North 40 Fly Shop eMagazine October 2017 | Page 36

KIRIBATI
REBOUNDS
KIRIBATI? CHRISTMAS ISLAND? WHATEVER
YOU WANT TO CALL IT, THIS PACIFIC ISLAND
IS BACK ON THE RADAR FOR GIANT
TREVALLY AND LARGE BONES.
BY CALVIN FULLER
When I first heard of Christmas Island
I was on the phone with a good friend,
Justin Crump. Crump told me mind-
blowing stories about fishing Christmas
for giant trevally, known as GTs, along with
bonefish, and tuna. And I wanted to go.
But, at that time, visiting Christmas Island
was nothing more than a pipe dream. Later
that year another friend, Tim Pask, told me
more stories about the place, which did nothing
to temper my enthusiasm. Pask, in fact, had fished
Christmas Island since the 1990s. Unfortunately,
he had witnessed what many anglers reported as
the fall of the giant trevally and bonefish fisheries
at Christmas Island. That’s because in the 1990s
and early 2000s fishing pressure, chumming, and
subsistence fishing took their toll on the fishery—
the big bones became difficult to find and the GTs
were increasingly skeptical of flies. Traveling anglers
noticed the difference and lodge owners saw their
bookings diminish because of it.
To resurrect the fishery, in 2007 it became illegal
to keep bonefish inside of the island’s massive
lagoon. Which was good timing because my pipe
dream came to fruition in 2010. And since that
time, I’ve been able to fish Christmas Island every
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