https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kFEg-R7088
Printable View
Hi Bill,it's Aana atoll,and while the touring companies talk it up,the fishing can be picky if you get my drift.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill Kiene semi-retired
A Vietnam Veteran mate of mine went a while back ex Australia and via Papeete in Tahiti.To be brief,the Bonefishing was ordinary with very few fish seen,let alone landed,and the reef fishing very tough on lines and fishermen.Additionally,being a remote destination means it's expensive to get there from just about anywhere.
Okay guys, lets get the spelling correct. It's Anaa.
I've been in communication with Jim Laverty at Fly Odyssey Australia and I've been looking for an alternate location to Christmas Is. As beautiful as the place is Dynaflow's description seems similar to Laverty's. Jim has stated that the bonefishing isn't as good as Christmas Is. but the fish are larger. Sounds like the natives here , like elsewhere, eat a few too.
Jim also said that you need to be in fairly good shape as hiking around the on the reef can be a bit tiring. Hiking around Christmas Is. can be a bit tiring too.
In short I've been trying to put all the numbers together comparing a trip like this to going to Christmas Is. Costs first off is going to mean flying to Hawaii. Add to that a hotel for at least over night. Add to that dinner and breakfast before getting on Air Fiji. Air Fiji now is about a $1000.00. Then once you get to CXI you've got to get your fishing licence, then your lodge (roughly $3000), plus daily tips to your guides, plus tips at end of the week to your lodge people, and any extra bar bill you have. Upon returning to HNL are you going to get right on another plane and fly home? Or take a taxi and stay over for another day or two. This all adds up.
So for us old retired guys, we've got to watch or pennies. I haven't put all the dollar figures together yet for going to Anaa but it doesn't seem to be that much different from Christmas Is. And if booking with Fly Odyssey AU their price is around $4500 AU which is converted to about $3465.00 USD. (convertion rate is $.77USD to $1.00AU).
I'll have more information about this trip soon,
Tony
Why spend all that money on either place, just to catch a saltwater sucker? at least in Loreto you have 4 different kinds of fish and you can fish for around $200 per day...just saying
Carl
The number of species encountered in French Polynesia (flats, in-shore, offshore & reef) is probably similar to the number in The Sea of Cortez and many off shore species are the same. Plus Bonefish/GT's. So, why not enjoy both if you can??.... :cool:
Darian,
Each to their own, however it's about three times more expensive to fish Polynesia island and surrounding areas...been there done that and still don't understand the lure for those places...where Mexico is so cheap and the fishing isn't screwed up ....my 2 cents :)
Fishing on flats is fun! Catching fish from a panga is also fun, but you don't have the stalking aspect.
While there's no denying the attraction of nearby Mexico for you fortunate U.S.residents,I don't think anywhere can replicate the experience of fishing on Kiritimati....and for all the right reasons.It's accessible,the flats wading is easy,the blue water fishing for Tuna,Milkfish,Wahoo,Sailfish,the people are friendly,as are the well trained English speaking Guides,the food is quite acceptable etc.etc.
Fifteen fortnightly trips and counting :D
Tony,you should definitely have Aitutaki in the Cook Islands on your wish list.
Starting at the beginning of the organized fishing there through Frontiers Travel in the mid-1980s my my staff, my wife and I all went
numerous times to Christmas Island. I was so lucky to go there 13 times myself. The total experience is what separates it from many
other tropical saltwater destinations. We made some wonderful friendships there with the native population. We took them sport shoes,
CB units, Polarized glasses and sewing machines.
For all these reasons it should be on all fly fishers "Bucket List".
https://www.flywatertravel.com/chris...nd-fly-fishing
Dynaflow (I don't know your real name),
There's no doubt about it, Aitutaki is one of the most beautiful places in the world. I've been there twice. I absolutely love the south pacific, the palm trees, coconuts, the warm saltwater, etc. I must have watched every Mutiny on the Bounty movie ten times and read most of Herman Melvilles and Mitchners novels over again and again.
Now you add every imaginable game fish there is to the pot and it's one of my most favorite parts of the world. On Aitutaki I fished bonefish with Butch Leone and GT's with Itu's two younger brothers. On the last trip there I fished with Jubilee and even got to go snorkling off his boat with the GT's. Anywhere there's warm saltwater I call the "south Pacific" including Christmas Is. (been there several times too)
Now that Christmas Is. is shut down so to speak with this quarantine thing I've been looking for any other options with a similar environment. I've thought about going back to Roratanga, or Fiji, or Tahiti, and that's when I came upon Anaa. These are all cheaper substitutes for going to the Seychelles which would be a dream destination.
But like everything else it takes money and I count my pennies before I go anywhere. Maybe when Kiritimati opens up again we can meet up there and share a beer and good stories.
Tony
We have a trip to CI planned for next March. I hope some of Biden's 500 million doses of the vaccine head there soon.
Hi Tony...Peter Prideaux is my name.It's Cornish but I'm a fifth generation Aussie.Re those destinations you mentioned,there's no flats wading to speak of in Fiji,Rarotonga or even Tahiti for that matter,and we can only hope to get back to C.I.sooner rather than later,
but I believe that until the entire population there is inoculated that won't be happening.Australia has a responsibility here to ensure that all of our Pacific neighbours are vaccinated as they're particularly vulnerable to the Covid.Papua New Guinea to our immediate north is proving challenging in this regard.
Thanks Peter. I can hardly remember proper names let alone nicknames.
Tony