Christmas island is one of our favorite destinations. It has provided our clients with many, many memories of remarkable fish and virtually all that have been there have returned year after year. One returned, Chris Cook, after having landed 24 Giant trevally on his first visit to make the film Casting At Shadows.
There are a few different lodges available at Christmas Island but there are two that have a long history of excellent client service and excellent guides with many years experience. They are The Villages and The Captain Cook Hotel. The Captain Cook was the first hotel built on Christmas island and named after Captain James Cook who discovered the island on Christmas Eve in 1777. It is a class operation.
Fly Odyssey has chosen to work with The Villages. This lodge is a community built and run project and is lead by WORLD CLASS and legendary head guide Teannaki Kaiboboki. He has spent his long life guiding fly fishermen and all the guides working at The Villages have been trained under his wing. The lodge uses the traditional South Seas outrigger boats and every angler has there own guide. Apart from having a great fishing team, The Villages offer top class air conditioned bungalows with ensuite and excellent food. Best of all the boats pick you up each day on the beach in front of your bungalow, which is not always the case on Christmas island. Several lodges will require you to drive long distances each day before you arrive at your boat.
There has been some questions raised about the price of fishing on Christmas island. Both the Captain Cook Hotel and The Villages charge £1650 per rod per week for the 2012 season. A very reasonable price for a trip that will will expose you to some of the best fly fishing flats opportunities for giant trevally in the world at the moment.
The logistics of getting to Christmas Island are also straight forward despite what some people may want you to think. While the island is remote and it is advised that all anglers traveling to Christmas island take out adequate medical evacuation insurance there is nothing difficult about getting to the island (apart from the distance and jet lag!!!). Air Pacific fly once weekly to the island (Every Tuesday) from Honolulu or Nadi. This is a 3 hour journey on a reliable carrier. Generally an overnight stay on the outbound journey is required but connections to the US can be made on the inbound leg.
Casting At Shadows - Christmas Island Trailer from Ben Marlow on Vimeo.
CLIENT TESTIMONIALS
James and Tracy, UK
Mat, 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.
Chris Cook, Complete Fisher, UK
Last week I fished in Christmas Island that I had booked through Mat at Fly Odyssey. I can firmly say it is amongst the best fishing locations in the world. I caught 10 species in 5 days of fishing, and totalled about 113 fish.
I had a total of 28 GTs - yes, 28! The largest was 50lb, and I had two at 40lb and three at 30lb.
I had a 10lb+ Bonefish and a couple around 8lb. The average size Bone was very high, probably 3lb or so.
I also had a 62lb Wahoo - an incredible fish!
Toni Karuvaara, Finland
Back from CI....trip was awesome.
SO, if you are interested in traveling to Christmas Island and want honest and upto date information please give us a call on 01621743711 or email us.
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