The best day I ever had fishing was on the west side of Oahu. Live-Bait Charters was the name of the company I picked. I spent over 3 months before the trip planning and choosing the boat I would go out on. My main concern was time on the water. Time on the water varies greatly from boat to boat. Live-Bait's captain seemed to love fishing and was out there to catch fish, not drive around in circles. I have another story about the second trip I took, about what can go wrong booking a charter out of Wakikii.

Shannon is the captain of Live-Bait, he'll get you to where the fish are.......the rest is up to the fish. If you got a big one every time you went out they wouldn't call it fishing, they would call it catching. I was amazed at how fast the boats move while fishing! With huge reels and rods, not to mention the 2 foot long skip jacks that we were using for bait. You start to get a little worried at the size of the gear and what might erupt out of the water at any minute. Live-Bait is one of the only charters to use live bait when hunting the large open ocean predators. It's great to just sit back, have a drink and watch Shannon and crew work their magic.

Here's a tip when booking a full day of fishing on Oahu. Don't go on a shared trip! You think you might be saving money, but your going to be disappointed. Having to share a boat with up to 5 other people really sucks! They might not speak your language, or not drink(and think you shouldn't) or they might just be jerks. Save your money and go with Live-Bait. The west coast of Oahu is beautiful and it give you a chance to get out of Wakikii. You can only take so much of that place.

The worst trip I had fishing on Oahu was on a shared full day fishing tour. It sucked! First, I booked on a famous boat(I saw on T.V.), but I didn't read the fine print and ended up on one of their "other boats". The captain of the boat I went out on must been all of 19, with minimal experience. The five other people I shared the boat with were lame, by 9am they were all asleep in the cabin! You come thousands of miles to fish, spent $135 per person to fall asleep! Then they bitched all day about not catching anything. When you add it all up we paid over $800 American to go in circles all day. Don't get me wrong, I don't expect fish everytime I go out, but when the captain see's birds circling and goes in the opposite direction everytime. I start to wonder about his thinking. Don't book out of Wakikii, thats my advice. Go with Live-Bait, they charge half the price and offer better bang for you buck.