Located 1200 miles south of Hawaii, Christmas Island is a virtual paradise for stalking bonefish. Species: Flats – Bonefish, Giant Trevally; Offshore – Tuna, Wahoo and several billfish. Best Season: All year. Type of Fishing: Spin & fly casting, saltwater fly, offshore. Side Trips: Scuba Diving, exploring.

Having almost single handedly brought the sport and art of fly fishing for bonefish into the public conscience, Christmas Island remains one of the best destinations in the world for both beginning and advanced saltwater anglers.

As well as practically endless flats and remarkable numbers of cruising bonefish and trevally, Christmas Island hosts fine facilities and opportunities for offshore fishing, catching tuna, wahoo, and billfish. The island’s proximity to the equator (less than 200 miles) has blessed Christmas Island with consistently good weather, enabling a quality fishing experience year round.

Top among its many desirable attributes, Christmas Island has a myriad of diverse habitats and endless flats. An angler could spend a lifetime trying to fish every flat and still not accomplish the feat. The flats are so vast that it’s common to fish all day and never see another group of anglers!

Bonefish, the sleek occupants of the flats, can attain speeds above 20 miles per hour. Although Christmas Island has gained the reputation as a small bonefish destination, it is not uncommon to take bones in the 6-8 pound range weekly with ample opportunity for double-digit fish.

Christmas Island provides a change of pace with its several species of trevally, some of which can run over 100 pounds. More commonly are the 5 to 50 pound size that will demonstrate an impressive surface strike on a wide variety of streamers and surface poppers. The tug-of-war with a trevally will leave your forearms sore and a smile on your face. Don’t be surprised if you catch a few other species as well. Queen fish, black-tipped sharks, snapper, barracuda, goat fish and more are known to frequent the flats.

If you like light-tackle action in a marvelous warm-weather climate, this is the place to find it — plus, it’s still a genuine value in today’s fishing world.

Attention divers: Christmas Island also boasts outstanding scuba diving.

Getting There

FIJI AIRWAYS has air service to Christmas Island from Honolulu and Fiji every Tuesday. From the U.S., you should plan to arrive in Honolulu on Monday, stay overnight there and catch the regular Tuesday morning flight. Then you return the following Tuesday, arriving back in Honolulu for your connecting flight home. You can visit FIJI AIRWAYS web site at www.fijiarirways.com, but to make your flight reservation you must call them at 1-800-227-4446.