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March 2024 by Peter Janik
SCAM/FRAUD!!! STOLE $1050.We had gone back and forth for a few weeks figuring out dates for a fish trip. I was specific I wanted a kayak trip. He assured me that we would not only see bonefish but would also catch them. So finally after settling on a date, I booked and paid for a trip on Dec 21st through Zelle per his request to confirm trip on Dec 22nd. After I paid on 21st, I called Jon Jon (aka William Tabon Jr.) to figure out the plan for the following day at which time he asked to switch the guide trip to Dec 24, which I agreed to.On the 23rd before the trip he told me when and where to meet on the 24th. The morning of the 24th he confirmed the time for that day then shortly later he changed the time to about an hour later. No problem for us. Then about 1.5hrs after that, before our trip, he texted and then called me that he had to cancel the trip because he said he was sick but assured me (in text and on phone) he would refund my money. Have called and texted numerous times but he's totally ghosting me - crickets. Filed fraud claims with my bank and will pursue all other legal options to protect others.After the trip, I happened to talked to other fishing locals and guides that I happened to run it on Maui and Kauai and they didn't have positive things to say about him.Interesting enough, shortly before my planned trip on Dec 22nd, his website went down. Could it be because he needs to reboot with a new company and change his name?Either way, I reported it as a cybercrime with FBI. Reported it to BBB. Reported it to Maui PD.
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February 2024 by Semiused
Booked a kayak trip for me and my buddy about a year ago. We used a couple of jigs that looked like a 2nd grade class made and rusted. Caught 2 fish and a storm came up and one of the kayaks took water and sank while it was lashed to the other one. Then the waves capsized us and we lost most of what was on board and when I bailed out I hit an urchin as I was barefooted. We were maybe a 1/4 mile out. Life or death moment. Barely made it to shore and begged in on house owner to allow us through to the road. Had to go to the urgent care and never got a call. DO NOT USE THIS GUIDE SERVICE! Very unprofessional.
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February 2024 by William Chythlook
Cancelled my $700 fishing trip on Sunday. Stopped responding to me when I asked for refund. Based on prior reviews. Looks like my money is lost. DO NOT pre pay with this guy on Zelle. He was legit a few years ago. Now is a complete bum and a scammer.
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February 2024 by Mike Rende
They postponed a couple of times on me then a Hurricane was heading our way. We decided to leave and they didn’t refund my money.
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August 2023 by Mary Manner
I bought this guided trip as a gift for an avid fisherman. Expensive disappointment. We understand that conditions change, but service can still be excellent especially at this price.
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July 2023 by seanmT9060AL
I had the opportunity to fish with both Captain Jon Jon and Xavier Tongson, another one of the guides with Local Fishing Knowledge. They were both super knowledgeable about their fishery and local fishing strategy, but also the history and ecology of Maui and the surrounding islands. We had a successful day on the water and caught a variety of bait fish, as well as a few nice Bluefin Trevally.
Next time I return to Maui, I'll be contacting them again. Both Captain Jon Jon and Xavier ("Javi") were fantastic.
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July 2023 by Aaron H
All-
I strongly recommend not booking with Local Fishing Knowledge or anyone associated with Jon Jon Tabon. I should have done my research prior to booking and highly regretted it. What was I looking for? A kayak trip where I could catch a couple fish to eat for dinner. I called Jon Jon and was greeted on the phone by a personality that seemed to come from a sincere place. Boy was I wrong. I was told by Jon Jon that the exact week I was coming was spawning season for the near shore papio bite and that I would be guaranteed to catch 20-30 fish and he would be my personal guide. Sounds great right. I had not paid yet, and Jon Jon starts to text me pictures that he claimed were from a near-shore kayak trip from that day. The picture was of coolers full of 8+ pound papio. I would later find out that the photos were from an offshore trip in a power boat from a business that Jon Jon’s father runs. What a hoax. So after I pay, of course it’s radio silence and I receive zero communication from Jon Jon. I get to Maui and have yet to hear from him. I knew something was fishy. I call and he says he’s going to have to have someone else take me out and to meet in the morning at a agreed location. We show up and the guide is awesome, however, the guide was also lied to by Jon Jon. The guide tells us the trip is a catch and release trip targeting bonefish and is very upset that Jon Jon had lied to us. There is so much more to this story, but:
Long story short. Be careful when booking with this guy. If what your looking for is a chance to catch a couple bonefish from a kayak for $750, with old equipment, frayed leader, and hooks that bend out as soon as you hook a bonefish, this trip is for you! Hope this review helps someone make a better decision than I did.
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June 2023 by Tucker Catlin
Murky water due to mud and landslides made water impossible to sight fish. Totally unprofessional to take clients out for $750 to ladder fish, knowing they will catch nothing. Do not bother with these guys
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May 2023 by Sam and Mel Lum Kass
Had a great time hunting bonefish with Johann. Really impressed with his ability to find fish and get them within range! What a fun fishery, can't wait to do it again!
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May 2023 by Anne Bebo
Same experience !! What a joke 750 to fish on a ladder when I asked for kayak. Told I would be taken out to compensate and cancelled on me last day last minute no refund. Now having charges reversed in my credit card !!
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March 2023 by Jerart
Scheduled with JonJon for a Tuesday morning fly fishing trip which he canceled because he said wasn’t good but took clients out instead and caught fish ask for our money back because he canceled and he he said we scheduled for Friday which we did not but didn’t have no choice to go out or lose our money spent fours hours fishing didn’t get a bite and all we heard was it’s a beautiful day which it was but we were paying for fishing not beautiful days and I know it’s called fishing not catching but when paying $1500 for two people you would at least expect a chance maybe worth $500 but not $1500 I could have rented a fly rod and stood in the water for 5 hours and did just as good. Jon Jon is a good guy but he has the market cornered on the bone fish charter
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January 2023 by Kyle Barrick
Our guide, Mike, was very nice but we spent three hours fishing without even a single bite. Not even Mike was able to catch anything.
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October 2022 by michaelpI9415XL
I would not recommend this guide service to anyone. I am sure there have been people who have had different experiences with his other guides but mine was horrible. I paid for a full day guide for bone fish. If you want to kayak fish you must have to ask because we used aluminum ladders in the tide pools. My guide showed up 30 minutes late because he couldn't find his keys. As we were setting up the rods he realized he had forgotten his shoes at home. We did not make it out to the water till almost an hour late (two hours after low tide). I quickly realized he was not a professional guide but just someone the outfitter hires to take people fishing. He had the 5 flies the outfitter provided and they were hammered and only knew to fish in three specific areas that he had been shown. As the tides and wind started to get bad he basically said well we are done for the day after 3 hours of fishing. $750 for three hours is insane. Stay away from this outfitter.
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September 2022 by John Green
My Father and I went out with Johann this morning. I contacted Jon Jon on a Friday evening with our only days available being Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. I had a conversation with him to let him know our fishing experience, kayak experience, and what we enjoy as an experience qhen fishing. Based on that information Jon Jon suggested a nearshore kayak trip. We had an absolute blast! We were fortunate enough to have nice weather and caught a nice variety of fish. We had consistent action the entire time. Johann made changes and adjustments throughout the morning to try to target different types of fish. This is exactly the type of experience we were looking for. Johann was extremely informative and a pleasure to spend time out on the water with. These guys were professional, accomodating, and just genuinely good people to work with. We could have not had so much as a bite (that is how fishing goes sometimes) and this still would be the review they would have received. Highly recommend them!
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September 2022 by Le R.
I contacted Captain Jon Jon a few days before the booking date. He did everything he could to make it work for us. He's a great guy. I would recommend calling the number on the website rather than the "contact me" option or the email options.
