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muskeget

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Everything posted by muskeget

  1. I've been bonefishing all over the Bahamas, as well as Mexico and Belize. Last year, I fished Christmas Island and it was the best bonefishing I have ever experienced with the added bonus of dozens of other species to target.
  2. Agree with the leverage concern with the longer rod. Also, the coral was more of a concern ( at least for me) in the deeper water which the GTs would head for as soon as they were hooked. You just have to hope they don't find the coral. Also I suggest you apply max drag pressure early and throughout the fight and that you use fly lines with the 75# core in conjunction with 100# shock tippet.
  3. I've caught hundreds of yellowtail, mutton, mangrove and schoolmaster snapper at various locations in the bahamas on fly using tan/white or chartruese/white clousers, and various weighted bonefish patterns like gotchas and the shrimp scampi fly. I'm sure these flies will be equally effective in PR.
  4. These coordinates will put you in about the center of the island: Latitude: 1° 52' N Longitude: 157° 25' W Christmas Island (Kiritimati) is about 1300 miles south of the Honolulu. It is the world's largest coral atoll and is part of the Republic of Kiribati.
  5. Carried on the 6 rods (all 4-piece) in my REC multi rod case, carried on all 4 reels, fly lines, leaders, tippet, sunglasses, camera, chargers, travel paperwork and one set of fishing clothes in my second carry-on. Checked everything else including flies in one bag which must weigh under 50 pounds (mine was 31 lbs). No issues with my checked luggage. If you lock your checked bag, you better use a TSA approved lock. TSA tore the zippers right off my fishing partners bag. Also, there is only one flight a week to Christmas Island from Honolulu (Fiji Airways, Leaves on Tuesdays at 12:00pm) so we elected to arrive in Honolulu on Sunday afternoon, so in the event our bags didn't make it, we would have time to potentially get them before the Christmas Island flight.
  6. For the most part, I don't think flourocarbon was necesary here. I did use 100# flouro shock for the big GTs for abration resistance. Here is a bluefin trevally, another common trevally found on both the flats and reef areas. This size is a lot of fun on a six weight. Caught plenty like this. I saw some nice bluefin trevally up to maybe 20 pounds but I never caught any over about 5 pounds. Never tried crease flies, brought some poppers but never used them. For the reef fishing I primarily used size 4 brass eye clousers and gotchas in tan white or chartreuse. I agree with Frank on the bonefish flies. Tie them sparse! Here are a few picture that will make you laugh. Preventive maintenance is a concept that hasn't really caught on at Christmas Island. However, we only lost about an hour of fishing time total during my stay because of truck or boat motor issues. I'm glad there was a spare outboard....Our boatman was Ti, awesome guy, taking it all in stride. This is apparently what happens when a spring on an injector goes-and the driver couldn't turn the engine off. We evacuated the truck about 10 seconds before I took this picture. I thought the engine was dead but they had it back in service the very next day. Very resourceful people. ..and finally the spare tire. Glad we never had to use it.
  7. I pretied all my flies. I took about 250 bonefish flies and about 30 GT/offshore flies. I went through about 200 of the bonefish flies. There is no time to tie flies while you are there. You get up at 5 AM, breakfast is at 5:30AM, truck pick up to go fishing is at 6:30AM, you fish until about 4PM, by the time you get back to the hotel it is 5 PM. Dinner is at 6:30 PM. I was asleep by 8:00 PM. The camera that I used was a waterproof Olympus Stylus TG-2. This is a great camera (there is a new model out) and has a built in GPS so you can geotag your pictures. I calibrated the GPS right before I left (downoladed the calibration file) and found the accuracy to be within about 25 feet. I use Google's Picassa 3 software to view the location the picture was taken on a Google Earth map. Here are some GT pictures: As you can see, not all GTs you catch on Christmas Island are huge Typical GT caught on my eight weight on the Vaskess bay reef. These large GTs were chummed in on a pancake flat and flies were cast at them. Despite what you might read on the Internet, these fish are smart and challenging to hook and fight, and after one or two are caught, its over. I'm glad I tried it and caught some fish but when my fishing partner wanted to do it again (actually twice), I declined and got dropped off on another flat to bonefish. Of course, for the "purist", the ideal way to catch these is by casting to them while the are cruising on a flat. The reality of the situation, based on my 27 days there, is that in order to be successful, you must be focused solely on GTs and forget the bonefish. You generally only have one decent shot a day, sometimes two, and you typically have less than 10 seconds to make the cast. These fish are fast and they come out of nowhere. So, unless you are holding your 12 weight, ready to go, with the line stripped off, the fish will swim out of range. When we used a guide, the guide held the 12 weight while we bonefished with our lighter rods. In 27 days of fishing, I never switched rods in time to make a cast after spotting a GT. Here are some lounging 30-40 pound GTs that I photographed while fishing alone with just a six weight in my hand. These fish, I later learned are seen here frequently but are very difficult to fool.
  8. I brought 6 rods-2 saltwater six weights, 2 eight weights and 2 twelve weights. If your thinking about going and bringing just a ten weight for the big GTs... think again. These fish are extremely strong and they don't fight fair. They'll try to get into the coral every time. You have to control the fight from the start and that means heavy tippet and really good drag pressure. I used a Colton Torrent T-1315 reel on my 12 weight and that reel kicked some GT butt. I bought the reel from Bob about 4 years ago and never used it until this trip. I can you tell that this reel is awesome! Used it offshore as well on the Kawakawa. The drag is fantastic! My primary 12 weight rod for this trip was a Redington Vapen Red with the golf grip handle. I have a lot of confidence in the strength of this rod after catching GTs on it up to 90 pounds and using it offshore on the mackerel tuna. And yes, I'm done with cork handles on fly rods. Just want to make it clear I'm not a Redington rep, or anybody's rep for that matter. Now it's safe to mention that I used a Redington Vapen red 6 and 8 weight for the bonefish. Great casting rods. My favorite is the six weight but maybe I'm just fond of lighter rods. Here is some of the other equipment I brought. Keep in mind that nothing dies of old age on Christmas Island.: Simms wading boots-worked well, good ankle support. Left my old pair on the island: Simms sun gloves-didn't like the open palm, didn't like the integrated stripping finger guard, cuffs to short and got sunburned on my wrists. They held up OK but there are better options out there. Rio hard alloy tippet 30#,25#,20#16#- thumbs up! great for making leaders that turn over very well. Really good abrasion resistance "coral tested" many times. By the way, the bonefish aren't leader shy there, so you don't need any fancy flourocarbon tippet. Costa Del Mar 580G sunglasses with the green mirror lenses (amber base)- Probably the most important piece of equipment you can bring sight-fishing is the best sunglasses you can afford and in my opinion, these are the best. I buy the glass lenses because the plastic ones scratch. Airflow bonefish fly lines-great performing line, but with most shots inside of 50 feet and with the steady 15-25 mph wind on most days, sometimes I wish I'd gotten a quickshooter line with the shorter head for a quicker delivery. The cost of the trip? Well travelling to the other side of the Earth for a month of fly fishing is not a cheap venture. I flew to Honolulu using airline miles, but if I didn't, the flight from the east coast run about $700-900 r/t. 16 years in the software business (now retired)-I have a lot of miles with Delta. The cost of the Honolulu to Christmas Island r/t flight varies between $800-1000. I got mine for $816. The weekly fishing package at the Capt Cook is $2350 (same as the other fishing lodges I believe). Then you have tips for the guide and hotel staff, about $250 per week. So add it all up and it comes to just over 11k by my count. I'm at the age (actually i've been there a while) where experiences are more valuable than tangible items. Yes, it's a lot of money but it was worth it and the memories (and 600 photos I took) will be burned into my memory for the rest of my life.
  9. I planned this trip for almost a year. It certainly helped that I went with a guy who had been there 18 times before. He gave me a lot of great information. What you won't see on the list is any mention of the pre-trip preparation. I'm 51 years old and I did my best to prepare myself physically and mentally for 27 straight days of fly fishing, eight hours per day. I know some people will roll there eyes about the mental preparation but in my opinion, mental focus and attitude have a lot to do with your success. With the exception of the 1 offshore day, the fishing was all wading, standing on you feet for hours at a time. So, for three months prior to the trip, I walked 3 miles every day in the Florida heat (no, I wasn't a couch potato before that but I needed to build up my leg stamina). I did some visual exercises as well. As I mentioned before, I shared a guide, so about half the time I was fishing on my own. Being able to see the fish and avoid eye strain is critical to your success with the bonefish. Here is the actual packing list I made for this trip: Christmas Island Packing List 2014 Clothing □ (3) Long sleeved SPF fishing shirts □ (3) Short sleeved shirts and/or t-shirts for after fishing □ (3) Pairs of quick drying SPF long pants for fishing □ (2) Pairs of shorts for after fishing □ (2) Pair of Cotton socks for traveling □ Traveling shoes □ Traveling pants □ Sandals to wear around the lodge □ Lightweight raincoat □ Wading shoes and backup pair □ (2) Pairs of wading socks □ (1) Pair of gaiters □ (2) Buffs for sun protection □ (2) Pairs of sungloves □ (2) Hats-Baseball style hat and backup hat Tackle □ (2) six weight fly rods □ (1) six weight fly reel □ (2) six weight floating bonefish lines □ (2) eight weight fly rods □ (2) eight weight fly reels □ (4) eight weight floating bonefish lines □ (2) twelve weight fly rods □ (1) twelve weight fly reel □ (2) twelve weight floating lines-GT or Leviathan □ Bonefish Flies □ GT Flies and poppers □ Leaders -14 twelve foot Bruce Chard formula bonefish leaders w/ 18lb Flouro tippet. □ Tippet/shock-100 lb., 80 lb. ,40 lb., 30 lb., 25 lb., 20lb, 16 lb. □ (4) Nippers □ Line cleaning kit □ (4) Dehookers/forceps □ Hook hone □ (2) Water bottles □ Stripping basket □ Waist/hip pack or light weight vest for wade fishing □ Boat bag for everything you are bringing for each day of fishing, waterproof □ Polarized Sunglasses and backup pair and cleaning cloth □ Reel lube kit, ferrule wax, small scissors Personal □ Passport plus back up copy □ Cash for extra guides, gratuities, water and beverages □ 2 copies of your flight and travel itinerary □ Personal toiletries □ Personal medicine (pack in you carry on) □ Plastic bag for wet wading shoes and dirty damp clothes on your way home □ Book or two to read /fishing log book □ Reading glasses □ Sunglass cleaner □ Mosquito repellent, not always needed but good to have □ Sunscreen □ Camera, memory cards, battery charger
  10. Yes, as promised here is part 2. Here are some pictures of the flats and reef areas where I fished: Yes,Nine mile flat really is that long... Giant trevally alley Typical Cat Island flat Poland channel shoreline flat Captain Cook hotel reef surge zone at low tide-challenging to fly fish there but the deeper pools and cracks in the reef are loaded with small groupers, sergeants and surge wrasse. Watch your step! Paris 1 flat near the lagoon entrance. This is the place where, for just a few days a month, after the full moon, the spawning bonefish arrive by the thousands. Vaskess Bay on the south side of the island. 1 hour and 45 minute drive from the Capt Cook hotel including an hour or so on the Poland Road (dirt road) which is in need of major grading. Fished here for two days, wish I had more time there. Tremendous diversity of reef fish and schools of trevally and bonefish along the beach as well. Vaskess Bay reef . I was amazed at how quickly something ate my fly each time I cast out there.... Typical Y-site shoreline flats Almost impossible not to catch a blacktip reef shark here. There were 50 or more of them on this dark patch of Nine mile flat. Saw similar groups at other flats as well. The sharks will readily eat bonefish flies. Shark caught with a size 6 beadchain Gotcha and no wire shock. Another Y-site flat More Vaskess Bay reef, I'm very fond of this particular part in the middle section of the bay. Vaskess Bay outer reef. This is about as far out as you can wade without going off the edge. Nareau, my guide, asked me if I knew how to swim and then took me out here. He later told me that I was the first imatang (white person) he took here in 26 years of guiding. Another Y-site shoreline flat with a school of 3-4 pound Giant trevally racing along the flat. Paris reef area, many picasso triggerfish here near the coral heads. This was the place to catch large longnose emperors as well. Paris Outer reef. Walk out as far as you dare and cast. The reef drops off about 100 feet further out. Lots of fish here but difficult conditions-uneven bottom and waves make for a tough combination. Paris shallow rock area inside the reef. I suspect most people would look at this picture and think that I didn't fish here. In fact it was loaded with small groupers, and other fish. I tried unsuccessfully to catch a moray eel on fly here. The moray showed no interest in the fly. This is Orvis flat on the last afternoon of the trip. It's not always sunny on Christmas Island. The last day was our cloudiest day with about half the day overcast like this. I fished on the Paris reef most of the day so I really didn't care.
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