Tony Buzolich
02-05-2016, 03:32 PM
Whenever I start thinking of dream destinations it always seems to come up with warm saltwater places backed by swaying palms and white sand beaches. Indigo and turquoise blue water in the distance, gin clear at your feet. Starting to create an image?
Yep, I found it. Properly called Kiritimati, in the Republic of Kiribati, this is Christmas Island. The Christmas name came about as a slur of the “ti” which has an “esss” sound in the native language.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/IMG_0232_zpsb5eyz7el.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/IMG_0232_zpsb5eyz7el.jpg.html).
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/IMG_0238_zpsn6miy2ko.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/IMG_0238_zpsn6miy2ko.jpg.html)
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/IMG_0371_zpsicrtb2gf.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/IMG_0371_zpsicrtb2gf.jpg.html)
I’d been hearing about Christmas Island (CI.) for years. Pictures at all the fly shows and on calendars of trevally’s, and bonefish, and endless flats without people or boats crowding anyone anywhere. I’d hear stories from friends who had been there and their endless praise of this incredible place.
A few months back I decided to scratch this place off my bucket list before I’m too old to visit it and enjoy what it has to offer. I’m glad I did. My buddy Jim May and I looked at all of the lodges there and what each offered along with the costs. Christmas Island Outfitters was our choice booked through Fly Water Travel in Ashland Oregon A week and a half ago we left .
Our flight departed Sacramento and arrived in Honolulu for the first leg of our trip. Flights to and from CI. are only once a week on Tuesdays so a layover of one night was needed at a local hotel. Tuesday morning we boarded FIJI Airways for the final leg of our trip stopping just a hair short of the equator, roughly half way between Hawaii and New Zealand.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/IMG_0211a_zps8neq1hr8.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/IMG_0211a_zps8neq1hr8.jpg.html)
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/IMG_0202a_zpstt2gipof.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/IMG_0202a_zpstt2gipof.jpg.html)
We were greeted by our host (along with lots of locals watching the plane come in) and taken to our lodge a few miles north. Built recently right on the beach it’s now called Crystal Beach Lodge. Waves and surf breaking at your door steps with a nice constant ocean breeze helping to keep mosquitoes and bugs away.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/IMG_0212_zps8nf9iicp.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/IMG_0212_zps8nf9iicp.jpg.html)
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/IMG_0213_zpsotidheak.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/IMG_0213_zpsotidheak.jpg.html)
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/IMG_0216a_zpsaqfbllue.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/IMG_0216a_zpsaqfbllue.jpg.html)
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/IMG_0219a_zpsbpzwz8qt.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/IMG_0219a_zpsbpzwz8qt.jpg.html)
After settling in and getting our rods ready for the next day we came down for drinks and appetizers. Platters of fresh tuna sashimi and fried breadfruit waited for us before our dinner of fresh lobster. Geez! Is this how we eat every night? Almost. We did have sashimi tuna and breadfruit appetizers every night on the beach when it wasn’t raining.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/IMG_3304_zpsd54d5hsy.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/IMG_3304_zpsd54d5hsy.jpg.html)
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/IMG_3306_zpsr2rge2lc.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/IMG_3306_zpsr2rge2lc.jpg.html)
The first morning of fishing we take a short ride to our waiting outrigger in the village of London before heading out onto the flats. Along the way we pass many local huts and small houses covered or built with palm thatch and corrugated tin for roofs. Reminiscent of Robinson Caruso or Mutiny on the Bounty, we’d call these conditions really poor. But the people everywhere seemed happy. Everyone smiled and waved as we drove past and I don’t think anyone there ever felt poor. They were happy without the pressures of modern society. Easy going and laid back pace was normal for them.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/IMG_0221_zpstwngmkcd.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/IMG_0221_zpstwngmkcd.jpg.html)
After boarding the outrigger we were taken each day with our guide to a different flat. Bonefish are the number one fish of choice here and it’s easy to understand why. All fishing was wade and sight fishing. Our guide would be between us walking slowly and watching for any movement ahead. He’d say, ”Tony, 20 feet at 1:00 “ and I’d cast, or “Jim, 30 feet at 10:00” and Jim would cast. He’d then tell us how to strip, fast, slow, pause, or wait. Almost every cast was either a hook up or a spook as we lined over the fish. Most casts were 30 feet or less, often as close as ten feet.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/IMG_0265_zpspfn8prge.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/IMG_0265_zpspfn8prge.jpg.html)
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/IMG_0278_zps1wuwqf8f.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/IMG_0278_zps1wuwqf8f.jpg.html)
Learning to see the fish was the hardest thing to do and very humbling when they’re right at your feet. Sun was your best helper as it cast a shadow from the fish to the bottom. You’d see the shadow but the fish had perfect mirror-like reflection of the surroundings.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/IMG_0352_zps3txu8oum.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/IMG_0352_zps3txu8oum.jpg.html)
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/IMG_0357a_zpsizr3twk0.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/IMG_0357a_zpsizr3twk0.jpg.html)
Along with bonefish, Giant Trevally are the other main fish of choice. Not all are giants as they grow and we’d often catch juveniles while fishing for bones. Numerous colorful reef fish would also readily take the bonefish flies.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/IMG_0356a_zps8kvg2s88.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/IMG_0356a_zps8kvg2s88.jpg.html)
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/IMG_0316a_zpskuqwvbir.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/IMG_0316a_zpskuqwvbir.jpg.html)
One of the days there we decided to go offshore in the hopes of catching a wahoo on the fly. Along with tuna and sailfish, wahoo are quite common there. But with the rain and wind, conditions were less than perfect but Jim did manage one on the fly. Our only fish of the day.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/IMG_3351a_zpsv2rcqrvz.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/IMG_3351a_zpsv2rcqrvz.jpg.html)
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/IMG_3356_zpsnwiusf2y.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/IMG_3356_zpsnwiusf2y.jpg.html)
Part II to follow:
Yep, I found it. Properly called Kiritimati, in the Republic of Kiribati, this is Christmas Island. The Christmas name came about as a slur of the “ti” which has an “esss” sound in the native language.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/IMG_0232_zpsb5eyz7el.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/IMG_0232_zpsb5eyz7el.jpg.html).
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/IMG_0238_zpsn6miy2ko.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/IMG_0238_zpsn6miy2ko.jpg.html)
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/IMG_0371_zpsicrtb2gf.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/IMG_0371_zpsicrtb2gf.jpg.html)
I’d been hearing about Christmas Island (CI.) for years. Pictures at all the fly shows and on calendars of trevally’s, and bonefish, and endless flats without people or boats crowding anyone anywhere. I’d hear stories from friends who had been there and their endless praise of this incredible place.
A few months back I decided to scratch this place off my bucket list before I’m too old to visit it and enjoy what it has to offer. I’m glad I did. My buddy Jim May and I looked at all of the lodges there and what each offered along with the costs. Christmas Island Outfitters was our choice booked through Fly Water Travel in Ashland Oregon A week and a half ago we left .
Our flight departed Sacramento and arrived in Honolulu for the first leg of our trip. Flights to and from CI. are only once a week on Tuesdays so a layover of one night was needed at a local hotel. Tuesday morning we boarded FIJI Airways for the final leg of our trip stopping just a hair short of the equator, roughly half way between Hawaii and New Zealand.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/IMG_0211a_zps8neq1hr8.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/IMG_0211a_zps8neq1hr8.jpg.html)
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/IMG_0202a_zpstt2gipof.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/IMG_0202a_zpstt2gipof.jpg.html)
We were greeted by our host (along with lots of locals watching the plane come in) and taken to our lodge a few miles north. Built recently right on the beach it’s now called Crystal Beach Lodge. Waves and surf breaking at your door steps with a nice constant ocean breeze helping to keep mosquitoes and bugs away.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/IMG_0212_zps8nf9iicp.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/IMG_0212_zps8nf9iicp.jpg.html)
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/IMG_0213_zpsotidheak.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/IMG_0213_zpsotidheak.jpg.html)
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/IMG_0216a_zpsaqfbllue.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/IMG_0216a_zpsaqfbllue.jpg.html)
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/IMG_0219a_zpsbpzwz8qt.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/IMG_0219a_zpsbpzwz8qt.jpg.html)
After settling in and getting our rods ready for the next day we came down for drinks and appetizers. Platters of fresh tuna sashimi and fried breadfruit waited for us before our dinner of fresh lobster. Geez! Is this how we eat every night? Almost. We did have sashimi tuna and breadfruit appetizers every night on the beach when it wasn’t raining.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/IMG_3304_zpsd54d5hsy.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/IMG_3304_zpsd54d5hsy.jpg.html)
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/IMG_3306_zpsr2rge2lc.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/IMG_3306_zpsr2rge2lc.jpg.html)
The first morning of fishing we take a short ride to our waiting outrigger in the village of London before heading out onto the flats. Along the way we pass many local huts and small houses covered or built with palm thatch and corrugated tin for roofs. Reminiscent of Robinson Caruso or Mutiny on the Bounty, we’d call these conditions really poor. But the people everywhere seemed happy. Everyone smiled and waved as we drove past and I don’t think anyone there ever felt poor. They were happy without the pressures of modern society. Easy going and laid back pace was normal for them.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/IMG_0221_zpstwngmkcd.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/IMG_0221_zpstwngmkcd.jpg.html)
After boarding the outrigger we were taken each day with our guide to a different flat. Bonefish are the number one fish of choice here and it’s easy to understand why. All fishing was wade and sight fishing. Our guide would be between us walking slowly and watching for any movement ahead. He’d say, ”Tony, 20 feet at 1:00 “ and I’d cast, or “Jim, 30 feet at 10:00” and Jim would cast. He’d then tell us how to strip, fast, slow, pause, or wait. Almost every cast was either a hook up or a spook as we lined over the fish. Most casts were 30 feet or less, often as close as ten feet.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/IMG_0265_zpspfn8prge.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/IMG_0265_zpspfn8prge.jpg.html)
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/IMG_0278_zps1wuwqf8f.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/IMG_0278_zps1wuwqf8f.jpg.html)
Learning to see the fish was the hardest thing to do and very humbling when they’re right at your feet. Sun was your best helper as it cast a shadow from the fish to the bottom. You’d see the shadow but the fish had perfect mirror-like reflection of the surroundings.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/IMG_0352_zps3txu8oum.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/IMG_0352_zps3txu8oum.jpg.html)
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/IMG_0357a_zpsizr3twk0.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/IMG_0357a_zpsizr3twk0.jpg.html)
Along with bonefish, Giant Trevally are the other main fish of choice. Not all are giants as they grow and we’d often catch juveniles while fishing for bones. Numerous colorful reef fish would also readily take the bonefish flies.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/IMG_0356a_zps8kvg2s88.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/IMG_0356a_zps8kvg2s88.jpg.html)
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/IMG_0316a_zpskuqwvbir.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/IMG_0316a_zpskuqwvbir.jpg.html)
One of the days there we decided to go offshore in the hopes of catching a wahoo on the fly. Along with tuna and sailfish, wahoo are quite common there. But with the rain and wind, conditions were less than perfect but Jim did manage one on the fly. Our only fish of the day.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/IMG_3351a_zpsv2rcqrvz.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/IMG_3351a_zpsv2rcqrvz.jpg.html)
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/IMG_3356_zpsnwiusf2y.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/IMG_3356_zpsnwiusf2y.jpg.html)
Part II to follow: