PPS Destinations Report

Christmas Island, Republic of Kiribati

Date:       March 18 - 25, 2001

Speaker:   Dr. Harald Heymann, UNC, Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Topic:       Aesthetic Dentistry; Proven Solutions vs. Opinion and Hype

Reported by Ernst 'Ernie' Schmidt

During this week, 27 of us visited this remote island on the equator for a week's worth of fishing and dental education .  When we left Honolulu for the 3 hour flight to Christmas Island (Kiritimati in Gilbertese) our expectations were understandably high,  especially since this was our second PPS seminar to this location whereby, the first, was surely one of the best fishing experiences that most of us had ever encountered.  But something was different this time.   No sooner had we left rainy and cold Honolulu than we noticed we could not see the ocean during our flight.   Clouds!   They were in the way.

If I were to sum up the fishing that our group experienced, I would have to say that it was mixed, in that our foursome found it quite tough, while others experienced fishing described to me as "nothing short of spectacular".   The weather would not always co-operate and, with the exception of an hour here and there, was cloudy and windy with some periods of heavy
rain.  This of course was the story of our stay until the departure day.  Naturally, as the new group of fishermen checked in to the Captain Cook Motel, they brought the delightful news that the low pressure front which had hung around for the past two weeks had finally moved on and it was expected that glorious weather would prevail for the next 9 days.   Figures.

Although the fishing was not as good as that which we experienced during our
stay in 1997, I must say that it certainly wasn't boring.   During most of the fishing day, the guides consistently put us onto fish.   The action was fairly continuous as we had lots of shots to singles and small groups of cruising fish.   My personal catch rate varied between 1 to 10 fish per day, however, there was hardly a day that I did not cast to fifty to a hundred fish.   Every day, some members would come back with stories of 20 plus fish while others were
dejected with nary a peck from the fickle bones.   In fact, I quickly came to classify my flies into 2 groups.   The first group, when hitting the water, caused immediate spooking of the fish when cast within 10 feet despite the wind/chop factor.  The second group of flies were just ignored.  I know that several people warned me before the trip that the fishing was not what
it used to be and that I should expect fewer and smaller fish, many of them being spooky.  I didn't really find the fish to be that spooky until cast to.   I did manage to increase my catch and hook-up rate in the second half of the week by tying up # 8 and #10 flies and weighting them with micro sized beads.  I was then able to cast to the fish without the splash immediately
spooking them.  The problem now was that I had to cast within 2 -3 feet of the fish in order to have any chance of the fish spotting my fly.  Even though I managed to improve my acceptance rate by the fish, I found that the lightly weighted smaller flies did not 'hook' as well and I lost more fish on the take.  Fly patterns, for the most part, had to be sparse in order to be effective.  By sparse, I mean using a red/pink/orange coloured thread and covering the body with 3 - 4 strands of crystal flash, leaving a minimal beard.  Flies tied with coloured crystal flash tended to cause more spooking or refusals.

By the middle of the week, I must admit that I began to really enjoy the fishing.  Appreciating that it wasn't going to come easy, I began to a savour and remember those that I did manage to catch.  Two fish really stick out in my mind.  The first, after being dropped off on a coral-lined island near the Y site, I spotted two fish bearing down towards me.  Wait a minute, one was brown and the other a silver shadow!   Not having any time to think about it, I crouched down and made a short 15 foot cast, waited, watched while a small black tip shark passed over my fly and then a small giant trevally pick up the fly in classic tailing style.  After a good 15 minute
fight, I managed to slip the fish onto the coral for a quick pic before releasing.  The second memorable fish, also at the Y site area, came after I left my guide behind for a smoke break.  I spotted a tail in the current of the ebbing tide at a narrow spot between two islands.  After a good cast, I immediately lost sight of the fish only to find that he did all the work for me, picking up the fly, hooking himself and exiting stage left before I had any idea of what was happening.

Since the moon was a new one, fishing was not 'on' at the famous Paris flats.  Most of the fishing was done in the lagoon on flats such as 9 mile, Smoking, Ricks, Orvis, Lone Palm, Ellen, Canada, Worm, Roneta, Pipeline etc.  The only other option was at the Y site.  Personally this has always been my favourite area.  I could not imagine better bonefishing conditions than walking along the coral-lined shore in the company of the Booby and Frigate birds and casting to cruisers tailing right on the edge of the coral.

After a whole week of hearing about other people's successes at such-and-such flats, I felt that my time just had to come.  I remember the last day as my guide could not understand all the refusals we were getting.  After lunch, we decided to move to a nearby flat.  Whatever the difference was, I don't
know, but the first seven fish I saw, I cast to and immediately hooked, landing 4 and breaking one off.  All this within a relatively short time.  This seemed to be the pattern during the week.  Although many of us experienced picky bones, there was always someone who managed to fish a flat populated with hungry gullible bones.

One enjoyable aspect of fishing with a group of 27 had to be the end-of-day stories told over a drink at the Maneabe.  Both Don Young and Jim Lord (both of Washington State), managed to catch 31 inch bones, each breaking their rod during the fight, yet successfully landing the fish.   Jim Lord also caught a 110 pound Wahoo fishing off the reef with mates, Charlie Swoope (Washington) and Brien Lang (Michigan), with the threesome also catching 100, 95 and 65 pound Wahoo as well as a yellow fin tuna.  Another bonefish novice, dental student Jenny Larson (also from Washington) managed a catch rate of 10 - 20 fish most days.  I remember my guide on the last day commenting on her success during a previous day.  Also of note, Bob Tacy (California) managed to catch a 12 pound golden trevally  and Matt Walkiewicz (Ontario) a 44" barracuda.  

Although the impression one receives of Christmas Island is that there are only two things to do; fishing and diving, I found that both the culture and people are equally as interesting.  I sincerely enjoyed my interactions with the islanders.  For my part, I could not but feel somewhat sorry for these gentle and quiet people.  I remember reading about the effects of
global warming several years ago and distinctly recall Christmas Island being mentioned as potentially being under water by the year 2025.  Here I am, a Canadian, listed as being one of the top energy consumers in the world and adding more than my share to the state of global warming.  The sad part of this is that none of the islanders had ever heard of the term 'global warming' although they freely acknowledged the bizarre weather patterns over the past 5
or so years.

Our stay at the Captain Cook Motel was a pleasant surprise.  The addition of more bungalows and the fact that they were cleaner and in a better state was welcome.   On top of this, we found the food to be a vast improvement over the last trip.   I got the distinct impression that the islanders working with the tourists had a much better idea of which side their bread was
buttered on.   With regard to evening entertainment, three nights of traditional dancing/singing were arranged by the hotel for the guests.  This was wonderfully received as one felt that the presentations were sincere.   Even Christmas Island is not immune to western influence and, as some of the guides pointed out, hanging on to traditions such as the dancing and singing was becoming harder among the younger generations.

Our evening entertainment was highlighted by 5 wonderful presentations by Dr. Harald Heymann of UNC, Chapel Hill.  This renowned speaker dazzled us - what else could you call it when he manages to keep you awake after a hard days fishing - with non-stop, cutting-edge information on a variety of dental topics.  In addition to Dr. Heymann's presentation, we had a panel discussion with the members addressing their questions to four eminent prosthodontists in the group, Dr. Charles Swoop, Seattle, WA, Dr. Brien Lang, Ann Arbor, Michigan,  Dr. Tom Curtis, Orinda, CA and Dr. James Lord, Seattle, WA.  On the 'lighter' side, presentations were also made by members, Dr. David Woodcock on fishing the Brooks Range in Alaska (including his flight up in his floatplane) and Mr. Fred Baldwin on the past PPS trip to Chile and Dean River steelheading.

All this this turned out to be the proverbial 'icing on the cake', since not only was I glad to be going home to my family after what was a great fishing trip with great people but I felt I had been energized, by the speaker, to get back to practice.   Now that's what I call a good fishing trip!!!!!!

Ernie Schmidt

.........."thanks for setting up such a wonderful trip to Christmas Island. Sallie and I enjoyed ourselves very much and sincerely hope that you will set up another trip to Christmas Island in a few years. As you know, we both had our personal guide, and were rewarded with excellent fishing and we both had more than twenty hook-ups on most days. Sallie even had more than 20 hook-ups in one spectacular afternoon. Those guides worked very hard for us! 

The overall Christmas Island experience is a wonderful one, and one we cannot wait to repeat. We certainly could offer the Island residents some dental education on another trip. We'll look forward to more photos and follow-ups from this trip."  Al and Sallie LaBounty, Kelowna, BC, Canada.

Dear reader, if you have any questions about our trip to
Christmas Island, please feel free to contact me at eschmidt@direct.ca.  For more information on Christmas Island, check out the website at Frontiers International.

For more pictures of our trip, please visit the Photo Album.  For those of you who were on the trip, please check out More photos