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The Fishing Today

In my opinion, the fishing opportunities at Christmas Island today are as good, or better, than ever. The fish are here, in numbers, with a size spectrum that is unlike anywhere else in the world. In a walk on any flat on any tide on any day it is possible to see fish ranging from as small as 12 inches to as large as 28 inches or more. For novice bonefishers, there is no place on earth that is a better crucible for learning how to catch bonefish. The fish at Christmas are numerous enough to give novices lots of opportunities to make mistakes, and mistakes are excellent instructors.

During our recent visit I hooked some very large bonefish, landed a few, and saw a couple others that inspired awe. One fish that followed my fly on Clam Flats spooked when it realized Eketi and I were standing there, but it gave us a real eyeful before its departure. It was easily among the five largest bonefish I have ever seen. I have heard some people say that Christmas Island is a place where you catch lots of small bonefish. If that is your objective, you can certainly do it at Christmas. On the other hand, Christmas is a place that you can selective cast to larger bonefish, ignoring the small ones. The two biggest problems catching large bonefish at Christmas are encounters with coral that shred the leader, and smaller bonefish or trevally that get to the fly in advance of the large fish. I have seen this happen so many times that I have become convinced that all of the very large bonefish carry a small one on their backs as "tasters" to try any fly offered.

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The guides at Christmas have changed. The original cadre of guides trained in the early 1980s has diminished due to death, retirement, or relocation. The newer, younger guides are talented and they understand the resource perhaps better than the original guides. The new guides fish different and more diverse flats than their predecessors. All of them understand fly fishing techniques and most of them are excellent casters, some with either hand. I often give my rod to Eketi so he can fisn while I go off with the camera. When Eketi has a rod in hand, it simply isn't fair to the bonefish.

Most of the guides have good English language skills. The drill at Christmas is to organize the anglers into groups of four, with two "pool" guides assigned to each foursome each day. If an angler wishes to do so, he or she can hire an extra private guide for any or all days, paying a per diem rate for that guide's services, over and above the excursion rate for a week at the Captain Cook. In the last several visits that I have made to Christmas, I have roomed with Dennis Hall, a superb companion and fisherman from Calgary. Each year we hire Eketi to join us as an extra guide for the stay. By that stratagem we wind up with two guides assigned to us each day—one 'pool guide' and Eketi. We take turns fishing with Eketi and then share the costs of his services at the end of the stay.

Neil Jennings is author of Trout Flies of Alberta and Southeastern British Columbia ISBN 0-9735076-0-8. Click here to see his tying instructions for Del Brown's bonefish and permit crab pattern--the Merkin.

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