04
Mar 25

Compare/Contrast – 2019 to 2025 on Xmas Island

This was my second (and not last) trip to Xmas following my trip there in 2019. So, what changed? What was different?

The airport got a major upgrade. There’s now a legit waiting area with enough seating. So, good job to whatever government(s) got that sorted.

Things that were totally the same:

– The boats
– The trucks
– GTs being hard
– Wind, all the time
– Periods of clouds and periods of sun
– Long days full of fishing
– Mostly, the guides
– The beauty of the place
– The quality of the roads
– The quality of the fishing

Things that were different:

Fished a different lodge. In 2019 I was at The Villages and this time I was at Christmas Island Lodge (which wasn’t even there in 2019 and has taken over the site of the Captain Cook). CIL has more of a truck-based program, although their second boat was being repaired, so that might not always be true. Trips to the backcountry and Huff Dam by truck were new.

Triggers were… jerks. In 2019, I had maybe 10 trigger shots and landed 2. It did NOT go that way this year. Had maybe 40 shots at adults and went 0/40. Got one little peachface, but that was it. I had three eats, zero conversions. I don’t know why it was so much harder, but it was.

My bonefishing sucked less. In 2019 I had a day where I started off going about 0/25 on bonefish shots. This year, I feel like I was more on it. I caught more fish on my own, and I had some magical/awesome sessions where I was just dialed. It isn’t that I improved so much in the last 5 years, it just went better this trip. I ended up landing 40 bonefish to 6 pounds. I maybe had half that number in 2019.

A female touch. CIL had a female guide and I think also another female guide in training. Ari, the woman guide, was fantastic. I thought she was maybe the best guide I had. She communicated clearly and often. She asked questions about what I wanted and she had a plan. 5 Star Guide and if you go to CIL, request her.

The beer was better. Flame beer, from NZ, was an upgrade from whatever we had in 2019 and we drank great quantities of the stuff. A nice, light, clean beer, best when cold and after a long day of fishing.

Hosted v. non-hosted. In 2019 I went on a hosted trip with my friend Shane. He saw to all the details. In 2025 we didn’t have a host, but Ty, the manager of CIL, sort of filled that role (in addition to everything else he did). This proved not to really feel like a big change, but was different. Shane was there at the same time, at the Villages, but his trip filled up before we could get in.

Tides. This was not a thing I paid a lot of attention to, but our tides were less than ideal. We had lows througout most of the fishing hours and that really impacted what the Korean Wreck looked like (barren). We were out there for about 20 minutes of the incoming tide and it was shaping up to be MAGIC, but then we had to leave. Boo. They say the best time to go fishing is when you can, and this fell into that sort of category. This was the week I had available and I was going to go no matter what.

More species. Did you know there are Queenfish in Xmas? I didn’t, but I caught one. Also got a sweetlips and wasn’t the only one to catch either of those species. Caught a goatfish as well, which I don’t recall catching before.

I pretty much only want to fish Christmas Island at this point. This is such a special place. I’ll be back.


02
Mar 25

Ari on Christmas Island

In my opinion, one of the best guides currently working on Christmas Island is Ari (and not just because she complimented my casting).

Ari with Wallace, walking off the last flat of the trip.

In a place that is fairly male-dominated, Ari is a female guide working out of Christmas Island Lodge.

I had her for 1.5 days and very much enjoyed having her. She not only saw the fish and knew where they’d be, which probably all the Xmas guides can do, but she communicated well. She asked questions. She gave feedback.

The first day I had her as my guide, Phil had told her that I likely needed some sort of therapy due to my blown shot at a big GT earlier in the week. So, she set out a path for the two of us to walk that would give me multiple cuts and points to go in search of trevally. She developed a plan, quickly, that would maybe do the trick, or at the very least it would set me up to be in a good position.

In one cut we found some working bluefin and I managed to get one to hand. When I gave her the phone to take the pic, she’s the one who put it on portrait mode and took the shot below… which is rad.

The next day, I was with Ari as we were fishing the last water we’d fish… and what did we find? A GT on the edge of a channel. It was a 20-25 pound fish, or there abouts. Not huge, but a very nice fish for sure. I managed to get a good cast in and got a follow, but the fish saw us in the last 15 feet and waived off (which is how my previous trip had ended as well… but… that’s for another time).

Ari consistantly put me in a good position to get the shots I was looking for and she checked in with me to make sure we were on the same page.