Trolling is a method of fishing where articficial lures or natural bait is towed near the surface from a moving boat. Trolling can basically occur off any type of boat from a sail boat to a motorboat.

In Hawaii trolling is one of the most popular pelagic fishing methods for commerical, recreational and subsistence fishermen. The best place to go trolling is where there are seabirds hovering near the water because that means that they are feeding on little fish that have been forced up to the surface by larger fish who are feeding the smaller fish.

Trolling in the deep waters outside of Kailua Bay is primarily for subisitence fising for mahimahi (dolphin fish), ahi (tuna), ulua (giant trevally), and kamanu (rainbow runner). It is the areas where the underwater topography changes dramatically and where water masses converge that are the best trolling areas.