Hi Mat,
Got back on Friday so we're over the worst of the jetlag - had a great time, thanks.
We've been on a number of saltwater trips in the last few years or so and have always come back knowing exactly how many bonefish we've caught, the fact that we both gave up counting midway through the first day on Christmas Island gives some clue as to how prolific the fishing was. What was very surprising was just how close the bones would get before taking at times, we both had many takes when the leader was inside the tip ring. I'd advise anyone thinking of going to practice fast-draw roll casting to 15-20ft! (easier said than done if you have a 15ft leader!) I'd say the majority of the bones were in the 3-4lb bracket and the biggest we landed being in the region of 7lb, although we both had casts at bigger fish on most days.
As for the trevally, they obviously have some sort of look-out that tells them it's ok to amble up on to the flat as the guide is in possession of the 12 weight! Conversely, if you want to attract bonefish, hand the guide the #7 and carry the #12! On the rare occasions that I had the right rod in hand I found the GTs to be quite schizophrenic in nature, timid and spooky at times whilst incredibly aggressive at others. I found sparkly white surface poppers best at eliciting a suitable response. One such response left me nursing a bruised and bleeding hand and looking down at a broken fly-line! (I failed to clear the line that was running towards me in the tide, in a fraction of a second it caught on my bum-bag and subsequently snapped like cotton just behind the head). This fish was estimated as well in excess of 50lb, however I did land them to 35-40lb. We also saw some monsters towards the 100lb bracket.
As for other species, we caught blue-fin trevally, snapper, goat-fish, ladyfish, trigger fish (or fly robbing *******s as I re-named them), queen fish and the occasional unintentional puffer fish! (plus various reef fish on bottom gear). There were also huge numbers of big milkfish towards the ocean side of the lagoon that could be targeted given the right algae flies. The dolphins that surfed the boats bow waves when heading out were also spectacular as were the manta rays within the lagoon.
One thing you don't mention is that the villages has a surprisingly well stocked tackle shop. I managed to replace the 12wt line that I broke as well as stocking up on some well tied flies. Rods and reels are also available, which was handy once the guides started breaking our rods! A bad cast with a teaser put paid to Tracy's T&T and a bizarre incident involving a shoal of smallish GTs led to the demise of my borrowed 12 weight (the guide pointed the direction they were coming from by dipping the tip into the water - the fish subsequently charged the rod breaking 2 inches off it!).
Overall the fishing on Christmas Island really suited what we enjoy doing most i.e. wading the flats. I'm sure we'll be going back at some point - I have got a score to settle with a certain GT after all.
All the best,
James
We will be running several groups to Christmas Island in 2010 so please get in touch for more information.
