testimonials

~ Testimonials ~

Plenitud / Plentifulness

SALTWATER Kiribati: Christmas Island

by: Gabriel Baier - August 2017

Dear Daniel,

After a great effort of planning and setting up the trip together and making it a reality, I must say that it was a total success! A year long coming back and forth planning the perfect air combination and suitable connecting destinations in order to make profit of absolutely everything.
The day finally came, the anxiety was overwhelming and little by little everything was falling in its place, all together at Ezeiza's Airport we departed to Houston, second scale was Honolulu and last destination Christmas Island.

As a group of schoolboys, we enjoyed every second of it, from renting a mini van and go out shopping to visiting every fly shop that came along. We successfully received the order we made to your friend Chris from Caddisflyshop, thanks to your recommendations we ad all the necessary gear for the adventure.

Once in Honolulu, already in short pants we went to the only fly shop on the island just for details and accessories. The next day we caught our flight, Fiji Airways, to Christmas Island only 3 hours far form our final destination.
A mix of feelings and sensations came as an invasion, we had landed in the so wanted and far away place that we all once dreamed of. The most important component was the group of friends that traveled sharing the same passion, fishing!

Already in the island, we were transferred to the lodge in an amazing natural environment, hosted by humble and very respectful people who made a great effort in making us feel comfortable. We unpacked and the meal schedule and fishing times were explained, after that we went to prepare our gear for the big day!

The next morning we woke up at 5 am, ready for breakfast with a tremendous anxiety wondering how the place was going to look like, and how was the day going to develop.
We divided the fishing groups and went to the marina where local boats awaited with the guides.
After a long day wading, we shared our experience once we were back in the boat, and my personal experience was successful since I fished 7 GTs, not very big, only one of around 7 kg. The rest of the group some fished GTs, other bonefish and other nothing at all.

Days went by and we fished all sorts of species, bonefish, GTs, ladyfish, barracudas, bluetrevally, among others... but I developed a personal thing with the triggerfish, since it's a very difficult species to fish and its way of taking the fly is similar to the permit. Such was my fixation that all I looked for when I was wading was their movement, their way of feeding and tailing.

After fishing various GTs my aim was to confuse the triggerfish, a jealous and slippery fish, with my crab. The guides weren't much enthusiastic about it since they know how hard they are, nevertheless with my scarce english I tried to communicate my interest to the guides, who watched me cast and set the fly over and over again with no success.
After walking many kilometers with water above the knees we saw some tailing, the adrenaline immediately rushed into me. In my mind I knew that I had to do my best cast and set the fly with no sound at all in order not to scare them. There were 2 of them, but as we got near only one was left with beautiful colors and a prominent tail. I positioned myself strategically with the wind on the tail and after a quick glance to the guide I performed my cast and landed the fly 1 meter in front of its mouth. The guide quietly indicated to start stripping, and stop... when I realized that the fish was attracted by the my fly my heart stopped, I saw perfectly how the triggerfish followed every movement I made with my fly. After following my fly a couple of meters the fish opened its mouth and finally ate, while standing still. In that precious moment of tailing and immediate rush, the triggerfish ran taking out half of my backing line, I was happy and felt plentiful. My screams and the guide's could be heard from far far away and after 10 minutes of fight I had it in my hands, and that was the moment I felt realized in this trip. The day continued with landing another one but smaller without the guide, and I was able to catch a third one of 13/14 lbs on the second day also without the guide. My joyfulness was inexplicable; I went back to the lodge completely satisfied but with the image of the tailing repeating in my mind over and over.

It was an extraordinary trip, full of joy and emotions, we met amazing people and to you Daniel what can I say that I haven't said before... thank you again, always willing to improve, solve and more important be one of us in the trip!

GO TO DESTINATION: CHRISTMAS ISLAND

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