If you ask the locals of Lahaina who Warren Keiley is, they probably will shake their heads not ever hearing of him.  But ask the locals of Lahaina who Deli is and they’ll smile and tell you to head over to Slip 12 at the harbor – that’s where you can find the man they call Deli.

Deli – a.k.a. Warren Keiley – has been living “on island” since 1982 and working for Start Me Up since 2007. His story begins, however, in Gloucester, Massachusetts where he began fishing in Stellwagon Bank – a much different place than the Hawaiian Islands.

“My real introduction to fishing was from 1975 – 1981 in Massachusetts,” recalls Deli. “But I had an older brother working as a farmer in Hawaii so I decided to follow him.”

In 1984, Deli’s landed his first job in Hawaii at Maalaea Harbor - about 20 minutes from Lahaina – working on a snorkel boat making deli sandwiches. Hence, his nickname “Deli” was born.  Even while making sandwiches, Deli kept his eyes on the water and ended up making his biggest catch on that snorkel boat – a 712-pound blue marlin. That was about the time Deli stopped making deli sandwiches and began a 10-year fishing career on three different boats.   He’s since fished on all of the Hawaiian Islands and in some of the most renowned sport fishing tournaments including the World Cup, the Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament (HIBT), the Firecracker Open and the Lahaina Jackpot.

Cool story, right? Well, Deli’s story takes a turn as he then started an 8-year career in real estate.

“Even though I thought I could do something else, the draw was still there,” he explains.  “I became a weekend warrior – someone who fishes only on the weekends.”

But as you may have guessed, you can take the fisherman out of the water, but you can’t take the passion out of the fisherman.  So Deli returned home – to the water, the boats and the game fish of Hawaii - and hasn’t looked back since. 

His favorite fishing memory?  Independence Day 2008.  While out on a six-hour trip he tagged and released two marlin – 275 and 700 pounds – while boating a 551-pound marlin.

You can now find Deli inside Start Me Up’s harbor booth doing what he does best – talking about fishing and encouraging both families and pros to embark on a Maui fishing trip.

“All of my experience for the last 25 years is in Hawaii,” said Deli. “The best place for me is in this booth talking about fishing and sharing my local knowledge.” 

He’s also passed on that knowledge to his oldest son Jonny – who now works as a deckhand for the Start Me Up family.

Talk about a great fish story.  In the month of June alone, Lahaina-based Start Me Up Sport Fishing reeled in six marlin that each weighed over 500 pounds.  Good news for the anglers who get their trips for free, but also for six local charities.

“We may not see this much activity for years to come,” said Doug Armfield, owner of Start Me Up.  “Some of my guys may not catch a marlin over 500 pounds for a very long time so June was definitely a fantastic month – both for the anglers and all of the crew.  Plus, as is customary when a marlin over 500 pounds is caught, we give the angler his/her trip for free and make a $300 donation to a local charity.  In this case, we donated to six great charities in June.”

Jarod Koldeway of Denver caught the first and biggest of the marlins – 647 pounds – on June 2 with Captain Tim “Timster” Putnam and deckhand Chris Kiser.  A donation was made to the Maui Humane Society as a result.

“I thought I had caught a sunken ship or something,” joked Koldeway. “Then I thought maybe the guys tied the marlin on (to the back of the boat) before we left as a nice gesture to a tourist.”

The very next day 13-year-old Zack Martin of Illinois reeled in a 576-pound blue marlin with the help of Captain Mike Tappero and deckhand Ryan Thomas.  Martin’s entire family was aboard to celebrate the big catch.  Start Me Up made a donation to the Maui Chapter of Habitat for Humanity.

Less than two weeks later on June 15 Michael Grayson of Arkansas caught his first marlin weighing in at 592-pounds again with the help of Putnam and Kiser.  Women Helping Women – a Maui non-profit dedicated to ending domestic violence among women and children – was the recipient of a $300 donation.

Grayson’s father Jim was possibly even more excited than his son about the enormous fish.

“The adrenaline rush when you’re dealing with a fish that size is incredible,” exclaimed Jim. “It’s three hours later and the adrenaline is still pumping through me.

On June 23 it was Bud Hamrick’s turn.  The Virginia native caught a 548-pounder that resulted in a donation to the Boo Boo Zoo (also known as the East Maui Animal Refuge Center) in Haiku.

“The trip was definitely one of the best family outings ever,” said Hamrick.

Less than 24 hours later, Terry Hoffman of Washington brought in a 552-pound marlin with Captain Denny Putnam and deckhand Randy Evans.  The donation went to the West Maui Senior Center.

Not to be outdone, Lucas Lange of Missouri landed a 621-pound blue marlin during an afternoon trip on June 30 with Captain Steve Cravens and deckhand Chris Gifford.  A donation was made to the Maui Chapter of the Boys and Girls Club.

And if those fish weren’t enough, Start Me Up also tagged and released a half dozen other marlin each weighing over 100 pounds.  And just for good measure the company reeled in the largest striped marlin caught on Maui this year – weighing 138 pounds – on June 16.

“This is why people love to fish,” said Armfield. “Most of these people probably will never have the experience again, but it’s one that is nearly unforgettable.  And these experiences are what make the Start Me Up crew hit the water every day with enthusiasm – you never know what’s going to bite the other end of your line.”

If you’ve been lucky enough to visit Start Me Up Sport Fishing in Lahaina, Maui, then you may have noticed we abide by a specific flag protocol when coming into harbor.  Never heard of it?  Well, you’re in luck; we’re going to explain it right now.

Basically, the boat captains want to highlight their latest catch upon arriving back in the harbor.  Since there are a variety of fish in Maui’s waters, there is a variety of corresponding fish flags.  The type and size of fish caught determines the order of the fish flags (which are always flown on the starboard or right side – outrigger).

The billfish flag is always flown on top no matter what species is caught, and you can run one flag for each billfish you catch.  Typically, we catch blue marlin in Maui, so we fly a rectangular, blue flag with a white marlin design (a striped marlin also uses the same flag as a blue marlin). Simple so far, right? Well, there is also a white flag with a blue marlin design that can be used for both a blue and striped marlin.  We’ve been flying the marlin flag often over the past month.  In fact, we have caught five blue marlin that weighed over 500-pounds each!

Next is the shortnose spearfish, which has its own flag – light blue, triangle-shaped with a white spearfish in the middle.  If a captain doesn’t have a spearfish flag for some reason, he/she can run a blue marlin flag upside down.  Catch a marlin and a spearfish?  Remember, the marlin flag goes on top of the spearfish.

Let’s not forget how important tagging and releasing billfish is either.  In this instance we run a red triangle-shaped flag with a white “T” that flies below the billfish flag.  Let’s say though that you captured one billfish but tagged and released another.  Then two billfish flags are flown, with the red tag flag underneath to designate that the bottom billfish was tagged and released.  If multiple billfish are tagged and released, then a red tag flag is run underneath each billfish flag that was tagged and released.  Whew!

Occasionally, we catch sailfish in Hawaii and run a white, rectangular flag with a blue sailfish in the middle.  It’s run below all other billfish flags.

Next in line is the mahi/dolphin flag.  It’s a yellow rectangle with a blue mahi in the center.  You only run one mahi flag no matter how many you catch!

Then comes the ono (wahoo on the mainland) flag, which is orange, rectangular and has a white ono in the middle.  Just like the mahi flag, only one ono flag is run regardless of how many you catch.

The bottom flag on the outrigger is the yellowfin/bigeye tuna/ahi flag.  It’s white, rectangular with a blue tuna.  Only if your ahi is 100-pounds or more do you run it above the mahi and ono flags, but never over a billfish flag.  You can run multiple ahi flags if the fish are over 100-pounds.

Below the yellowfin/bigeye tuna/ahi flag is the skipjack/aku flag.  It’s a green, rectangular flag with a white tuna.  Most Maui fishing boats don’t run a skipjack/aku flag unless it is 25-pounds or more.

A shark flag is red and rectangular with a white shark in the center.  This flag is run below all aforementioned flags.  If a shark is released, then the red triangle tag flag is run below the red shark flag.

And finally…the trevalle/ulua flag can be a red or purple rectangle with an ulua design inside and is always run on the bottom.  This is more of a shoreline fish and hardly caught on our Maui fishing trips.

So there’s the Hawaiian flag protocol in a nutshell!  It’s much easier to understand in person during an actual fishing trip.  Since that’s the case, you might as well book your Maui fishing trip with Start Me Up today!  Make sure to study though, there will be a quiz!

* A big thanks to Donnell A. Tate for providing us with the info included in this post!

We’ve got a banana ban going on people, and it’s in effect in waters all over the world.  Who’s to blame for the insanity? Fishermen – both those from thousands of years ago and those that just hopped aboard yesterday.

Haven’t heard about it yet?  Book a Maui sport fishing trip – or anywhere else for that matter – and you’ll be warned: no bananas allowed on board. Yes, we get many a puzzled look when we tell people they can’t bring bananas or banana-themed items aboard (going as far as Banana Boat sunscreen).  Some laugh thinking we’re fooling the tourists, but this is serious business.

There are a variety of stories about how the “no bananas” rule came about, but the one we hear most often in Maui goes something like this: in preparation for a long trip at sea, fishermen would pack a variety of food and fruits  - including bananas - in their boats (then typically made of wood).  However, after weeks passed, the bananas would rot thus causing the other food to rot as well.  Without food, the fishermen starved and ultimately died.  Of course, what other explanation could there be besides the bananas?

Not convinced?  Well, other stories say that bananas attracted a variety of unwanted pests including spiders, mice, flies and snakes that also caused destruction and death aboard the old, rickety boats.  The ultimate cause? Duh. Bananas.

And last but certainly not least, leave a banana peel on deck and you’re setting yourself up for a hard fall (and a lot of laughs).

All joking aside, this strange superstition is abided by throughout Hawaii and respected by nearly all captains and deckhands of Maui fishing boats. Each has his own version of the legend and each his own rules for how far he’ll go to respect the legend.  Don’t believe us? Book a trip with us and pack bananas – they’re not the only thing that will go overboard.  Just kidding!  Or are we?

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