachusetts to Texas, around Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, and from California to Hawaii. This band covers much of the season off the Southeast and in the Gulf. Search Sargassum lines and current edges, where bait collects.

When to come: the Kaunakakai calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Giant trevally (ulua)
Mahi-mahi (dorado)
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 78 F (estimated, not a reading).

7080JanMarMayJulSepNovNov, ~78 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Kaunakakai today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Sun, Nov 8

5/5 Excellent. Go now. Everything lines up: pressure, wind and light are in your favor. Giant trevally (ulua) led the card at good. High of 82 F, wind to 14 mph.

Sat, Nov 7

5/5 Excellent. Go now. Everything lines up: pressure, wind and light are in your favor. Giant trevally (ulua) led the card at good. High of 82 F, wind to 15 mph.

Fri, Nov 6

5/5 Excellent. Go now. Everything lines up: pressure, wind and light are in your favor. Giant trevally (ulua) led the card at good. High of 83 F, wind to 15 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
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Before you go

License

Hawaii requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

No marine recreational license for Hawaii residents; nonresidents 15 and older need the Nonresident Recreational Marine Fishing License, required since May 2, 2024. Kaunakakai Harbor (HAR 13-56): pole and line or throw net in Areas 1A and 1B; pole and line and small hand nets only in the small craft harbor (Area 2). DAR statewide size and bag limits apply to many species.

Access

Kaunakakai Harbor, a state DOBOR facility, with fishing allowed by area as set out in HAR 13-56.

About this water

Kaunakakai on the south shore of Molokai, Maui County, Hawaii.

Fishing Kaunakakai: the full guide

The reef offshore

USGS says that the south shore of Molokai, sheltered from southern swell by Lanai and Kahoolawe, holds the longest continuous fringing reef of the U.S. and its holdings, and that sediment runoff has degraded parts of it. Coral is easily damaged: avoid walking on or anchoring in live coral.

Harbor fishing rules

DAR regulates Kaunakakai Harbor under HAR 13-56. In the commercial harbor, Area 1B allows fishing with a throw net or pole and line, and Area 1A allows the same plus permitted netting that may not be set at night. In the small craft harbor (Area 2), only pole and line is allowed, plus hand nets no longer than 3 feet to take shrimp or land a hooked fish.

Licenses and tides

Molokai residents, like all Hawaii residents, need no marine recreational license, while visitors must buy DAR's Nonresident Recreational Marine Fishing License. Tide times here are NOAA predictions for station 1613198, Kaunakakai Harbor, whose own water-level gauge operated only from July 2000 to January 2001.

Common questions

Can I fish from Kaunakakai Harbor?

Yes, with limits by area: pole and line or throw net in the commercial harbor, and pole and line only in the small craft harbor.

Is the reef really that long?

USGS calls Molokai's south shore reef the longest continuous fringing reef of the U.S. and its holdings.

Do visitors need a fishing license?

Yes: nonresidents need DAR's Nonresident Recreational Marine Fishing License; residents do not need a marine license.

Is fishing good at Kaunakakai right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.

Nearby waters

Kahului Harbor38 miMaalaea Bay39 miKailua Bay51 miKaneohe Bay56 miKewalo Basin56 miWahiawa Reservoir70 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Tide predictions
NOAA CO-OPS 1613198 β€” Kaunakakai Harbor, Molokai, HI
Harmonic predictions, datum MLLW, local time. 12 high and low events returned for today and the next two days. A prediction, not a measured water level: wind and surge move the real thing.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 21.0870, -157.0290 in this water's own timezone. A model, not an observation.
Moon and solunar windows
Calculated on this site
Astronomical calculation from these coordinates and the date, not a third-party feed. How much weight it deserves.
Pages checked
The facts in the written guide were checked against these pages, from the agencies and operators that manage the water, on October 8, 2026. Anything we could not verify was taken out.
The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
How this page was made. The daily report is computed by our scoring engine from live readings; nobody types it. The written text was drafted with AI assistance from the official pages listed above, and its facts were checked against those pages by automated verification on October 8, 2026; anything that could not be verified was taken out. Pablo Ruiz Quintero sets every guideline, the data-verification system and the minimum standards a page must meet to be published, reviews page structure and approves what goes live; the responsibility is his, and the AI carries out the work. We work this way because it is how one person can keep every page current with named sources. Errors are published in the verification log; the full policy is in the editorial policy.

Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on how our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.