This yearsf fishing adventure started back in August,
when one of my birthday presents from my wife was a folded piece of paper,
inside of a nicely wrapped plastic box to disguise its contents.
On the paper was the itinerary for a 1 week November fishing trip to Christmas
Island
My first thoughts were to try and figure out if I could get time off from
work since
that was supposed to be just after our project ship date.
For one reason or another we are always late so I figured getting time
off may be difficult.
Then therefs that issue of money since all Ifve ever seen of the fishing
trips there are the large dollar signs.
As it turned out my boss was agreeable to the date since that was during
Thanksgiving week and
he figured if we were not done by then it would be done shortly after my
return.
Also, my wife did some research on the internet and found some lower cost
accommodations.
She also managed to reserve a flight to Hawaii from San Francisco using
our frequent flyer miles
so that helped to make the costs more reasonable.
When I had time from my busy work schedule I was able to do some planning
for the trip.
One of the first places I checked was my own fly fishing club (San Jose
Flycasters) to see
what information I could get from people who had been there in the past.
Then there was my good fishing friend, Bill King, from Hawaii who has a
number of local (Hawaii) fishing connections.
Finally, there was the internet where, surprisingly, there is not a lot
of up to date information on Christmas Island.
From my fly fishing club I found out that it had been a long time since
anyone had been to Christmas Island
but they all would appreciate it if I could summarize my findings once
I was done.
I did manage to glean some helpful tips from several people with regards
to what to expect.
In addition, one of our members, Dick Nelson, graciously lent me his copy
of Randall Kaufmannfs
gBonefishing with a Flyh as well as some newspaper articles and checklists
that
he put together as part of a trip he made more than 10 years ago.
All of this made great reading at the airports and on my flightfs to Hawaii
(5 hours) and to Christmas Island (3 hours).
From my friend in Hawaii, it also seemed that none of his contacts at Hawaii
Fishing News (HFN)
had been to Christmas Island for quite some time.
Some speculation that because of the population increases there and netting
of
Bonefish that the fishing may not be as good as it used to be.
Also, some thoughts about the Trevally fishing suggesting it may be productive
with big resin lures.
From the internet I gathered most of the details I used for the trip.
Some of the helpful sites included the one associated with the hotel
I stayed at http://www.christmasislanddiversassociation.com/ as well as some articles on more recent
adventures there such as this ESPN article: http://espn.go.com/outdoors/fishing/s/f_fea_AA_Xmas_island_Becher.html.
There are also interesting articles on the history or Christmas Island
and local cultures that
I would be glad to share with anyone interested.
Based on the information I gathered from these various sources I found
out that
I would need to bring all the fishing gear for any of the fishing that
I wanted to do as there would be none available once I arrived.
I was mostly interested in fly fishing for Bonefish,
but also wanted to see if I could possible catch any Trevally on the fly
as well as spin fish for them with plugs.
In addition, the offshore fishing was supposed to be good so Ifd need
to bring trolling and other offshore gear
for that. How to do that and still be under my 70lb limit was going to
be a challenge.
At least the fly fishing gear was light but I decided I needed the most
options there with backups in case something broke.
I ended up bringing two 8wt and one 10 wt fly rods along with matching
reels and floating fly lines (with extras) for them.
Then, I had to decide on the fly selection. I brought all my Clousers,
Sea Habits, and whatever other large flies
I had tied over the years for various large saltwater fish.
In addition I tied up a bunch of Christmas Island Specials, mostly in Orange
(from the ESPN article above)
in various sizes 4/6/8 with various sizes of bead chain, lead eyes, and
blind.
Also tied up a number of Dick Nelsonfs Bonefish Killer flies in similar
varieties.
As it turns out I mostly used the size 6 Orange (Orange Krystal Flash,
orange 3/0 thread,
medium silver bead chain eyes, and orange or white calf tail) for almost
all of the Bonefish I caught.
As far as the other gear, I brought a medium spinning outfit (10 ft St
Croix GS100 with a Penn 3000) for plugging
for Trevally and various resin lures (Pili type) that Bill King had provided
me over the years as well as a few poppers
that Ifve found in the bargain bins.
For trolling I brought my 6ft trolling rod along with a Shimano TLD2-30
because of its light weight.
Finally in hopes that Ifd be able to cast some Tady/Salas jigs for tuna
I brought along a 7ft jig rod matched with a Shimano TLD20.
Along with that I settled on an assortment of jigs, zukers/tuna clone trolling
lures, and hooks/weights that I thought may be useful.
One of the choices I had to make along the way is where I was going to
stay.
My wife had found 2 places I could choose from. I tried contacting both
of them initially via e-mail and that worked reasonably well.
The first of these was Christmas Island Divers
(their URL was given above) and mostly corresponded with Robert Lower who
resides in Hawaii.
Also, some of the correspondence was answered by Mr Tekabaia who is the
owner of the hotel on Christmas Island.
The other location was Mini Hotel London whose proprietor is Eri Reiti.
I decided on Christmas Island Diversf package as it was much easier to
get a hold of them
and have my questions answered.
My wife thought that from what she read Mini Hotel London seemed to have
more experience with handling fishermen,
but like a good husband, I ignored here advice.
The period between August and November was crazy at work so
I really didnft get the time I had wanted to properly prepare for the
trip but at least it made the time fly by very quickly.
I did find out along the way that I needed a Visa and so I contacted the
Kiribati Consulate in Hawaii to get the details.
Essentially, they need to send you a form with the requested visa information,
and you send them a passport picture and a check for $25, and they send
you back a visa to stick into your passport.
I think if you are staying in Hawaii before the trip you can arrange same
day processing
but if you have time you might as well get that taken care of early.
I started my trip by flying to Oahu on Wednesday night,
November 16th to meet up with my wife and her parents who had already been there since
the prior Saturday.
On Thursday we left for Maui where we stayed until Sunday and I was basically
the chauffeur for the shopping
that my in-laws so dearly love.
At least it gave me time at night to read up on fishing and tie some more
flies that I hadnft had time to do before.
We came back to Oahu on Sunday and my wife and in-laws left on Monday.
Since my flight to Christmas Island wasnft until noon on Tuesday, I had
another day to spend getting ready.
So, I decided to go visit some of the local fishing stores that were within
walking distance of Waikiki.
I visited McCulley Cycle and was quite amazed with their selection of salt
water fishing gear.
Certainly puts a lot of the local California fishing stores to shame and
they arenft even a fishing only store.
Of course there was no fly-fishing gear there that I could find. Anyway,
I picked up a few more pieces of gear that I thought could come in handy.
I also walked all the way over to the only fly-fishing store I could find
which was a place called Nervous Waters.
Unfortunately, they were closed on Mondays (yes, I should have called
ahead).
That day I also had lunch with Robert Lower of Christmas Island Divers
and discussed
the upcoming fishing and all the things I should try and do while down
there.
Certainly all those possibilities made it difficult to sleep that night.
That evening I had dinner with Bill King and went over all the preparations
for the trip as
well as his latest fishing news from Bamboo Ridge.
That night I arranged things in my luggage
so that I could put whatever was allowed for me to hand carry into my nice
new
FishPond Gear Bag (an early Christmas present) and the rest in my luggage
so make sure I wasnft over my weight limit.
Tuesday finally arrived and I caught my Robertfs shuttle to the airport.
The driver was really interested in what was in that large PVC tube I loaded
onto her bus.
After telling her about my destination, she told me she had relatives in
Christmas Island that
she had never met but would like to go see.
She said her family was from Tuvalu and they had migrated to both Hawaii
and Kiribati.
She wished me good fishing and dropped me off at the airport at the Air
Pacific check-in which was in the main terminal.
Air Pacific, as of October, now runs a weekly flight from Oahu to Christmas
Island to
Nadi Fiji (and reverses that on the way back).
The check-in was a bit confusing because Air Pacific shares the same check-in
point with another larger airline
so I missed that, at first. I think between my luggage and my fishing rods
in PVC I was just under my limit.
I can tell you my FishPond Gear Bag was really heavy.
The flight to Christmas Island is a bit over 3 hours but it went by very
quickly.
All of the sudden the captain gets on the intercom to ask you to prepare
for arrival and he drops out of the sky onto an amazing island.
The first thing you notice is that the island seems to be one huge lagoon
with what looks like miles of flats for Bonefishing.
Upon arrival you have a typical interview with the immigration officials
who go over the form you should have filled out on the flight. Itfs your
typical,
how long are you staying, purpose of the trip, are you bringing in any
fresh fruit, etc.
type of form. Also, they check to make sure you have your visa.
After that therefs a form you fill out for your fishing license.
It asks what type of fishing you plan to be doing.
I think I remember there were 3 categories that ranged between catch and
release only to meat fishing.
There is nothing to pay for on arrival.
Once I picked up my luggage I got outside the terminal and was asked where
I was going by the people there.
When I told them, they looked a bit puzzled, and said they donft see anybody
from my hotel.
Then, I met Eri, the proprietor of the Mini Hotel London which was the
other hotel
I was looking at that happened to be right next to my hotel.
He was there to pick up a couple who was staying there that week and suggested
that I ride with him.
All of the sudden my wonderful trip was looking to become a fiasco.
Visions of very expensive cab rides Ifve had in Mexico ran through my
head
and I was wondering what else was going to happen.
The transport from the airport is done in pick-up trucks with a wood structure/roof
in the back as well as wood benches to sit on.
I shared the ride with a couple who were from Hokkaido, Japan, Taku-san
and Nagisa-san and told me
they were on their honeymoon.
I thought they were joking but after talking with them more, later in the
week, it turns out they really were.
Anyway, with the little Japanese that I do remember they were really excited
about being there and the sites along the way.
I was too busy worrying about what else would go wrong to enjoy it much.
The ride is about ? hour from the airport to the two hotels in the town
of London.
Eri dropped his guests off first and then kindly took me to my hotel where
he informed them of my arrival
and then went back to take care of his guests.
He did let me know that I needed to discuss the details of my stay with
them
and if there were any problems he has room at his hotel.
As it turned out the owner of my hotel was away on business (in Fiji) and
his wife was left behind to run things.
Her English wasnft very good but she knew the business so it wasnft too
difficult to communicate.
We discussed the pricing which turned out to be a lot less than the package
price
I had discussed via e-mail with Robert Lower so I was concerned that perhaps
there was something
she wasnft telling me about. She also wanted me to pay her directly in
US dollars which would be difficult since I had only brought enough money
for tips and souvenirs.
My other concern was that I was also going to be charged again by Robert.
Once I got the details of the costs, I decided to see if I could send an
e-mail to Robert to see if we could settle the problem.
There was supposed to be an internet connection at the hotel so I asked
about accessing the computer.
They showed it to me and after tracing the power connection and finding
the extension cord that plugged
into the outlet that plugged into another extension cord didnft go anywhere
I was
finally able to get things up and running. It was then that I found the
phone connected
to the computer didnft seem to allow dialing out.
So, I went to visit with Eri and see if he could help me figure out how
to get things settled.
He was very helpful and let me know the bank hours as well as the hours
of the telecom company where I could send e-mail from.
By then, I figured I might as well make the most of things and see if I
could put the mess behind me and get settled in.
When I got back, the proprietor of my hotel let me know that the fishing
arrangements
had been made and that there was one minor change in the costs because
their boat was busy on Friday
so Ifd have to pay extra for fishing that day with a different boat/driver.
According to the website there are 7 rooms at the hotel but I think I only
counted 5.
Each room is pretty basic with 2 beds, a closet, a desk, and a bathroom.
Therefs a fan but no air conditioner.
Fortunately, the weather is not too hot or humid so the fan is adequate
although you do have to get
used to sleeping with one blowing on you.
The pillows are somewhat musty so if that bothers you, Ifd recommend you
bring your own or using something else for a pillow.
The bathroom has a shower but only cold water so that takes a bit of getting
used to as well.
It does cool you off after a long day in the sun though.
Each night they also put a mosquito net around your bed but I never noticed
any bugs in my
room and think I was bitten maybe once while I was outside at night the
whole time I was there.
Meals at my hotel were pretty basic.
Cereal and toast for breakfast (at extra cost you can get a hot breakfast),
sandwiches,
usually potted meat of some sort, and sometimes a coconut to drink for
lunch, and a simple dinner.
Dinner usually consisted of a portion of meat (fish, pork, chicken, or
beef) seemed to be cooked
in a soy sauce base and served always with stir fried cabbage with onions,
a couple scoops of rice,
potatoes, and bread (lots of starch). Usually had an apple or orange for
dessert and that was about it.
If you are looking for similar accommodations with much better meals, I
would recommend the Mini Hotel London.
I saw pictures that Taku-san had taken of the meals and they looked to
be much more interesting and elaborate.
On one of the days I went fishing with them you could see that their lunch
box had certainly taken a whole lot of time to put together.
Sorry for the long introduction, as Ifm sure you are only interested in
the fishing.
Ifll give a quick summary of the types of fishing I tried and then follow
it up with details of each day.
I spent most of my time fly fishing for Bonefish, basically 4 of the 6
days of fishing were occupied this way.
One of the days I went offshore to troll for tuna and another day was a
combination of fly fishing
for Bonefish and spin fishing for Trevally Most of the fishing for Bonefish
takes place
in the huge lagoon which encompasses about most of the northern half of
the island.
My first day of fishing was November 24th, Thanksgiving Day.
I was told to be ready at 7:00 a.m. and breakfast would be ready at 6:30.
I was up at 6:00 so that I could get everything ready without having to
rush.
Breakfast was served promptly and I finished my toast with jam, coffee,
and WheatBix cereal which is an Australian version of Shredded Wheat with
the interesting label of Breakfast
of Champions (I wonder if Wheaties knows about this?).
My guide, Napono, showed up around 6:45 and we were introduced. We loaded
up my gear,
some fuel, and the lunch cooler on the pickup and took the 30 second drive
over to the boat launch.
I walked the rest of the days. When we got there, the boat wasnft there
so we waited about 15 minutes for it to show up.
Meanwhile the Taku-san and Nagisa-san couple showed up with their guide
although they had told me
the night before they would be leaving around 6:30 so I guess they got
up a bit late.
My boat finally showed up with the driver/boatman Pedro and I was on my
way to see if I still remembered how to
spot bonefish and, more importantly, cast to them. On the way to the fishing
spot,
Napono, looked through my fly box and chose the orange Christmas Island
specials with the medium
size bead chain eyes for my 8 wt. He picked out a green Deceiver for my
10 wt. in case there were any Trevally to cast to.
Our first stop, Motu Tabu, turned out to be my guidefs favorite place
as we fished this island 3 of the 4 times
I was in the lagoon. Itfs about a 15 minute ride from the boat launch
and is a medium size sand island with trees and lots of birds.
The boat was beached right in front of the Motu Tabu sign and we walked
about 100 yards to the right to get to
an area divided by a sand bar that goes about 50 yards out into the lagoon.
As we came up to the sand bar Napono pointed out some bonefish working
the shoreline
and to my surprise I saw them right away. Seeing is one thing, catching
is often quite another.
I donft remember if I caught one of the first ones,
but I did manage to catch one fairly soon after that, nothing too big,
but with bonefish each one is worthwhile.
Anyway we fished the sand bar crossing from side to side to the end and
then back again.
I probably caught about 15 in the span of a couple hours.
Most of them small, but at least 3 of them big enough to take me into my
backing.
You tend to catch a lot more small fish because they are more eager to
take the fly and whenever there is a group of fish together,
they are first ones to hit.
I also caught a couple of small Trevally in this area.
The biggest one which was probably about 5 lbs must have had something
wrong with it as
it jumped on my bonefish fly but then just sat there and did nothing. I
dragged it in and let it go.
All other Trevally that I caught fly fishing put up a much bigger fight
and were half the size if not smaller.
After Motu Tabu we headed off to another flat that I donft remember the
name of but it was close by.
This one had a small sand island in the middle of it which I remember quite
well.
We waded up to it without much fish sighted and as we came over it far
enough to see the water on the other side,
we both saw a good size bonefish actively working the shore. My first cast
was too short and didnft make it to the water.
My next cast was into the water and close enough to shore that I didnft
spook him. I then stripped
the fly slowly and the bonefish followed it right up on shore with his
body mostly out of the water.
At the last minute he grabbed it, I set the hook, and he took off as fast
as he could.
One good run into the backing and I brought him close, only to have him
take off to the backing again.
This time I got him in all the way and finally remembered that I needed
to take a picture.
After fishing that flat, we ate lunch and rested a bit as it was well after
lunch time.
The weather had changed from bright sun and wind to cloudy and windy which
made fishing more difficult.
We fished one other nameless flat before calling it a day. My total for
the day was about 20 bonefish,
of which 5 were decent sized. Also managed a few small trevally as well.
Decided to all it a day before it was too late as I was thinking that maybe
I could get back and send out some e-mail from the Telecom office to see
if I could straighten out the payment issue.
Unfortunately, after the boat ride back and then getting back to the hotel
to get my wallet since I forgot to bring it with me,
I missed the opportunity. Oh well, therefs always tomorrow.
The next day, Friday, we started out about the same time and as I was told,
there was a different driver and boat.
I forget the name of the boatman but I was told by Napono that he is normally
a guide for the Captain Cook hotel
but since he was available was doing the driving that day.
I found his English to be better than my guidefs as well as most of the
people I had met at the island
except for Eri of the Mini Hotel. That morning it was cloudy and windy
and it stayed that way all day.
We went to a flat on the opposite side of Motu Tabu from the flat we went
the prior day and tried that out.
The fishing was pretty slow, because the clouds made it difficult to spot
the fish unless you were right up on them.
Still I managed to get one now and then to keep things interesting. We
then headed off to Motu Tabu, again,
where the conditions were quite different from the day before.
The tide was up and the sand bar we fished the day before was much more
difficult to fish
until we got into the shallow water near the shore and caught a couple
more small ones. We had lunch early that day
and then headed off to another medium sized island with a large flat all
around it, Motu Upua.
The conditions were still tough but once in awhile you would get a few
seconds of sunshine and spot a bonefish.
It was one such break where I saw one in a small channel about six inches
deep that looked more like
he was headed somewhere and not interested in stopping for food. I made
a quick cast in front of him, started stripping,
an voila, fish on. In such skinny water, this fish took off like a rocket
and was two runs into the backing before I landed him.
We waded for awhile without much action and I was dragging my fly in the
water as I usually do,
waiting for a chance to see a fish. All of the sudden, I see a fish out
of the corner of my left eye,
and before I knew it, my line starts shooting out of the guides for a nice
long run.
I get the fish back in closer and Napono says itfs a trevally. Sure enough,
once I got him in, I see it is a nice 2 lb. Blue Trevally.
So much for precision casting to catch one of these fish.
Awhile later, we got some sunshine and managed to start seeing single fish
coming to us.
I was able to see and catch most of them. It seemed they too were on there
way somewhere but wouldnft
miss the opportunity for a quick snack. As we waded towards the island,
I figured out where these fish were coming from,
as there was a beautiful blue hole in the flat with nice deep water to
keep the fish sheltered.
We parked in front of the blue hole and picked off quite a few fish as
they made their way out of the blue hole to other parts
of the flats. Although I had to leave early to make sure I got back in
time to take care of my e-mails,
I still managed to have another day of about 20 fish with about 5 that
were decent size.
Pretty much everything caught on the orange Christmas Island Special. Also
managed a few small trevally that day as well.
The boat driver told us that while we were away, he was inspected by the
local fishing warden
so thatfs why my gear was a bit askew when I came back. As part of the
confusion of my arrival, I guess the paperwork had not been processed and
so when the driver told him what hotel I was from, they didnft have a
record of it, and didnft believe him.
I guess after they were done inspecting things and couldnft find anything,
they decided to believe him and not haul the boat back to port without
us.
We managed to get back in time (before 4:00 pm) so that I could send some
e-mail home to
ask if my wife could get a hold of Robert Lower to figure out what went
wrong and make sure he knows
that Ifm paying the hotel directly.
My wife was home at the time I sent the e-mail and so we did manage to
exchange a
few e-mails about the fishing, food, and how best to get the cash I would
need to pay my bill.
Made it back to the hotel to clean up my gear and discuss the plans with
Napono for the next dayfs
fishing. We decided on trying for some tuna offshore and he said we need
to leave around 6:00.
He suggested that we could also spend the afternoon casting for trevally
on the reefs that are right off the shore.
Told him that was fine and asked him to make sure the hotel knows we are
leaving early so that they can get things ready.
I also invited the Japanese couple to come out since there seemed to be
plenty of room in the boat we were
using (essentially a 20f boat with no console or other obstruction inside).
Saturday morning I was up around 5:00 since I had a lot more gear to bring,
trolling, jigging, spinning,
etc. I didnft notice anybody from the hotel staff out at that time so
I figured something was wrong as they are always very punctual.
I pretty much knew where everything was so I got my cereal and coffee and
I guess they heard me rummaging about.
The proprietress asked me when I was leaving for fishing. Apparently Napono
had not let her know as I had asked him to.
So, she scurried off to prepare lunch and get other things in place. Napono
told me later that he had told somebody,
I guess Pedro our boat driver, but Pedro forgot to tell anyone else.
Anyway, by the time we got everything ready to go and were in the boat
it was getting close to 6:30.
I donft think it mattered much, other than I could have had a bit more
sleep.
We made our way out the mouth of the lagoon and down the western side of
the island.
We started trolling as soon as we left the mouth but nothing happened until
we started to spot some
birds working the surface and trolled by them. At that point both the rods
we were trolling were hit.
Once we got them to the boat we saw that they were Skipjacks of about 5
lbs or so.
We trolled for the next few hours with pretty much the same type of action.
After getting a dozen or so
Skipjacks in the boat trolling the tuna clones we decided to try some other
tactics like trying to cast swim baits or surface
lures using our spinning rods when we could get close enough to the schools.
Most of the time
the school would take off before we could get a chance,
but every once in awhile we were able to cast to them and managed to pick
off a couple now and again.
One time I was reeling in my trolling line because the other one was hit
and the school came close
so I handed off the trolling line to Napono.
I cast to the school and managed to hook up and land one. Meanwhile Napono
reeled my line in and said looks like I lost my lure.
I guess as I handed off the rod, the lure started dropping and a Wahoo
came by and sliced the line.
We did loose a couple more lures to the Wahoo as I was not using wire leader.
Taku-san did catch a 40+ inch 20+ lb Wahoo on one of the trolling runs
around the school.
As the sun got higher in the sky, the ocean seemed to come to life. Napono
told us that typically
in the morning you catch the Skipjack and then around noon you start catching
the Yellowfin tuna. Sure enough,
I had probably the largest fish of the day on as it was heating up, but
just as I got it to the boat, before
I could see the fish, it came off. A bit later I caught another smaller
Yellowfin of about 15 lbs. During this time the flocks
of birds were getting bigger, more baitfish and tuna were boiling, dolphin
were jumping, and besides us there were 2 other local commercial fishermen,
fishing the schools.
It was quite an adrenalin rush.
It was getting around lunch time so we decided to head inshore where everyone
could rest a bit and eat in the calmer water.
After lunch we started working the inshore reefs for Trevally.
We used a couple of the resin lures that Bill King had given me as well
as surface poppers.
It was pretty tiring casting those heavy lures and trying to reel them
in as fast as we could.
To top that off, the Frigate birds would not leave them alone and you had
to reel twice as fast to keep them away.
When we started to tire out, the Frigates managed to hit both of the lures
and get hooked.
After we got them to the boat and freed them, they seemed to have learned
their lesson and stayed away.
With all that casting Taku-san did manage to hook one large trevally but
it came off soon after because
the hook wasnft tightened down enough. I had several good sized trevally
chasing my lure but I never managed to hook one.
I did catch a small Blue Trevally and a large number of what Napono called
Queenfish (looks similar to Scomberoides
lysan).
Most of the Queenfish were hooked in the back as they would swim up to
the lure very quickly and get themselves hooked.
I think we headed in about 3:00 pm as everyone was pretty tired from casting
and reeling and we were getting low on fuel
because of having to chase the tuna schools around all morning.
The next day, Sunday, I arranged with Napono to go Bonefishing in the lagoon
again so we could take
it easy after the prior dayfs workout.
It was the usual routine of leaving at 7:00 a.m. and walking over to the
boat.
This was the first morning I noticed the customers from the Captain Cook
hotel getting on their boats to go fishing.
They have about a 20 minute truck ride to get from their hotel to the launch
site.
Certainly seems to be more convenient to be a few minutes walk away.
They also go out as a group and are let off in pairs on various flats.
I know one day we were hurrying to get to one flat but they beat us there
and so while they were offloading one
of the pairs of fishermen we headed to another flat in the vicinity before
they could get there.
This was another cloudy day and the fishing proved to be very difficult.
We started the morning at Motu Arena (at least thatfs what it sounded
like) which is a large flat in front of a very low island.
We waded for quite some time before seeing any fish. Unfortunately, this
was the day I thought
Ifd try and experiment with different flies to see what would work and
what would not.
The few fish that we did see werenft interested in the flies I had, so
we switched back the one that we knew worked.
So, unfortunately, I donft have a good report for Dick Nelsonfs Bonefish
Killer.
A short while after switching over we came across a nice sized bonefish
that was headed our way.
I cast to him when he was about 30 feet away and then started stripping.
He started to follow
but wouldnft hit the fly. I kept stripping, and he kept following. As
he got closer I started crouching so I wouldnft spook him.
More strips and still he wouldnft hit. Finally, just before my leader
was into the guides he took it
and headed out of there as fast as he could.
This was the biggest fish of my trip and definitely went the furthest into
my backing. I got him close after that and he took off again.
Another trip close by and he took off on his third and last run.
Finally got him in and measured him at about 23 inches and I estimate about
6 lbs.
We fished the flat for awhile longer, wading to the end and catching another
fish now and again. By then it was already time for lunch.
After lunch we headed off to a couple of small flats that didnft have
much action and then off to Motu Upua again.
This time the tide was much higher and the fish seemed to be elsewhere.
I was hoping to make it to the blue hole again and we did, but the conditions
were much different
and there were only a couple of fish around.
By the end of the day, I had 7 bonefish most of which were good sized as
those were the only ones we spotted that day.
I think maybe I caught one or two trevally that day as well.
On the way in we discussed the fishing for the next day.
I thought I understood that we would go offshore on Monday and fish the
south part of the island, Korean Wreck,
on Tuesday, my last day. I told Napono I had to be back early or leave
late on one of those days since
I had to make it to the bank to get money to pay my bill.
I wasnft sure how we were going to do that with the proposed schedule
but I knew he was interested
in getting paid so we would work something out.
He wanted to get started at 5:30 a.m. on Monday so I figured that was so
we could get back early from offshore fishing.
That night I prepared all my offshore gear so I wouldnft forget something.
In the morning the hotel staff
was up and about early to get me breakfast and Napono showed up promptly,
as usual. He looked over my gear and asked what I was bringing the heavy
gear for.
I mentioned that he said we were fishing offshore. He said we were fishing
the south part of the island
which means we walk off of the shore (offshore) onto the reef as opposed
to taking a boat to the flats.
Let him know what offshore means to me and then put away the heavy gear
and got the fly gear instead.
He suggested I keep the spinning outfit and poppers/plugs as the reef holds
a lot of trevally that I can cast to.
After that minor hiccup we got in the truck and headed for Korean Wreck.
I got to sit up front in the nicely padded seats and Napono sat in the
back of the pick-up, while Pedro did the driving.
I was really glad too because my buns were still sore from the day we were
out tuna fishing and it
sure would have been uncomfortable sitting on a wooden bench for 1 ? hours over bumpy roads.
The terrain of the rest of the island is a lot of scrub grass fields with
clumps of bushes along the road.
The first part of the trip was on a 2 lane paved road, followed by a 1
lane paved 1 lane gravel,
and then finally a 1 lane gravel road for the rest of the trip. At long
last we made it to our destination.
The truck parked and we got out to see a beautiful beach bordered by a
nice reef, perhaps 50 yards
wide and as long as the eye could see.
The remains of the Korean Wreck were about 20 yards off shore which was
a lot closer than I thought they would be.
We started wading close to the wreck and worked our way North with the
wind at our backs.
Napono spotted some tailing bonefish right away but I didnft see them.
He said not to bother as they were too close to the wreck and would likely
get cut-off anyway.
So we waded on. Again, the conditions were pretty tough since it was an
on/off mix of cloudy and sunny.
Also, the reef is much darker than the sand flats and it made it extra
difficult to see.
Most of the fish that we did see were only about 5 to 10 feet away by the
time we saw them and any
movement of the rod at that point sent them scurrying away.
Talk about frustrating. Several times we would see one far enough away
to cast to and as I did so,
the ones that we didnft see were spooked and they made everyone swim
away.
The few fish that I did catch, although not as big as some of the fish
I had caught in the lagoon, were really strong.
Napono told me that is because they live next to the ocean and they have
to be stronger swimmers than those on the flats.
As we were wading and concentrating on spotting bonefish, there were 3
times that a very large trevally
came barreling through the reef like a freight train heading to the deep
water.
It was amazing to see such a large fish in such shallow water moving so
quickly despite having its body half out of the water.
One of those times Napono spotted one heading for us and handed me my spinning
rod with a popper on it and told me to cast.
I tried to but the line was tangled around the tip and by the time I got
it off the trevally was right next to us, saw us, and bolted off.
As we were wading the reef and conditions for sighting werenft getting
any better I was just making short casts to keep
a my line out ready to go in case I had to cast to a fish quickly.
On one of those casts something picked up my fly and took off.
This time it turned out to be a bonefish so I guess he must have hit it
on the top or in mid water since I didnft let those casts hit bottom.
When the water started getting deeper and the wading on the reef difficult
we made our way to shore
and basically looked for fish cruising a narrow strip of sand between the
reef and the shore.
Seems these fish had no interest in feeding as no matter how good (and
there were few of those) my casts and strips were,
they would either ignore it or get spooked and dash away.
About the time I was getting bored with that Napono spotted a couple of
Trevally cruising the deeper reef water and handed me my spinning rod.
I happened to be on the wrong side of Napono to cast easily with my left
hand
so I tried a side-armed cast that fell miserably short of the target. Of
course, I wasnft thinking as
I could have taken a second to walk on the other side of him and make a
decent cast.
When I finally realized what I needed to do, the Trevally were on there
way out of there.
I made one last cast to try and see if they would turn around and there
happened to be a 5 foot shark trailing
them (or vice versa) and he went after my popper but lost interest quickly
and he took off as well.
After that, I made a number of casts in the area with the popper and caught
several smaller
Blue Trevally along with a nice, perhaps 10lb, White Trevally.
I think if somebody spent the day casting the reef they would certainly
have several chances
at some really big fish and probably catch enough small ones to keep things
pretty interesting.
Fishing the rest of the day was pretty slow.
We would walk the shore for awhile, get in the truck and go north a ways
and then work another stretch of beach.
Most of these stretches had fairly deep water on the reef so we were limited
to looking for bonefish in the small stretch
of sand between the reef and the shore.
One fish we spotted decided he wanted to work his way up the beach so we
followed him and tried to
cast to him every time he would stop and work his way almost out of the
water chasing something to eat.
Usually, by the time I got my line out to him or out of the seaweed that
was on the beach he would take off again.
This process went on for about 20 minutes (yes, fishing was that slow)
until he finally decided to swim towards us.
I cast several casts but he ignored my fly and when he got right next to
us, he saw my cast, and took off.
After lunch, we drove a ways up the road and ended up at the south end
of the main lagoon which looked
exactly what you would think of for an island paradise.
I thought we were too far south in the lagoon to have any fishing but Napono
told me to grab my fly rod
after I was done taking pictures.
I had a chance to cast to a couple of bonefish but they were extremely
spooky in this part
of the lagoon and every cast resulted in a fish dashing off and not to
be seen again.
We called it a day after that and headed home which turned out to be an
interesting journey.
The center of the island is composed of numerous medium and large sized
ponds.
There doesnft seem to be a specific road to get across either. Basically
Pedro would drive down
one shore of the pond, cut across on a dirt trail, get to another pond
and yell back to Napono to ask which way to go.
This went on for quite some time until there was a lot more land than ponds
and a well defined trail.
Certainly glad that we didnft try to do this after dark. I think my total
for this day was about 5 bonefish
and 3 blue trevally on the fly rod as well as 4 trevally on the spinning
rod.
For the last day, we decided to fish the lagoon because I either had to
go to the bank when it opened
at 9:00 or be back before it closed at 3:00.
Decided that it may be better to make sure everything is ok in the morning
and perhaps also be able to
stay out later fishing. Got to the bank and asked to do a cash advance
on my credit card.
They didnft blink an eye, just went and calculated the conversion rate
from Australian dollars,
and then started the transaction.
Asked for my passport, which is typical, but something I forgot about so
had to walk back to the hotel and retrieve it.
Once I got back to the bank they asked if I could come back at 11:00 because
they have to call back to
Australia to authorize the transaction.
Told them I had to go fishing (I do have some priorities right) so asked
about coming back later assuming
that would have to be around 3:00 when they close.
To my surprise they told me I could come back before 5:00 as they close
the door at 3:00 but they
are still there working for a couple more hours.
They also asked to keep my passport which I first agreed to but then decided
that probably wasnft a great idea and asked them to make a photocopy so
I wouldnft have to worry about getting it back.
Shortly afterwards I was back out fishing again.
It was another cloudy day and so the fishing was pretty difficult. ]
Earlier in the week, Napono had mentioned that I could buy a couple of
Christmas Island flies so I asked him to get me a couple.
I was just going to keep them as souvenirs but Napono wanted me to use
them as I guess that must be his favorite.
The fly is pretty simple, body length white craft-fur tail, pink thread
body, silver or gold dazzle eyes, off-white craft-fur
beard that reaches to the end of the tail, and a few strands of gold krystal
flash on a size 4 or 6 hook.
We fished several new flats that day and picked up a bonefish now and again.
As usual, since these were just single fish,
they tended to be larger so they were worth waiting for. Partly because
the fishing was slow and partly
because I wasnft sure if the bank workers really would stick around as
late as they said, I decided to call it day around 3:00.
When we got back, I dropped off my gear at
the hotel, got to the bank, and received my money without problem.
Took care of business when I got back and the proprietress seemed to be
quite pleased that the bill was finally taken care of.
She also told me that somebody from the fishing ministry had come by and
had to collect money for my fishing license
so I needed to pay her for that ($30 Australian).
The license makes a good souvenir with its official stamp and, even better,
it lists my profession as gFly Fishingh. Ifm sure my boss would like
to hear that!
On the back of the license are the fishing regulations. Certainly wish
Californiafs fishing regulations were that simple.
I was going to distribute tips at that time but nobody was around so I
hoped I would see them later.
That night I was going to eat dinner with the Japanese couple at the islandfs
only restaurant, Kristinafs, around 7:00.
So, I had some time before dinner to do a bit of sightseeing. I walked around the town of London to see the houses
and businesses that are there.
Most of the houses are simple brick structures painted in either white
or blue with tin roofs.
I saw lots of kids, all with very big smiles and all more than willing
to pose for a few pictures.
I noticed most of the coconut trees had plastic bottles hanging from them.
I found out that the locals tap the trees for syrup much like what is done
for collecting maple syrup.
Most families seemed to have pigs and a few had chickens as well. The islandfs
library had a sign in front of it,
signifying it to be the first library to open to the new millennium.
I would definitely recommend that all visitors spend a couple hours touring
the town sometime during their stay.
I joined up the Taku-san and Nagisa-san when they came to my hotel to look
for me and we
walked over to Kristinafs. They had spent the afternoon sight-seeing and
had gone over to the
Captain Cook hotel as they heard it had good souvenirs.
They were disappointed to find it only had a small store selling snacks
for the visiting fisherman.
Kristinafs is a pretty simple place, a couple rows of tables, a large
screen TV, and the kitchen.
I was introduced to the proprietor by Taku-san since he had eaten there
2 nights before.
I promptly forgot his name. That night we spent a long time talking about
fishing, of course.
He was quite a wealth of information and his English is perfect (both speaking
and understanding).
One of the subjects we discussed was trevally fishing. He said the locals
usually fish at sunset
by the Japanese radar facility, Nasda, which is between London and the
airport.
Told us the half hour around sunset is the time of day when the flying
fish come into the reef to lay
their eggs and the trevally are taking advantage of it.
Mostly they use locally made poppers which consist of a length of PVC tube,
cut diagonally on each end,
wire run through the body to connect to the line, and a weight and a single
hook at the back
(said they donft like 2 hooks as it is too dangerous when they try and
take the fish off the hook),
painted either half blue or not but always with a red spot around the head.
He told me that people
from Hawaii used to come a lot for the trevally fishing but he doesnft
see them anymore.
Said that the locals didnft like to guide for them as they hardly ever
paid tips although they typically left their poppers
and plugs behind for them to use.
Also, the Hawaiianfs would always bring back lots of fish.
Bill King and I speculated that the combination of baggage limits as well
as catch limits (50lbs of whole fish, 20lbs of fillets)
probably had a lot to do with the reduced visits.
We also talked about the international commercial fishing that goes on
around the island.
He wasnft terribly happy with the current regulations which allow any
nation unlimited fishing
in the offshore waters for a minimal license fee.
Despite the minimal fee, they do find countries that fish the waters without
paying any fee but they have
difficulty policing the waters being such a small nation.
One alternative they are considering is an offer from Singapore, who would
split the proceeds
of the fish sales and police the waters in exchange for exclusive access
to the waters.
He mentioned that of all the nations that currently fish the waters he
thinks the Japanese are the least wasteful of the resource.
Their techniques target specific species and whatever they catch they keep.
Told us that a Korean mother ship and trawlers are currently in port and
that they are fairly wasteful.
They are mostly catching tuna and any fish that is damaged in any way is
just thrown away.
One good thing though is that they give the locals a chance to come and
pick up the damaged
fish before they throw them overboard to make room for the non-damaged
fish.
Said that they had picked up some very large Yellowfin tuna with only minor
damage to the head to split among the villagers.
Finally, mentioned that the Spanish are the most wasteful as they use nets
with very fine mesh which catch everything and then throw away tons of
fish they donft want.
One other subject we discussed was the bonefishing. Brought up that the
locals
do like to eat bonefish and the fisheries is looking at limiting their
catch to no more
than 10 fish per day as they want to make sure the fishing quality stays
as good as it currently is.
He also brought up something that I heard other say as well is that a few
days after the full moon,
the big fish come into the lagoon to spawn and thatfs when you have a
chance for big fish that normally are in deep water.
As far as the lodging goes, there are a couple of other places to stay
and fish on
Christmas Island. Big Eddiefs is still available but he doesnft seem
to get very many visitors these days.
The staff at Kristinafs thinks it is mostly because he no longer works
with the guy he used to
in the US for booking and doesnft do any other advertising. Also discussed
a place I had not heard of called Sharks Galley,
supposedly as big as Captain Cookfs, but I canft seem to find any information
about it.
The proprietor of Kristinafs is also planning to add a few rooms to his
place so he can host some fishermen.
I suggested that he be sure to get a website so that people know he exists
and how to contact him.
Besides all the talk about fishing we also had dinner. Each of us had a
lobster with a plate of rice with,
I think, lobster meat, cabbage with onions, and one other item that I canft
remember.
In addition the restaurant added, for free, a couple of the largest mantis
shrimp I have ever seen.
The lobster was just boiled with no sauce so it wasnft the best lobster
Ifve ever had, but the mantis shrimp,
although boiled as well, was very sweet and tender and was served with
a nice papaya garnish.
About half way through her lobster Nagisa-san looked like she was going
to explode
but she gallantly continued to work on the lobster until it was all gone
and then really had trouble trying to stay
awake through all these discussions.
I think the total for this feast was about $50, which Taku-san and Nagisa-san
graciously paid for as thanks
for me taking them out tuna fishing a few days before.
The next morning was departure day.
Although the flight back to Hawaii leaves at 7:30 and there are less than
20 people to process,
the airport wants everybody there by 5:30 at the latest. My hotel told
me that getting there by 7:00
should be fine, but good thing I checked with Eri at Mini-Hotel who told
me the real schedule.
He said he got in big trouble a couple weeks ago when his group of 10 showed
up around 6:30.
He was told that if he ever does that again they will not process his guests
and they will have to stay another week.
Anyway, it takes about ? hour to get to the airport from my hotel so I
figured Ifd be safe to leave at 5:00.
As usual, the hotel staff was up and getting everything prepared on time.
I had everything packed and ready to go the night before so I slept in
as late as possible as it was going to be a very long day.
Had a leisurely breakfast about 4:30 and conveniently the waitress was
there so I could give
her a tip. Also, to my surprise, pretty much everybody came along in the
truck to see me off at the airport,
including Napono, the proprietress of the hotel, the waitress, Pedro drove,
and a couple of his children were also in the back.
That made it convenient to tip everyone as well so everything worked out
in the end.
I checked in at the airport without incident and had no issue with my luggage
being overweight either.
There is a departure tax of $20 Australian which I was getting ready to
pay,
but Napono handed me a card that showed my tax was already paid.
Not sure who took care of that, but it was nice of them.
Then went out to say goodbye to everyone but only Pedro and Napono were
around.
After that it was an hour and a half wait in the departure lounge swapping
fishing stories
with the group that was staying at the Captain Cook hotel.
Everybody seemed pleased with their trip and I think their biggest discussion
was about the big trevally that one
in their group had caught on a fly in the lagoon.
This group was from a fly shop in Calgary Canada and have been making this
trip for about 10 years now.
The flight back to Hawaii was over quickly and my luggage showed up without
delay.
The Japanese couple was going to stay the night in Honolulu
so I suggested they review some of the tourist magazines to find a hotel
and also check with the tourist information center.
We exchanged phone numbers, e-mail addresses, and said our good byefs.
I was hoping to be able to check in my luggage early since my flight wasnft
for another 12 hours and luckily
I was able to do so and didnft have to drag it around with me all day.
Once that was taken care of,
I contacted Bill King to arrange my debriefing and while waiting for him
to show up checked in back home.
Bill picked me up at the airport and we went to eat lunch and as the Hawaiianfs
say gtalk storyh.
He certainly grilled me for all the details and took some notes so I have
to make sure
my lies are consistent between his notes and my story above. Hopefully,
I didnft make him feel too bad for passing up the opportunity to come
with me.
We spent the some of the rest of the day at his apartment and on a tour
of the southeast part of Oahu.
At his apartment he showed me a lot of the gear they use for trevally fishing.
There is an incredible array of very serious hardware used in pursuit of
these fish.
On the tour, I got to see the University of Hawaii campus where he works,
and found out the name of every building and where each department is.
Ifm sure Ifd still be completely lost if he dropped me off there again.
We also stopped over at his favorite
Oahu fishing hole, Bamboo Ridge which is close to the Blow Hole. After
you see this place
you can understand why that big tackle is needed.
Was a pleasant drive with interesting background information about
the various neighborhoods along the way. We visited the Pali lookout and
then made our way back to Honolulu again.
Had dinner at one of Billfs favorite Chinese restaurants where hefs always
trying to find
out how they compare to the Bay Area onefs. So far I think I like the
ones in California better. After dinner,
Bill dropped me off at the airport in plenty of time to catch my midnight
flight.
Since it was a long day, and a long week, I had no trouble sleeping on
the red-eye flight back home.
Made my way home, got a shower and breakfast and then back to work to try
and catch up with almost 2 weeks of e-mail and events.
Despite the issue with the arrangements, I would say this was one of my
best fishing vacations
and I would love the chance to do it again.
The next time Ifll deal directly with the hotel, if possible, so that
they will know
Ifm coming. I think that I would definitely try a bit more fishing for
the trevally,
especially at sunset, and the south part of the island. It seems that the
locals are amenable to
any schedule that you desire and my experience with Napono and Pedro was
excellent with them always
being punctual, hard working, and helpful without any complaints.
If I can be of any help to somebody planning a trip to Christmas Island,
please donft hesitate to contact me for any details.
My e-mail address is xmasisland@interspace-design.com.