Share your catch
US

Maalaea Bay Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Oct 23, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

Maalaea Bay: the Maui bay that holds the state's Maalaea Small Boat Harbor, with one launch ramp and DOBOR's Maui district office.

4/5
Good. Solid day ahead.Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.
Next tide
Low 8:11 PM
Air / High
74 / 86 F
Wind
N 2 mph

Sources: NOAA tides TPT2797, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
23
October 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.

Maalaea Bay lines up a genuinely fishable day across the board. Today brings cloud cover, wind N around 2 mph, steady pressure near 1015 hPa and a high of 86. Tides: high 2:40 AM and 2:23 PM, low 7:50 AM and 8:11 PM: the moving water either side of each change is when this place feeds. Water sits around 79 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:11 AM-11:11 AM and 9:37 PM-11:37 PM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Giant trevally (ulua)Excellent

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)Excellent

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 85 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 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 TPT2797 (Kihei, Maalaea Bay). Fish the moving water either side of each change.

Fri
HIGH2:40 AM1.9 ft
LOW7:50 AM0.3 ft
HIGH2:23 PM2.0 ft
LOW8:11 PM0.0 ft
Sat
HIGH3:15 AM2.1 ft
LOW8:33 AM0.3 ft
HIGH2:46 PM1.9 ft
LOW8:33 PM-0.1 ft

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp74 F
High / Low86 / 72 F
WindN 2-12 mph
Pressure1015.2 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain95% cloud, 2%
Sunrise / Sunset06:24 / 17:55
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~79 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 Maalaea Bay this week

Today is the pick of the week on Maalaea Bay, at 4 out of 5.

Best day this week: today, Oct 23 β€” good at 4/5, steady pressure, neither help nor hindrance.

Today, Oct 23 β€” Good

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

Solunar majors
9:11 AM-11:11 AM and 9:37 PM-11:37 PM
Minor period
3:34 AM-4:34 AM
Sun
06:24 to 17:55
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Overcast, 11 mph
Rain chance
2%

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

Species guide

The species that matter on Maalaea Bay: 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 Maalaea Bay 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 79 F (estimated, not a reading).

7080JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~79 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 Maalaea Bay today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Giant trevally (ulua) led the card at excellent. High of 83 F, wind to 6 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Giant trevally (ulua) led the card at excellent. High of 84 F, wind to 7 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Giant trevally (ulua) led the card at good. High of 87 F, wind to 16 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
Only used if we need to ask you about your report. No mailing list, no spam.

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

Statewide DAR rules (Maalaea Bay is not a DAR regulated fishing area); see DAR's Hawaii Fishing Regulations for sizes, seasons and bag limits. Nonresidents 15 and older: Nonresident Recreational Marine Fishing License; Hawaii residents are not required to hold one.

Access

Maalaea Small Boat Harbor (DOBOR), 101 Maalaea Boat Harbor Road: one ramp, loading dock, washdown, 89 berths or moorings.

About this water

A bay on Maui, Maui County, Hawaii, home to the state-run Maalaea Small Boat Harbor.

Fishing Maalaea Bay: the full guide

A state small boat harbor

Hawaii's Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation (DOBOR) runs Maalaea Small Boat Harbor, which is also home to its Maui District Office. DOBOR places the harbor on Maui's west coast, about 16 miles southeast of Lahaina, and lists 89 berths or moorings, one ramp, a loading dock, a drydock, fuel delivered by truck, a vessel washdown and a U.S. Coast Guard station.

Which rules apply

Maalaea Bay does not appear on the Division of Aquatic Resources' list of regulated fishing areas in Maui County, so DAR's statewide size, season and bag rules are the ones to check. DAR warns that its booklet does not list every restricted place: harbors, refuges and reserves may limit fishing, normally with signs at public access points.

License for visitors

Since May 2, 2024, DAR has required a Nonresident Recreational Marine Fishing License for ocean fishing by nonresidents aged 15 and older. Hawaii residents have no marine recreational license to buy.

Common questions

Is there a public boat ramp at Maalaea?

Yes. DOBOR lists one ramp at Maalaea Small Boat Harbor, together with a loading dock and a vessel washdown.

Does a visitor need a license to fish Maalaea Bay?

Yes, from age 15: nonresidents need DAR's Nonresident Recreational Marine Fishing License to fish the ocean. Residents need none.

When are humpback whales around Maui?

NOAA's Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary says visitors can see them from November through April.

Is fishing good at Maalaea Bay 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 Harbor8 miKaunakakai39 miKona86 miKailua Bay90 miKewalo Basin94 miKaneohe Bay95 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Tide predictions
NOAA CO-OPS TPT2797 β€” Kihei, Maalaea Bay
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 20.7900, -156.5100 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.