Kiribati Fishing

Fly Fishing | Trolling | Jigging

Let’s face the facts--fishing is what put Christmas Island on the world map! Whether you are a seasoned pro or just looking to get a little R & R from the office, family life or whatever, the inner lagoon flats and near shore drop-offs of Christmas Island take fishermen galaxies away from home and into another world that can only be described as pure Zen! Our seasoned fishing guides, headed by long time local pro Peter Kairaoi, make sure that our anglers always come home successful and hungry for more. At Christmas Island Diver’s Association, we offer three types of fishing to our guests; fly fishing, deep sea trolling, and jigging.

Fly Fishing

Fly fishermen can feel the hard and sudden hit of a giant trevally, or the breathtaking fight of a Christmas Island bonefish. Kiribati’s Christmas Island has been voted by fly- fishermen and fishing magazines as the number one bonefishing destination in the world. Nowhere else compares to the nearly 200 square miles of ankle to knee deep white sand flats that the hard fighting bonefish call home. The bonefish are numerous with 30 catch a day possible anytime. In fact, fly fishermen on the flats 3 days after the full moon have reported up to 50 bonefish landed in a single day….per person! The numbers rise each day you spend learning new techniques and secrets from our skilled guides. All bonefishing is strictly catch and release. Our ratios are one guide per angler and not more than 4 anglers per boat. If you got a group of 4, we got 4 guides to show you the fish and make it happen, simple as that. Fishermen are transported to remote fishing flats via comfortable outrigger canoes (as pictured here) or by modern trucks that have sun canopies and built-in padded seats. Equipment rentals are available upon request. Typical days are 8 hours, from 7 am to 3pm, however days sometimes go longer… “caus’ when the fish are biting, we be fishin’!”
Click here for an account of Christmas Island’s fly fishing by Michigan native and fly-pro, Craig Kivi.

Trolling

For many years Christmas Island has been talked about by commercial long-line fishermen worldwide as the single best location to catch the highly prized yellowfin tuna. However, because of the strong conservation efforts of the Kiribati Department of Fisheries, commercial long-lining in Kiribati’s near coastal waters is strictly prohibited making sportfishing king. Yellowfin tuna, wahoo, mahi-mahi (dolphinfish), and marlin can be caught anytime year-round and are almost guaranteed to be landed on each and every trip. With the ocean depth often dropping to several hundreds of feet deep within a hundred yards of the shoreline, bluewater fish begin to get landed within the first half hour of casting off. Yellowfin are the most commonly caught fish and offer a great fight. An average catch would be 10-15 yellowfin landed in a day. Mahi-mahi are also quite common and put on a good show, often jumping several feet out of the water. When anglers are ready to change up the tempo and try their luck on a different type of fight, we pull in closer to the shoreline and troll for giant trevally. The Christmas Island GT record is currently over 100 lbs. (46kg) and the fight is straight-up adrenaline pumping! All of our trolling trips are escorted by 2 crew members, the guide and the boatman. All fishing equipment is provided by us however, fishermen are always welcomed to bring their favorite rods or lucky lures. We use standard 80 and 60 weight stubby rods, Penn Senator reels, assorted lures, and harnesses to help our anglers land their trophy catch. Trolling is done as an eight hour day usually starting at 7am and finishing around 3pm, however it can be shortened to a 4 hour day and start/end time adjusted if so desired. The base price of the trolling trip is the same as our other fishing charters however a fuel surcharge will be assessed at the end of the day to cover the extra fuel spent while trolling. Usually this amount is around US$60.

Jigging

If you have ever wondered why Christmas Island’s underwater reef life is talked about so much by divers try jigging for one afternoon and experience the non-stop excitement of catching reef fish, after fish, after fish, after fish…… Sorry, no time to down your beer here—unless you take your hook out of the water! Christmas Island offers great bottom fishing for large groupers, trevally, snapper, jobfish, and some other unusual fish too. As with our other tours, a guide and a boatman are provided. Equipment rentals are available upon request. Bait is provided by our guides however, it is recommended that arriving fishermen bring such baits as frozen baby octopus (1lbs. size) and skipjack belly (aku belly) to land the extra large giant trevally. This can easily be picked up in Honolulu at Hana Pa’a fishing supply, Tamashiro’s Fishmarket, or almost any supermarket in Honolulu or Nadi. We recommend that anglers who are bringing their own tackle equip themselves with line that is resistant to being destroyed by a fish that decides to run it over the reef. The reefs in Christmas Island are composed of many sharp hard corals and line is easily shredded when a fish takes it into a hole. Jigging is also done as a full/half day activity and is priced the same as our other fishing activities. Often fishermen will combine jigging with snorkeling as a way to cool off in the middle of a typically hot and sunny Christmas Island day.