Christmas Island (Kiritimati) - Better Pack a Lunch

If you wanted to get an oasis that is as far as possible from any major land mass (or civilization for that matter), you're likely to end up somewhere in the South Pacific.  If you also wanted to be in the middle of some of the best bonefish and Giant Trevally waters on the planet, you're positively on Christmas Island.  The video sums it up.  "Better Pack a Lunch" refers to the epic fight from these saltwater banshees...this ain't fresh water, it takes a while to bring these bad boys in.

Christmas Island (Kiritimati) Giant Trevally Fly Fishing from the fly syndicate on Vimeo.

Kiritimati = Christmas Island, in Gilbertese, the "ti" is an "s".  4,200 miles from Sydney and 3,300 miles from San Francisco, this remote oasis was a territory of the UK until 1979, however, the island is now part of the Republic of Kiribati, a composite of 32 coral atolls strung along the equator.  Aside from being a world class fishery, the island is largest coral atoll in the world with a land mass of 150 square miles plus an interior network of lagoons with a similar surface area.

The map below makes it appear as if it were a developed island, far from it.  Everything is named, but nothing is really developed and its 5,000 residents are concentrated in 4 small villages and live in very modest accommodations.  Yes, there is an airport, but its really just a re-paved American airbase, you see, this island was ground zero for some British and American nuke testing back in the late  50's and early 60's.  This is "other waters"

We stayed outside the town London at The Villages @ Christmas Island, one of 4 operational fly fishing lodges.  Many fellow anglers we spoke to had been to the island on several occasions and touted this lodge as being the best on the island.  

20 paces off your doorstep and you're on the water.

Now being the "best" in a very poor third world country may not translate back here in the states, but the staff was very courteous and pleasant, the atmosphere was upbeat and safe, and the guides were top notch and knowledgeable.....the facilities were "5 star" (for a third world country).  The food is okay at best, my recommendation would be to catch a tuna the first day and ensure there is fresh sashimi for the rest of the trip.  Oh, and don't forget to bring some wasabi.  Fresh caught Wahoo and Ahi Sashimi featured below.

The island is famous for its equatorial climate, pristine lagoons and pancake flats which are a rookery for many species of game fish.  Fishing is highly dependent on tides here, so keep that in mind when planning your trip.  Below is a picture of the island's lagoon network...its bonefish and trevally city down there.

Coconut palms are the only tree in abundance on the island, they were planted by a French priest in the early 1900's.

The primary mode for transportation while fishing is a traditional outrigger canoe with a 40hp outboard.  The boats have a shallow draft, are quite comfortable and handle the blue water with surprising stability.

I'll break down the various fishing options into 4 categories: 

1) Blue Water: There is a tremendous blue water fishery on the outside of the lagoon that isn't well known.  You're in 1,000+ feet of water when you're only a half mile off shore and there are schools of yellowfin, wahoo, dorado, and even billfish.  Now I'm not going to kid myself, you really don't fly fish the blue water, more like you hook big pelagic fish on a fly.  To the right is an example of a tube fly for blue water species, this particular one is for wahoo but I found it to be the best all around fly for the blue water.  I spent over $500 on blue water and GT flies for this trip. This particular fly was $29 plus $11 for a tandem 3/0 hook rig with steel leader, that's $40 bucks in total.  Never thought I'd say this but I caught so many fish with it, I found it to be a relative value.

2) Outer Reef: The outer peripheries of the atoll are lined with gorgeous coral reefs that stretch out several hundred yards into the abyss.  They're teeming with colorful reef fish and their predators, namely barracuda and giant trevally.  The outer reef can be fished by wading in the breakers or in a boat just outside the rollers where its only 10-20ft deep; here poppers can effectively entice GT to the surface.  In depths of 30-60 feet it can be trolled and in depths of 100 ft it can be fished with jigs for rock fish, triggers and the occasional grouper.

3) Inner Reef and Channels: Inside the lagoon is a network of reefs and channels that meander for miles in all directions.  The're the foundation of the pancake flats and have steep drop-offs along their edges.  This drop off is easy to spot in the  two pictures below, look at the change in water color.  Large predators patrol these drop offs for goatfish, bonefish and queenfish and if you keep a close vigile you'll periodically spot large GTs and bluefin trevally stalking the peripheries.  When you spot one, you'll typically have 10-20 seconds to grab your 12wt and snap cast to it or it will be out of range.  The other way to fish these the channels is to blind cast a large, loud and obnoxious popper (trevally are attracted to the noise). While you might not get numbers doing this, the payoff is worth it to see a giant trevally come out of the deep to maul a popper on the surface.

4) The Pancake Flats: These are coral plateaus that look like small sunken islands that dot the lagoon.  They are uniform in height and can be submerged by anywhere from 3 inches to 3 feet of water depending on the tide.  

These flats are what make Christmas Island special, unique and world renown.  That's because flats are home to bones, and lots of em.  Immediately above is Paris Flat, probably my favorite flat because of its beauty, abundance of chrome bones and because it borders great outer reef structure for surf casting for  bluefin and giant trevally.  The bones come in with the rising tides to feed on crustaceans that inhabit the flats. 

Now for the fish porn in order of fishing venue

Blue Water Specimens:

Yellowfin Tuna

Wahoo

Get your tuna's in quick, sharks like Sashimi too.

Outer Reef Specimens:

Giant Trevallies

Inner Reef and Channel Specimens:

Giant Trevally

Giant Trevally

Bluefin Trevally

Bluefin Tevally

Flats Specimens:

Sweet Lips

 Bonefish

Baby Grouper (so the guide thought)

Mantis Shrimp = Yum!

 Juvenile GT

 Bonefish

 Nice Bonefish

This was a once in a lifetime experience and I hope to be back soon.  I figured its safe to say that here as I'm 99% certain my wife will never read any of my posts in their entirety.

Truckee River - Its Getting Buggy

Bugs are out in force on warm days like Saturday, low 60's for air tempt.  This hen is just full of eggs. We saw just about everything in good numbers from some sedges...

To a few Skawalas...

To hundreds of winter stones (size 18)

Oh, and don't forget march browns, the fish seemed to key into them the most.  

Dan ended up putting a hook with a barb through his hand this day, had to Bear Grill's it and push it through in order to pinch the barb, and then pull it back.

Truckee River - A Cloudy Day and Some Micro Mays

Been weeks since I've been on the river, used a months worth of hall passes to go on a baller week-long fly fishing trip to Christmas Island (post and video to be forthcoming).  Anyhow, the Truckee is in great shape, flows in the 4's and good bug activity on cloudy days, try a micro mayfly or midge pattern.  Today was a short mid-day session, lost a third fatty bow.  Fish are all pretty nice this time a year and bows are getting their spawn colors.

Truckee River - January Update

Fishing has been about as slow as my posting, but they're still coming.  Its a bit on the cold side and you have to bump in on their nose to get a take, just a plain old copper John and some shot has been adequate.  A couple pics of the last couple week, mostly browns followed by whities and lastly a couple bows.

Check out this pod of fish, they were chilling near the anchor ice, I hooked some and they're not all white fish...

Cuttbow with some color fade.

                                   More browns than I usually see, all were very healthy.

                                    Hope to get out there more this year, just been busy.

Truckee River - More Easterly Action

Mid-day water temps are just under 58 degrees EOT ("East of Town"), its just about perfect right now.  A decent mayfly hatch occurred yesterday mid morning, little guys, size 18 or smaller.  Fall is here and the fish are becoming increasing interested in streamers.

 Love this bend and all its color.  Fishing slows mid day when it gets up over 75 degrees, but you'll still find some takers.  Its going to cool very soon and fishing should only improve.

Russian Olives are ripe right now.  These bad boys are obviously invasive, they can grow in the poorest soils often times taking over piparian corridors when the big cottonwoods die.  For this reason, beavers are a Russian Olive's best friend.  In NV they don't seem to be a huge problem and I wouldn't mind them so much but for their 4" thorns which stand guard over some of my favorite runs.

 EOT there is a healthy number of juvenile fish up to 2-years, that's a great sign for future fishing.

Truckee River - Down and Dirty East of Derby

....Derby Dam that is.  I finally took some time off work and spent a full day actually fishing, morning till dusk, first time in months.  I really did some exploring on the eastern stretches of the Truckee and spent most of the day fishing waters I've never fished before.  The mid day water temperature has finally dropped to an ideal 59 degrees and fish are very active.  I found some really cool riffles and runs and also found some dead water.

Its a tight squeeze getting under the tracks to Derby Dam.  As you approach, you're greeted by some beautiful wetlands full of cottonwoods turning color.  Remember, there is no fishing 1,000ft below the dam, which I'm sure is due to the Lahontan Cutthroats which come up to spawn in April and congregate at the base of the dam.

Here is a nice run below the dam but above the ranches further down. This section of the Truckee gets relatively little water as compared to the upper river, so don't expect a lot of deep runs/holes.

This little bend has some great riffles and good riparian habitat that's been largely untouched by man.

A few miles down things are different.  Here is what man has done to mitigate flooding, isn't it beautiful. The Truckee looks more like a ditch here than a freestone river. There are some good runs below this point, but the water gets very skinny and public access becomes increasingly difficult without a boat.   The fishing was good below Derby but the catching wasn't so mid day I tried some new waters below Clark.

Check out these beetles, they were hatching by the hundreds.  I couldn't positively identify them, the closest I came was Carabus intricatus, a type of blue ground beetle, but I know its not what they are.

This brown took a copper john, but I probably could have hooked him with a streamer.

Look at what he coughed up as I netted him.  Its hard to make out but it looks like a juvenile trout.

Everything seemed to be working today, so its no surprise that one would gulp a G6 Caddis.

This is a great bend with deep water, but there are lots of signs that the bait dunkers exploit this hole frequently.

A majestic view of the Truckee River Canyon looking East towards Wadsworth.  

Even streamers caught the attention of trout today.

Truckee River - Steamers East of Town

Its been a while since I hit the water as evidenced by a lack of posts, life with 4 kids under the age of 8 is catching up to me.  Finally got out on the BT yesterday and spent a half day bushwhacking and exploring some new spots east of town.

Check out this historic marker, a remnant of the California Trail.  This particular marker indicates that the path of an obscure settler who came through the Truckee River corridor from Virginia en route to California in 1849, his name was Edward J. Willis.

This looks like an old road but its actually a stone ditch that skirts around the edge of a rock cliff.  It looks really old and must have survived many a flood. Today it still carries water for agriculture.

A good number of callibaetis came off towards the evening with a few October Caddis mixed in, though I didin't get much action nymphing.  Streamers, however, did get me some shakes.

Thought I'd throw together a lil sampler....

Truckee River - Still a Bit Hot

I guess its better to be busy with life during the slow summer months on the BT than in the fall or winter. The BT is pretty warm right now in the evenings, I didn't see a pronounced hatch at all last night, just a little of this and that here and there. As everyone else is saying, morning is probably your best bet...I'm just not a morning guy. I'd also say crays are a good bet. I'm hoping September gets here quick.

Little Truckee - Its a Night Game

With a few lackluster sessions on the BT under my belt, I tested the LT for a few hours. Mid week, no crowds, great flows (68 cfs)...can't ask for more. One immediate hookup on a bead head caddis pupa, but then I remembered, I don't come to the LT to nymph, I come for the technical dry action. With the exception of a few random rises for PMD's mid day, there is not much surface activity until about 8PM, but then it goes bonkers, especially the last few minutes before dark.
Crazy caddis hatch, fish don't discriminate during these heavy caddis hatches, the hard part isn't getting a take, its getting the set. Had about a half hour of serious lip ripp'n just before dark, finally! Standard issue 15-17 inch head shakers, what you'd expect....the only way to totally forget about work.

Check out this huge flock of sheep, they came down unattended and had their way with the river bank for a good 20 minutes.

Perhaps someone can shed light, why are there restoration efforts on the LT if this is allowed? I've never seen this large a flock, and never unattended, did they get out from a pasture or is this the dirt bikers revenge for blocking their trails :-) I don't begrudge people who make a living off livestock, just thought it was a bit much, anyone have any insight?
Bet these deer were glad to see those sheep boogie.

Product Reviews - Wading Boot Studs & Cleats

As we all know, the day of the felt soled boot is numbered, I still keep a pair around for fishing in drift boats, rafts and on ladders, but rubber soled boots will one day be the only thing we can use in rivers and lakes due to AIS (Aquatic Invasive Species). Rubber soles plain and simple suck for traction on rocky river beds like the Truckee River, especially when considering the rocks are wet and covered with algae. Enter the hardened metal boot stud or cleat. These screw inserts can be attached to most rubber (or felt) boot soles and are often infused with carbide for durability and added traction. They work well for the most part, however, like anything else, they wear down over time and need to be replaced. Now then, in our local stores, replacement studs go from $30-40 and replacement cleats go up from there; they tend to last me anywhere from 6-12 months and the studs end up costing as much as the boots do in time. I found an affective and affordable stud replacement developed by the motorcycle ice racing industry. This product is manufactured by Kold Kutter and because ice racing motorcycles require several hundred studs, they produce these in large quantities at reasonable prices. I've tried the 3/8 inch, #8 Pro Series screws and have had good success with them thus far, I'd suspect the 1/2" screw could work as well, but have yet to try it. They simply attached via a 1/4" socket or flat head screw driver. At $20.55 per pack of 250, they cost 12 cent each as opposed to Simms studs which cost $1.50 each or cleats which cost $2.00 each.

Pros:

- Large quantities so you can switch them out regularly and maximize traction

- Very affordable costing less than a 10th of what the Simms product costs

- Great traction (I couldn't tell any difference in traction)

- Rust resistant

Cons:

- Subject to abrasion. Despite having a macro hardness or "Rockwell Hardness" of 52 Vs Simms products which only have 45, the Simms "micro hardness" or abrasion resistance is better due to carbide chips impregnated in the studs.

This one is pretty easy, Kold Kutter all the way. even if they wear down in 4 months Vs. 6 for Simms, they're so cheap, I can swap them out without breaking the bank. Also, Simms only comes with 20 per pack, so you're left trying to figure out how to best place 10 studs per boot, with Kold Kutter, you can grab a cordless drill and go to town, put 20 or more per boot. You'll find a point where you add too many and actually begin to loose traction. Hope you found this useful, and if you end up trying these out, let me know what you think.