My first experience with "Sashimi" was on Christmas Island in 1986.

36 years ago on our first trip to Christmas Island many of us had our first experience with "Sashimi".


When we came back from fishing the first day we gathered under a large thatched roof over a huge concrete slab for drinks, etc.

They had huge metal baking sheet full off cold raw Yellowfin Tuna "bars" caught that day.

They had soy sauce and wasabi so it was the first time for many of us from America.

One day we had tons of cold "seared Tuna" which was completely addictive.

We also had raw Wahoo and some other raw fish as well.


Part of the experience of going to Christmas Island beside the great fishing is the people and they culture.


The last night they use to have a big cultural party, with native dancing and singing.



I went there 13 times and highly advise that you put it on your bucket list.


If you girlfriend or wife is the least bit outdoorsy I would take her along.

May wife Marilyn went 3 times and loved wading on the endless white sand flats teaming with all kinds of life.

She landed as many as 30 Bonefish in one day and her biggest was around 10 pounds which she said her

and her guide chased for almost a mile.


Over all my trips there I took lots of friends including my dad, my brother Dick, my uncle Tom, Don Rotsma, Chris Pasley, etc.

My father was in the US Navy during World War II and was an aircraft mechanic. He was stationed near Christmas on Palmyra.


We had lots of native friends who we took gifts to when we returned every year.

We brought CB Units (Citizen Band radios) which they used as communications system around the remote island.

They liked Polarized sunglasses, nylon shorts, sandals, sports shoes and knives.

We also brought them some old Singer sewing machines because they made their own clothes.

Alan Barnard and I bought a kerosene 2 burner stove for a friend whole only had coconut husks for cooking fuel.

John Sullivan brought tons of baseball equipment on this return trip after finding out they really needed some.


A group of dentist from Seattle Washington would come ever year for two weeks to work on the natives teeth.

This was organized by the Catholic priest on the island and they went surfing, diving and fishing too.


The British tested the Hydrogen Bomb near Christmas Island in the 1950s.

Christmas Island was the staging area and they is a lot of rusty relics there and much history.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Grapple


There is some kind of radar/communications station on Christmas Island staffed by TRW employees.

Some wonderful and precious memories there Bill. My next trip will be #15 and I can't wait to go again. Kiritimati gets under your skin and haunts the dreams of many....We always take all sorts of stuff, from medicine to sewing materials and fishing related things like fly tying materials, braid, hooks, et al.

For you two guys that have been going there that long ago, Bill and Dynaflow, I can only assume you stayed at the old Capt. Cook hotel or lodge?

How were the accommodations back then compared to current lodges like the Villages or others?
Tony

Tony.....

I think I went over a 20 years period from 1986, 13 times and all to the Captain Cook Hotel which was an RAF British Airforce barracks.

Back then there were not many other choices and it was in much better condition than now.



No matter how bad the accommodations, service and food are, when you get out on those vast pristine hard white sand flats it is absolutely heavenly.


The Giant Trevally are exciting but the Bone fishing just is World Class.

My wife and I ended up using a 9' #7 - 4pc rod with a lighter, good quality reel, 150 yds of 30# Dacron and a WF7F "Saltwater" fly line.

The flies were very sparce and small (size 6) so a #7 outfit was fine.

We had our guide carry a 10 weight outfit with a floating line and a popper for Trevally and large Barracuda.

We would go out some days in a small pickup to wade the vast flats all around the island.

Other days we would go down to the boat yard and take a "Punt" (~ 30' plywood Jon boat with a wooden sun deck).



I would defiantly try to go there because it is one of my top ten best destinations of my lifetime.

https://farbank.com/collections/fly-...nd-fly-fishing



The Bahamas, Venezuela, and the Seychelles are other places that have bonefish on white flats.

https://imgur.com/a/JTKH2hp
Hard to beat fresh sashimi

Hi Don,

We overnighted coming and going to Christmas Island on Oahu.

Veteran fly fisher Walt Bennett was on one of my trips and had not seen Oahu sense the 1940s during World War II.

At one time I had about 12 family members on Oahu.

I think the Hawaiian Islands are a cool place.

Hi Tony,I only wish I could have gone years earlier with Mr.Kiene and his friends,but re accommodation,while the (Kiribati government owned) Captain Cook hotel was the original Lodge on the island,it's been in a state of neglect for a while now so 'nuff said there.My first accommodation was at the infamous and now defunct Mini Hotel,near the harbour in the village of London....however things improved substantially when Jacob and Lavinia Teem opened Ikari House in early 2008 directly opposite.IMHO the two premier Lodges on C.I are Ikari House and The Villages....in about that order.While The Villages is the only Lodge to offer one on one guiding,Ikari House has the best boats and the best food (this is by popular consensus).My first excursions into the lagoon were in a Tinny and the days were long....we always came home in the dark.Other boat transport was in a small wooden skiff with a small outboard in back.

Back around the 1990s there was a man who came by himself every year from New York City?

I heard he had a business restoring Rolls-Royce cars.

He would get a room at the old hotel, and rent his own small truck.

He brought an inflatable small Zodiac boat with an outboard motor too.

I think he stayed two weeks so one with neap tides for Bonefish and one with spring tides for Giant Trevally.

I remember him coming in very late to the dinning room for dinner.

Many fascinating people went/go to Christmas Island. Some went more than once a year like


I don't know anyone who went there who was not effected by it's magic...the people, the history, the flats, the food.

https://www.billkiene.com/forums/sho...ristmas+island


Here is an old post where I talk about Lefty Kreh and his flies for Bonefish in south Florida and Andros Island in the Bahamas.



Also a picture of the famous "Sage Week" at Christmas Island " in 1993.

Many big names in the fly fishing world like Lefty Kreh and his buddy Yvonne Chenard, founder of Patagonia company.

I was invited because I had gone there so many times. I think I was the least famous person there.