Christmas Island Feb 2012

Dang it! I miss fishing for da Blues and talakitos on light tackle...hearing the scream of my stradic 4000...and da Ulua's (GW Giant Whites) were nice sizes. So jealous! I showed my wife da pictures and she said her mouth was watering. She misses eating da talakitos. Is it all CnR or can you bring a cooler back to da mainland? If all goes well I'm putting aside some of my bonus for a trip.

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Wow.  Just wow.  That last Ulua is an amazing beast.

Anyone want to guess how big that beast was.  Personally I didn't see it.  That was caught during week 2 and I was only there for week 1.  I'm actually afraid to guess.   

Pancake flat was an amazing experience.  I only got to spend one short session one afternoon on it.  The guys hit it hard the next week.

A big aspect of this trip was getting a story done.  But it didn't stop there, the writer and photog were working on TWO stories.  The other story was a kiteboarding story.  We had 2 pro riders from Cabrinha Kites (http://www.cabrinhakites.com/ ) along with us.   It made for a hectic day.  Morning light and evening light were best for shooting, followed by exactly noon.  We wanted to be at specific spots to shoot at specific times.  In addition for scouting good fishing spots, we were scouting good kiting spots (both flatwater and surf).  The day I got to hit Pancake Flat, we shared a boat and went way back into the lagoon to do a shoot of the kiteboarders.  It was pretty windy out that morning so we weren't able to launch the yaks.  I mostly sat around kicking rocks.  Well, ok, I busted out the light rods and fished the cracks for yellow snapper.  These were panfish sized fish and I was just killing time.  Of course as soon as the local guides saw me catching and releasing they grabbed another rod and started loading up on them.  Apparently they are great eating.  We got into quite the battle of the yellow snapper!!!

That took up a good portion of the day.  But finally we were going fishing.  The guides wanted to show us the flat soon to be called Pancake Flat.  But first we needed to find some bait/chum.  In this case, it was milkfish.  But ... grrr, the tide was low and the milkfish were off the flats. It took us a couple hours of searching to find some we could harvest with a set net.  BTW, there are a lot of milkfish around (just not at low tide).  They push up on the flats at high tide.  The locals even have milkfish farms, lagoon that they trap wild milkfish in then raise them to harvest size.  Offshore we encounterd schools of larger milkfish hundreds of yards across.  But apparently they only eat algae and seaweed and are extremely difficult to catch on rod and reel.  Anyway. we finally find some milkfish and work out way back to Pancake Flat and start up a chumline.  The winds were up so we decided to wade fish.  It didn't take long before the Ulua were busting through.  Boogie tossed a spoon and hooked up.  Minutes later he was busted off.  Cole (a 17 year old pro kiteboarder) grabbed the smallest rod in the boat.  He didn't know it as he hadn't caught a fish before.  It was a 20 pound spinning rod with a Big Hammer on it.  He immediately hooks up and 5 minutes later, busts off.  I finally got a nice one C&R'd.  They it was just taking turns.  Cole got his.  Michael, the writer got his.  I got a couple more.  They the sun started going down and we had to leave.  It was a quick flurry of action, but we knew that spot was magical.

-Allen

Wow.  Just wow.  That last Ulua is an amazing beast.

Anyone want to guess how big that beast was.  Personally I didn't see it.  That was caught during week 2 and I was only there for week 1.  I'm actually afraid to guess.   

 The 3 big buggas...in order. 38, 46 and 58 lbs

You seriously have no idea how much I miss home reading this. But I can totally relate except for the kayak fishing aspect. Sounds like you need to head back for the total fishing experience.  When you heading back?
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I frickin hate you polepole

Those are some epic Ulua!  They must have been smoking your drag washers.

They do pull quite hard.  They take a long first run, then bulldog it out.  The threat of breakoff was always there as coral heads were everywhere.  We did our best with 30-60' of 60-80# shock leader.  After a session, we'd have to re-rig as the stuff was scraped to hell.

I was sporting a Shimano Saragosa 10000F spinning real.  It was more than adequate. 

Nice looking swell too!  Dang but I'm jealous!

Yeah, the swell was interesting.  Apparently December through February is the season.  A big swell event that hit Hawaii's North Shore hits Christmas like 3 days later.  There was one such even on the North Shore hitting 18 footers.  The kiteboarders were waiting for it to hit Christmas as one of them was a serious kite surfer.  It never got there.  But we did have a decent 6 foot swell going more of the time.  Enough that the local kids were swarming the local body surfing spots.  I tell you, the shear joy these kids had on their faces was precious.  They'd either be straight up body surfing, or body surfing on scraps of plywood.  One kid even busted out a cooler top.  We'd drive up with these kayak and they'd all come running up, curious to check things out.  Sometimes we'd be able to get one to jump on a kayak, then they'd all want their turn.

Anyways, there didn't appear to be a lot of surf spots.  Most of island is rings by reefs with very few channels.  And most of the spots that had breaking waves would have dumped you right onto the reef.  Only around the lagoon mouth was there any decent surf break.  Still there is enough that http://www.christmasislandsurf.com/ is able to do some business there.  We spent some time with the guys that run this outfit.  They really latched onto the kitboarding and it appears they've added it to their business.  I see a couple pictures at the bottom that were taken on the trip we were on.

-Allen

Sounds like you need to head back for the total fishing experience.  When you heading back?

Boogie has a group interested in going in May, but I can't make it.  I don't know when I lead a trip back there, but I have the option to at any time if there is interest.

-Allen

Hey Allen?
How did the Adios handle in the surf and surrounding waters compared to the T13's and Addy?

The Adios is not proclaimed to be a surf boat.  But it did excel in standup fishing, as advertised!  So easy to just stand up on this kayak.  The extra couple of feet height was pretty cool when drifting over the flats.

-Allen

Sounds like you need to head back for the total fishing experience.  When you heading back?

Boogie has a group interested in going in May, but I can't make it.  I don't know when I lead a trip back there, but I have the option to at any time if there is interest.

-Allen

I think next year for sure. Christmas bonus=Christmas Island

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I forgot to post this pic earlier.  Apparently the Christmas Island beer is good for you!!!

I also had the opportunity to try the local spirits.  In this case it was Coconut Toddy.  This stuff SUCKS.  It's basically sap from a coconut tree that is left out for a few days.  Natural fermentation takes over et voila, Coconut Toddy.  I traded a shot of Highland Park Single Malt for a shot of Coconut Toddy.  Big Mistake.   

-Allen

Toddy is pretty much the same thing as what we call in Guam and Philippines "Tuba". I prefer to drink it when its fresh cause it's still sweet. As it ferments it eventually turns into vinegar (good for lumpia).

But, I can bring some Lambanog to ORC if you wanna try it. Its like Coconut moonshine.

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cool islandson.. i had a big talk with a local by the name of Buraing.. we are thinking what a great idea to make distilled alchol from a toddy mix with sugar and good yeast... this would be awesome..

cool islandson.. i had a big talk with a local by the name of Buraing.. we are thinking what a great idea to make distilled alchol from a toddy mix with sugar and good yeast... this would be awesome..

Boogie D...From my understanding Lambanog (sometimes called Coconut Wine or Vodka) is just cooking the fermented Toddy and distilling. Capturing the evaporated alcohol is pretty much the Lambanog. I like to call it PI Moonshine.

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Beautiful fish Boogie! Congrats to you and Allen for pulling this off. I've been a silent spectator on FB.

I frickin hate you polepole

x 20. You are one lucky sob. But I know you work hard for these great trips and deserve to reap the rewards. Beautiful scenery, fish and a real whopper from boggie-D

I frickin hate you polepole

x 20. You are one lucky sob. But I know you work hard for these great trips and deserve to reap the rewards. Beautiful scenery, fish and a real whopper from boggie-D

You got that right.  This was one of the hardest trips ever to put together.  It was a project that last over 2 years.  We had it on the editors desks of multiple magazines, rejected a bunch of times before getting a bite.  We had to line up schedules for a writer, a photographer and the pro kiters for the other story.  We solicited support form the Kiribati National Tourism Organization and the South Pacific Tourism Organization.  We had major sponsors for kayaks (Ocean Kayak and Diable Watersports), PFD's and clothing (Kokatat), paddles (Werner), and geaer (Ocean Tackle International and Big Hammer).  Shipping all this stuff there was no easy feat.  There is one airflight a week that couldn't fit the kayaks.  There is one slowboat a quarter that was too irregular to count on.  Finally we found one obscure once a month air freighter that could fit the kayaks.  We had support from Air Pacific helping with flight logistics and a slight discount.

Anyways, we think we know how this all works now.  I'd be very interested in any dream trips you all have, because I've enjoyed working on this one and certainly would be willing to take up the challenge on others.  If you're serious about making something happen somewhere, let me know, and let's do it!!!  Islandson, when we going to Guam or the PI?

-Allen