Captain Dave Hudson
Before I knew what being a fisherman meant I was busy becoming one. Growing up in Michigan on the Great Lakes where my father was building P.T. boats for the Navy I had the opportunity to learn to operate boats by the age of twelve.
My passion for fishing was growing as there were so many walleye and muskies to catch right in front of our family home on Lake St Claire. That chapter in boating and fishing abruptly stopped by the age of 17 when the war started and there was the military calling my name.
The next stop was FT Bragg and within 18 months I was literally dropping into northern Turkey with the 5th Special Forces as a radio operator. No fishing going on there. But 4 years of C rations there was a well-deserved discharge and a flight to San Francisco and hello Merchant Marines and oh yeah a ship sailing to Vietnam with loads of military equipment but, always a layover in Honolulu and a chance to charter an old sampan at Kewalo Basin.
The first trip over there we caught a 450 lb Blue Marlin! No kidding that is all it took for me. I wanted more. Thanks to the advice of a First Officer I got off the deckhand hard run time and went to Merchant Officer school and took a course in Celestial Navigation and a 100-ton license and was on my way as a navigator!
Taking a temporary position as the harbormaster with the DLNR at Lahaina Maui I came in contact with some local fisherman, rebuilt a skiff and learned the skills of big game fishing.
Lahaina, (being a hub of cruising yachts) got me connected with Mr. Easy Rider, Peter Fonda, and back out to sea as navigator and an awesome adventure to the South Pacific and a whole lot of unbelievable fishing experiences at Tahiti and places in between and finally back to my beloved Maui to put it all together.
I first bought a 31 foot Bertram that started my charter fishing career that has spanned more than 40 years and now have a fleet of boats that are still capturing game fish off the coast of Lahaina, HI.
From a boatyard in Michigan to Fort Bragg and off to sea and a great opportunity to fish in the Hawaiian islands the journey couldn’t have been better.
It is our hope that we can share it with you in the very near future, now you too know more about us!
Aloha,
Captain Dave
