Before I go into an account of my trip I would like to give you some background on Christmas Island. The first European to arrive there was Captain James Cook in the 1700’s. He made land fall on Christmas Eve hence the name Christmas Island. Christmas Island is a part of the Republic of Kiribati in the central Pacific Ocean, which straddles the equator and the International Date Line. The islands are about 4,000-km (2,500 miles) southwest of Hawaii or about 4,500-km (2,800 miles) northeast of Australia. Kiribati is part of the division of the pacific islands known as Micronesia Archipelago. The climate varies from maritime equatorial (central islands) to tropical in the north and south. The temperatures normally ranging between, 72o F / 22o C and 90o F / 32o C. Humidity is constant at 70% to 90%. Northwest trade winds blow between March and October. From November to April, there are occasional heavy rains, and strong to gale force winds, though Kiribati is outside the cyclone belt.
My trip to Christmas Island was booked through Ed Blank’s Adventures on the Fly. I booked through him rather than frontiers because his prices were lower. His web page address is www.flyfishingheaven.com. I booked the trip in early November, which gave me plenty of time to tie all my flies and gather all the gear I was going to need for the trip. After fishing a few days I found out that I only needed half a dozen different patterns and sizes to catch all the bonefish I wanted. I will get into the patterns later in the article.
For me the most important consideration was cost of the trip. For 7 days of fishing including airfare to Christmas Island the bill ran $2595.00 per person. This doesn’t include the cost of travel to Honolulu from your home. I found trying to book a flight to Honolulu separately from a hotel was cost prohibitive. My local travel agent booked hotel, rental car and round trip air fare for three days going and two days coming home and the cost was about $690.00. Make sure you check around for the best price available because when you get to Honolulu the price of a descent meal will run you about $30.00. And if you plan to have a cocktail or two plan on about $10.00 each. If you are a smoker as I am, buy them before you leave as a pack of smokes run about $6.00 ea. It is a very good idea to get to Honolulu a few days before you leave for Christmas Island just to get over any jet lag and to make sure you get to the airport on Sunday by 4:30AM. There is only one flight to Christmas Island a week and if you miss it their goes your trip. Additional expenses for the trip is a visa, $25.00, fishing licenses, $35.00, and airport tax of $10.00. While at the lodge the cost of soda, beer or mixed drinks is extra. Tips for the guide lodge staff and the boatman run approximately $200.00 total.
I traveled with Brian Maggio, a good friend of mine and fellow guide; we left on a Thursday the 30th of January from Bozeman Montana. We flew Horizon air to Seattle where we boarded a Northwest flight to Honolulu. Total flight time was approximately 8 hrs. Believe it or not we had no trouble with our baggage. It all arrived when we did. We picked up our rental car and headed to our hotel just off the beach at Waikiki. After a quick lunch we were off to the beach for some sun and girl watching. Both were fun and exciting. For the next two days we drove around the island and took in all the sights. Being country boys we were amazed to find out there are more people on Oahu than there is in Montana!
After three days of “ wow look at that” we left for the airport on Sunday morning at 4:30 AM. Our flight on Aloha airlines left Honolulu at 6am for a 3 hours flight to Christmas Island. Again our bags arrived with us. After a quick trip through customs we were met by representative of the Mini Hotel for the short drive to the lodge. Now I should explain about the accommodations on the island. Christmas Island is a third world country. The Mini Hotel was very neat and tidy but has only one bathroom and the showers are cold. The warm humid conditions made a cold shower a relief. There are no air condition rooms but they do have fans, which are more than enough to sleep by. Believe me, after a day on the flats, dinner and taking care of your gear, you are ready for bed by 8PM and you will sleep very soundly. The owners of the Mini Hotel, Eri and Agnes Reiti were the perfect hosts. In all my travels I have yet to meet a more hospitable people. Agnes preformed most of the cooking duties, breakfast and dinner and Eri did the major feed on our last night. That was some party, we had a local vocal group and all the staff were present, we danced and sang the night through. And here’s a first, we were presented with gifts, beautiful aloha shirts, made locally on the island. All in all I can’t say when I’ve been happier with the food, accommodations and staff. For more on the Mini Hotel, click here.
After unpacking and rigging our rods we were ready for fishing. After meeting our guide “Andrew” and the third member of our party Brian Sittlow, it was a short walk to the beach where we boarded our panga for a quick motor to the nearest flat. Andrew was with us for only five days. The last two days our guide “Bob” took over. As far as guides are concerned, some are better than others are. Andrew preformed his duties well enough but Bob was a real professional. I have fished for bones often enough to feel I do a fairly good job at spotting fish, but let me tell you for every bone I spotted the guide spotted six. Your catch rate will definitely go up if you listen to what the guide says.
A panga is best described as a 25’ long by 6’ wide canoe with an outrigger attached for stability. It has a covered area with benches for the anglers to sit for the ride out. There is an area front and back to cast from but it is very limited. Except for deep-water trolling, all fishing is done out of the panga, walking the flats. There are no flats boats on the island. The reason for using pangas is that the lodge can accommodate eight anglers and one panga will transport all eight anglers and drop them off two at a time with their guide on different flats. I believe there must be about a thousand miles of flats in the lagoon. As far as you can see there is nothing but flats and every one holds bones, Trevally and cuda.
Now as to what gear to have along, I brought eight rods of various weights. Two 12wt’s T&T, two10wt’sQuarrow’s, 9wt’s and 8wt’s. Both Sages. The reels were SA-2’s and Abel’s with extra WF lines for all. As for leaders the RIO 7.5ft 15lb-30lb “Toothy Critters” did an excellent job for the small Trevallys and cudas, anything 10lb or under, and the RIO 10ft 10lb bonefish leaders for all bonefish. I threw in a couple of spools of Maxima 10lb tippet material for good measure. The only time we fished with the 12wt’s was for deep water trolling. I understand some people might find the idea of trolling to be “not much fun”, I will say that trolling is the only way to reliably hook up a big fish without spending lots of time and gas trying to find fish. The12wt is the lightest rod you should use for trolling. I hooked up Trevally in the 10lb range and small tuna (only 15” and maybe 2lbs) that took my 12wt well into it’s backing. If you are fortunate to hook into any really big Trevally or tuna, it’s a battle of attrition. The question is who will give out first, you or your gear. The leaders for the 12wt’s were just 8ft of 40lb maxima with 2ft of 40lb wire with a small swival tied in between. It is important to have a swivel to keep the leader from getting all twisted up.
While fishing for the bones, all the rods worked well, but the one the knocked my socks off was the new Quarrow ML-2- 4pc 10wt. It is a new model developed by Quarrow for salt water. I found the quality equal or better to all the other manufactures. Stainless steel fittings with a dull finish and the sweetest tip of all the rods I used. Even with a good wind, a 40ft cast was effortless. When the bones were close, a roll cast put the fly right where you wanted it. The best part of the Quarrow rod is the price $250.00 with bag and case and a lifetime warranty. For those of you who have salt water equipment you know how expensive rods can be. To me the Quarrow is the best rod on the market. Quarrow will be coming out with a 12 wt in the spring and I know I will be getting one to replace my T&T. To check out their fresh and salt water rods go to www.Quarrow.com.
Now on to the flies. All of your standard salt-water flies like the Charlies, Gotcha’s, Poppers, Clousers and Deceivers worked well in almost all colors. The Charlies and Gotchas need to be tied sparse and in sizes 6-8-10. I will be working up the proven patterns for sale in the shop and over the net, if you don’t feel like tying your own. As for me the best two bonefish flies were the Red-hot Chile Pepper and the Banana peal in a size 8. For the Trevally cruising just off the flats a bright blue Clouser or Deceiver, size 2 did the trick.
Learning to fish new waters can make you crazy if you don’t have a lot of experience. In contrast, the flats on Christmas are generally straightforward. The bones were not leader shy by any means, but you had to get the fly within 4 feet of the fish and in the direction in which it was going. With the rod tip almost touching the water and a nice long strip followed by some short ones you will find the bone will charge the fly and eat with little effort. After the hook up just hold on as the runs are incredible. Even the small ones will go well into your backing. One thing to remember is to keep the bone on the flat as best as you can, because if it gets into the deeper blue water, he’s fish bait for the cudas and Trevallys. I had a small bone about 12”’ that went to close to the edge and a cuda came in and ripped it to shreds. To fish the flats you really need to have two rods rigged, one for bones and one for Trevally. For Trevally a wire leader is a must, and again nothing less than a 10wt with a hell of a drag. The best structure to look for when fishing for Trevally is coral heads just under the surface. This is where the baitfish hang out and are what the Trevally feed on. If you hook a big one the chances of loosing line and backing are very good. When I say big I mean ones over 15lbs. Most of the time you are fishing blind just off the flats for the Trevally, and you do have to strip your fly as fast as you can to induce a strike. When they hit you have to hold on for dear life.
As most bone fisherman knows, to successfully fish for bones you need lots of bright sunlight. This is true for Christmas Island also but you can still have great angling. When the clouds come over, find a drop off into deeper blue water and cast blind about 10 or so feet past the edge into the beeper blue. Do the bonefish strip and more often than not a bone will hit the fly. When not on the flats the bones cruse just off the edges of the flats. One other thing I noticed about the bones on Christmas is they don’t travel in schools. You see a lot of individuals and in pairs. While walking the flats we averaged 20 plus hook ups on bones a day, in my case that was without a guide spotting for me.
A word about things that bite: On the flats don’t stick your hands in any holes, there is a critter that lives there called a Manta Shrimp. And what a nasty critter it is. It has spikes on its limbs and tail. It can strike in any direction and will take a finger clean off. But they are damn good to eat. The other critter is the land crab. They are all over the island and aren’t any problem unless you step on them. Maybe it was the time of the year but I found few biting insects. I don’t think I was bitten once.
I would say this was one of the best trips I’ve been on in a long time. I had no serious problems. If you decide to go to Christmas Island make sure to bring spares of everything because once their, if you don’t have it or lose it you can’t replace it!
I am planing two more trips to Christmas Island this year. One this March or April and again in October or November. I have room for a maximum of six anglers for each trip. If you think you might be interested please send me e-mail or give me a call.
Visit Dean on the Web today at Hatchfinders.com
