By Rock Cod Rick Maxa
On Sunday Setember 28 I along with my great friend Steve Pinard from Dana Landing hosted the 2014 Maui Jim / Alaska Airlines trip to Maui Hawaii! Thanks to the hard work of Maui Jim’s Mike Battistoni who put the trip together and made this fantastic promotion possible. This trip was the grand prize of our Ford Dealers Live remote broadcasts. Every person who joined us for one of these live shows had 2 chances to win this fantastic trip, the first (and the easiest) was to just show up. Everyone in attendance filled out an information card, and of those cards one winner was pulled at random from every show. The other way to qualify was to be the winner of the Shimano Casting contest also held at each event. Each of these eight winners all were guaranteed a killer prize including, Maui Jim’s sunglasses, Shimano rod and reel combos (valued at $800+), Aftco shopping sprees, your very own charter on the Black Jack (a four pack charter boat from Dana landing) or of course the grand prize an unforgettable trip to Maui! This trip for two included round trip tickets from San Diego to Maui on Alaska’s non stop flight, a deluxe condo at the Outrigger in Lahaina, 2 brand pairs of Maui Jim sunglasses, and 2 days fishing offshore in the beautiful Maui Jim corporate yacht!!!
Our Big winner Dave Dodge was picked by Tim Ekstrom of the Royal Star, and soon he, his lovely wife Terri, Steve and I would soon meet up at the airport and start this amazing trip! As per usual the trip started smooth and uneventful with fantastic service provided by Alaska Airlines. We were treated to a menu of Hawaiian food, and a complimentary Mai Thai before landing in Maui. Once we made it to Lahaina, Maui we realized what a great trip we were in for. Accommodations at the Outrigger were fantastic. Finely appointed condos, were very comfortable, with walk in showers, full kitchens, and all the amenities of home.
It was just a short walk from our condo to the Lahaina harbor. In the morning we would meet up with Seth and Tom, captains of The Maui Jim! On day 2, an early departure of 5:30 was called for. Dave Dodge being a hard core Southern California fisherman had no problem with the gray light departure. After a short safety and fishing briefing we threw the lines, and cleared the harbor. Our weather was exceptional, and because of this, captain Tom planned to fish the areas surrounding Molokai island. This provided the classic Maui fishing experience. Purple blue water against super lush green islands, that just fell into the water. Birds, whales, porpoise, very brief warm tropical rains, followed by Hawaiian rainbows were common place. Our Fishing day 1 was great. Less than 30 minutes into the troll the starboard rigger went off and the clicker of the Shimano Tiagra 80w started to sing! Terri was first up, and after a short battle in the chair, captain Seth put the gaff in our first Mahi Mahi. This scenario played out several times throughout the day, as we experienced great mahi fishing tight to the island. Dave was first to break our mahi streak after he landed a nice Kawa Kawa (pronounced Kava Kava) which is a very cool looking fish. Kawa Kawa is in the skipjack family but very “chrome” looking with cool spots and a mackerel striped section on the back. They are a favorite food fish among the locals and thought to make the very best poki of all the fishes. Once our area started to slow we picked up and ran for the far end of the island. On the trip we were treated to scenery straight out of a post card, with waterfall after waterfall cascading from the cliffs of Molokai into the ocean. Needless to say it was amazing. Once the lines went back in the water, it didn’t take long until we were back on the mahi. Starting with another outrigger crack and peeling line, Steve took the opportunity to add to our mahi tally with another quality fish of 20+ pounds. When this fish came to color, Tom noticed a follower, and the quick teamwork of captain and mate showed as Seth fed the second fish a drop back and got Steve and Dave on our first double of nice mahi mahi. Getting later in the afternoon, the call was made to head back towards the harbor, and in the process do some high speed trolling in hopes of adding and Ono (Wahoo) to our box. While celebrating a great first day with some cold beers the high speed jig gets mauled. Dave hops in the chair, and in short work a scrappy wahoo found his way into the ice box! What a day! Tuna, wahoo, and a bunch of mahi mahi!
With such a great first day under our belts, capt. Tom decided to takes advantage of our epic weather, and head far offshore in search of one of Hawaii’s giant blue marlin. We discussed our options, and knew that this opportunity was a high risk high reward plan. Tom basically said we were going to swing for the fence and either hit one over the wall, or strike out. Well with so much action yesterday we all wanted our shot at a giant, so offshore we went. All thought we didn’t hit our home run, we didn’t strike out either. We had a killer day of blue water, flat calm warm weather, and great stories. We were also treated to a fantastic lunch. Seth and Tom cut some of the wahoo from the day before, Marinated the stakes, and BBQ’d them right on the deck of the Maui Jim. That along with a fresh Cesar salad made for a very memorable day on the water. After such a great relaxing day we were all in the greatest mood and totally satisfied with an empty box. But before the day was called that familiar sound of a screaming clicker broke the silence, and Dave Dodge climbed in the chair to do battle with our last offshore fish, and biggest mahi mahi at just over 25lbs. The sunny ride in was just made that much sweeter with the mahi flag flying.
Our next day was spent relaxing around town and enjoying the sights of Maui. In the afternoon I had a chance to go the the Maui Jim office, and get a cool behind the scene tour. The building was so cool, you are greeted with a friendly aloha as soon as you walk through the door, and see a display case featuring hundreds of pairs of the latest Maui’s. They also have an on site repair facility where they can fix or alter your glasses while you wait.
All in all this was a trip that we will never forget, on behalf of myself, Steve, Dave and Terri Dodge, I would like to thank Mike Battistoni, Maui Jim and Alaska Airlines for making this trip possible. We had an amazing time, and were shown such great hospitality.
Join us next year for our Ford Dealers live remotes during the spring and summer of 2015, and you could be the next one to go on an exotic trip courtesy of Let’s Talk Hookup and our sponsors.
