A Report on Christmas Island by Jeff Gulay

I thought anglers might be interested in this report I got from Jeff Gulay on his recent visit to Christmas Island:
 Thanks Jeff!



This review in no way reflects the actual possible fishery on Christmas Island and the different Lodges that operate on the island, but just reflects the {one] week we were at Christmas Island Outfitters and the fishery we encountered.

You can expect a chaotic experience after you land and go through the immigration terminal. The lodge staff were waiting outside the terminal with a welcome chilled coconut water and once all were accounted for and luggage loaded, we were off on a half hour drive to the lodge.

Arriving at the lodge we were pleasantly surprised at the new accommodations complete with air conditioning. There are 3 two story buildings with 4 rooms each complete with a fridge and 2 double beds and a bathroom. Still island-temp showers, but if you wait until you get back from your days fishing you can get a luke warm shower because the water tank is on the roof and gets heated by the sun during the day.




The lodge staff are super friendly and accommodating. The meals are simple with tuna sushi and deep fried breadfruit for appetizers and rice, potatoes, fish (catch of the day) some chicken and some beef. We had octopus and lobster one night and on the last night we had a feast prepared for us with all of the above plus a whole roasted pig! To top it off there were some local dancers to entertain us.

Breakfasts were bacon, eggs and toast and once we had pancakes. Lunches were one sandwich each ( meat, onions, cheese with mustard or mayonnaise) and twice we had an apple each. There was bottled water on the boat, but we brought extra water, sodas and beer from our fridge.

Now to the fishing:

First off, I was amazed at the vastness of this, the largest coral atoll in the world and the many, quite possibly untouched areas in which to fish. Google Earth gives it no justice.

No matter where you go, whether it's by boat or truck, expect a 1 1/2 - 2 hour transport from the lodge to the fishing areas. I would recommend fishing the Korean Wreck area due to the numbers and strength of the bonefish as well as the possibilities of catching a variety of different species including uneducated GT's and large milkfish. If I go back, we will do an overnight camping trip out to that area which the lodge offers at no extra cost but requires a minimum of 4 anglers. They supply everything needed as far as camping supplies and it also gives you a chance to hang out with the guides and get to know them. It also gives you 2 days fishing there which cuts down on the travel time which normally would be 3-4 hours per day.


If you are after fair chase GT's you will definitely get your shots at both small to large Jeets, but don't expect to get a lot of shots or to hook up for that matter. If you are strictly focused on Jeets then I would suggest arranging your trip to line up with the bigger tides which seem to bring the Jeets onto the flats more. What I found while fishing for bones is that when the Jeets show up, by the time you get your GT rod from your guide and get a cast away, your opportunity is gone or not optimal. What we ended up doing was chumming for them with milkfish that were netted fresh that morning. Due to the constant chumming, the GT's are getting good at recognizing a bait that has a fly in it so at some spots you may have to use a bare hook with the bait. That being said, it is possible to chum them in and cast a fly into the feeding frenzy and have them chase your fly. There are other methods for GT's such as trolling the fly or using teasers. As far as flies go on the flats I would suggest a 5-6" fly tied to look like a yellow snapper with some red on the throat. (Of course I had none)

As far as the bonefishing goes, I expected to find large schools on the flats, but found mostly singles, pairs and triples mostly in the 2-3lb range with the odd bigger one. On the trip by truck to the backcountry to fish the lagoons you will encounter some large fish, but they seem to be well educated and you should get plenty of shots at them. The back country lagoons also seem to hold a large number of GT's which are on the smaller side (20-40lbs) Expect to do a fair bit of walking so bring plenty of water.

If you like to catch trigger fish, Christmas Island is the place is for you. You will have many shots at 3 different types of triggers (there may be more types) and they will test your accuracy, technique and patience.

You also can expect to catch many different species of Trevally especially Blue Fin.

The guides all have great eyes and are very friendly and eager to please. They are all different in respect to the knowledge of the fish you want to target and how to fish them. Some of the guides did not help much with fly selection and I'm sure they were under the assumption that if you were there, you must know what flies to use.  The go-to fly seemed to be the Christmas Island Special in orange size 6, but you should bring plenty of size 8 and some size 4 for the deeper water. Next time I would bring some small weedless crab patterns in light colours just to show them something a bit different.

All in all it was a great trip with plenty of fish and different species to cross off the list. I am by no means an expert, but not a rookie either and I learned a lot on this trip. I traveled with a first time saltwater fly fisher and he found it difficult at times especially with spotting the fish which means a lot when casting to them. Having full sun definitely aids in the spotting of fish, something that we didn't have at all times.

Once again, this is just a review on our trip which may differ greatly compared to other people's experiences. This report is designed to inform potential clients about what to expect when booking a trip to this amazing place called Christmas Island.

Jeff Gulay