Kiritimati TR - February 2013

[mushmouth]

I've wanted to fish an "exotic" location for a few years, for better or worse drawn by the idea of big fish in shallow water. An opportunity to fish Kiritimati came along so i took it.

Kiritimati is Christmas Island, an island in the expansive Pacific nation of Kiribati. In the nation's native Gilbertese, the "ti" is pronounced as an "s", so really it's a wash...different spelling, same deal...Christmas. In case you've seen, but not recognized it for what it is, this is the nation of Kiribati's (pronounced "Kiribaas") flag.

Walking by the U.N. every morning has made the meaning of a nation's flag resonate, and this one really does justice to this island nation's core.

Following are screenshots from a fair amount of video taken on the trip. The biggest thing I learned is something I suspected all along...the inshore saltwater fishing here in the Northeast is as good as anywhere in the world, or better.

That said, my primary target in signing up for this trip were GTs in shallow water. I learned en route that this game out there has changed in the last several years. Turns out that two of the three camps on the island actively chum the GTs on certain flats on a daily basis, greatly reducing their prevalence, and willingness to eat while free swimming other random flats. Chances are if you see a big, fly caught GT from the island in the last couple years, more frequently than not it was chummed in on chunks, and possibly even caught with a chunk of milkfish on the fly.

Our group was not there to catch trained fish, so I did not have that preconceived (to me) idyllic experience. What I did learn about, and come to be infatuated with, were Triggerfish. Wandering alone on one coral flat the afternoon of my first day I chased a dark fish tail, and later learned about this spooky, strong, difficult to feed species. To me, they are worth travelling the world to catch. Bonefish...meh...but triggers...they are interesting. More on that later.

The terra firma of the island is not pretty, it's crust and scrub, most structures are cinder block and metal. this is our lavish camp.


Better to not to get sick in the first place...


There is dancing...shake it Mr. Handsome.


this is about the extent of "retail" on the island. That Spam has not been in the sun all day long, but the tampons might have.


but who cares, the kids seemed happy




young men were catching sweetlips by hand



and the beauty and expanse of the flats are absolutely amazing


At times it feels like a moonscape, if moons were milky white and blue. It's almost hard to appreciate while out you're there because there is no contrast, at least in the outer portion of the "lagoon".





I put lagoon in quotes because the interior waters of the island are vast, not what you expect when you hear the word. Heading out the first morning I thought we were going out to the ocean because I couldn't see the other side of the lagoon on the horizon.

As for the fishing, you can catch small to mid-size bonefish all day...as many as you could ever want. There are big bones around, but I did not see any. One member of our party landed a 34+ inch fish the week after we left, and after seeing the fish they've caught around the world, I believe he caught a special fish. This is about as good as I did.



Triggerfish. I saw a video in the F3T calling them "Mayan tarpon", or something like that. I don't think that's accurate. They aren't migratory, they eat in a vertical position because god made them weird causing a classic "tailing" position, they're very finicky, they pull much harder than their size would have you believe, they drastically change colors, and they seem to have unique personalities. A better reference for Caribbean fish would be to call these Xmas Island permit.

I would not travel two days and thousands of miles for a bonefish again, but I would do it for these fish. They are a blast to hunt, a pain in the ass to hook, tricky to land, and beautiful.

This is what you see in the distance


After two days of stalking, plenty of opportunities, slicing up a finger on some coral, then having a big, BIG trigger follow to within 15 feet after stalking for an honest 30min, only to turn and bolt...this is how they make you feel.


There are two target trigger species on Xmas, though the species in general has yet to be thought of as a target when compared to bones and GTs...but I sense that will change. Once hooked, they run hard and fast for their home in a coral head, and if they make it it's game over, unless you trust sticking your hand into a dark hole in the middle of nowhere...don't forget the hospital photo above.

There is a pink species, and another with a dark mustache that changes color from dark orange/brown to more bland colors...but never loses the mustache. The pinks tend to be less finicky, but they're all tricky as their teeth easily cut your leader. It took 2.5 days, but I finally landed one.


Another PITA thing I learned is these fish tend to have small friends. You can land a perfect cast within two feet of the fish (with a constant 20mph "breeze" whipping your line), pull without spooking, and hook some invisible species which freaks all the fish out.

I learned this was a valuable aquarium fish, and unusual fly catch that got me 2/3 the way to the coveted (to me) "trigger slam"...the Picasso trigger


Of course it's not a slam until you land the tough one...the Mustache. I gave up on catching him, resigned to look for GT, until a special guide named Moano said in his soft way, "where there is a will, there is a way."


Side note, Moano literally drew the map of Christmas Island flats, by hand. On the island he is an elder, to a small group of fisherman, he is a legend. For me it was a special day to fish with this quiet man. I felt we shared a similar feeling for why we chase these fish, what it feels like to be close to them for a moment, and how lucky we are to have that chance at all.

Moano was right...we tried a bit longer when the tide was right and after about 20min of casting to this fish, we got lucky. In all its mediocrity in terms of size, this fish made my trip, and has since been in my dreams




Continued..

[mushmouth]

There are two parts to the island's lagoon, the outside and the inside. The outside is where the chumming takes place, it's where the legendary Paris flat has the spawning of the bones, but it's the inside where bigger, less pressured fish can roam.

To get to the inside part of the lagoon, you need to cross the 9mile flat, which is possible with big tides that coincide with the right time of year. timing is key to get across in the morning and have the high sun to fish. the trip was planned around this specific moon tide.

Despite the high water, you still have to get out and push:




Once on the inside, there was some contrast between the crusty scrub and pristine water


Inside there were GTs. They are...interesting. Smart in that they are top level predators that take advantage of opportunistic feeding environments. After crossing 9mile, we could get to a less pressured group of fish that were still spoiled, but in a more natural way. Essentially there is a place where there are a lot of milkfish, and they get pushed into a confined space on the outgoing tide. Every once in a while one will get pulled through a gap. The GTs have keyed in on this, and camp out waiting for it to happen.

Here are a couple shots of these aggressive fish chasing their favorite food.


there were 30 to 100lb fish, each chasing milkfish in the exact same way. they burst to catch the milkfish, almost planing out of water, then use their high profile to help slash into the prey. the result is pretty dramatic, turning a pristine place into a loud death scene.


this one survived


run milkfish RUN!!


this one did not


I hooked one, but lost it due to a bad initial hookset. That was my only shot.

I'll be putting together a video shortly which essentially puts these images in motion. There's not much more that I captured than what's here, but seeing these fish move is pretty special.

I'm not sure if I'll ever make it back to Kiritimati, definitely not just to chase bonefish. I would go for triggers, but would need at least two weeks to really get into it.

There is an interesting offshore scene with tuna, wahoo, I think sailfish, and big GTs. It was good enough that three of our party landed seven yellowfin, losing 3 others, on Day 1. Unfortunately, that scene is also feeling the effects of human influence and getting raped by massive Spanish fishing boats, fully supported by Kirbati who takes a % cut of the $ from the catch. I was told there is no other regulation on the size of the catch these ships take and they were easily the largest fishing vessels I've ever seen. After these boats showed on on Day 3, the tuna bite disappeared.



Last but not least...they have funny signs


flour?...really? if you say so.

Video will follow in a few weeks.

[snapt]

Nice report, I've wonderred about how prevelant the chumming is so thanks for answering that. GT's used to be a hallowed accomplishment now everyone and their brother is posting pics of doubles on facespace. I guess chumming em up is like indicator fishing for steelhead or kissing your sister. I need to get out there before the island goes under water!

[Joey Joe Joe Junior Shabadoo]

$$$$$$!!

[Denny1969]

Nice post. Christmas Island is on my bucket list. Like snapt said, more people are catching GTs. A popular way to fish for them without chumming is to a cast huge Yozuri plug with spin tackle. I have seen some Yozuris come back from trips being totally hammered from GTs.

[mushmouth]

Nice post. Christmas Island is on my bucket list. Like snapt said, more people are catching GTs. A popular way to fish for them without chumming is to a cast huge Yozuri plug with spin tackle. I have seen some Yozuris come back from trips being totally hammered from GTs.

I wouldn't mind teasing them in with a plug, they're still not satiating themselves in the process so wouldn't change their habits much. We do that here for stripers when they're hanging deep, and it's a blast.

There was a Japanese group on the island sponsored by Shimano who fished outside the lagoon for GTs with spin gear, and they did very well. I overheard them one day and they landed 12 fish averaging about 80lbs, and lost several more.

[DeathVan]

A true TR Mush!

Great images spun beautifully and uniquely

[NMmatt]

Great TR! Humuhumu catch and release - nice work!

Offshore ocean raping is a sad deal... Fishing out the entire ocean is going leave an awful world for the future.

[2nd mate]

Great TR. Makes me very homesick of Diego Garcia.

What did you carry with you for rods when on the flats? 8 for everything and 12 for GT's? What types of flies you brought and worked best? I would be interested in any more detail about the travel and flats roaming you might want to share. Or you can tell me in person when you come up here to Mass and sight fish some stripers with me this summer. Like you said in the TR, our inshore fishing is incredible and I also think it stacks up well to sight fishing in other worldly destinations.

Next trip western Australia? That's where my DG fishing buddies want to head next.

[Lexi-Bell]

Wow mush great trip, photos, and write-up. Sounds like you found your calling, thanks for sharing it with us!

[mushmouth]

Great TR. Makes me very homesick of Diego Garcia.

What did you carry with you for rods when on the flats? 8 for everything and 12 for GT's? What types of flies you brought and worked best? I would be interested in any more detail about the travel and flats roaming you might want to share. Or you can tell me in person when you come up here to Mass and sight fish some stripers with me this summer. Like you said in the TR, our inshore fishing is incredible and I also think it stacks up well to sight fishing in other worldly destinations.

Next trip western Australia? That's where my DG fishing buddies want to head next.

You must have had such a blast discovering that place...wish I could spend that much time at it.

We carried an 8, and 10 with 400+ of backing for GTs. There's only so far they can go before something either cuts them off or you land them. I never got the chance to find out, but this was directed by a guy who has fished there for over 15 years.

Flies were sparse, orange and tans did best, and some pinks, mostly in the style of Xmas Island specials. I'll take some photos of what worked in a sec. There were also Golden Trevally, which were almost the size of some of the GTs, but they also eat like the bonefish.

Would really like to get up there, when does that heat up up there?

Yeah, I've seen some pics of places in western Australia, I think from SWOFFA. Looking at Google earth the options just look endless.

[Ccard257]

Awesome stuff! Looking forward to the video

[schwerty]

Top notch !

[2nd mate]

Hard to say when my spots will heat up, sometimes as early as may(last year.) I am planning on heading to work may 1 for a few months, so AUG/SEPT will be when I am here. if you ever end up here and I am not around I will give you the directions, it's real easy access and parking.

[teleee]

The only reason I haven't said anything on this TR is because I am to jealous for words.
So awesome in so many ways. Thanks for sharing.

[Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer]

Great TR.