Saturday, February 26, 2005

Fanning Island Beckons Me Back!

Cruise ships have brought many wonderful fishing destinations into my life. One of the best has been Fanning Island, an exquisitely exotic atoll midway between Tahiti and Hawaii. Fanning is about 160 miles northwest of Christmas island. It has no fishing pressure compared to Christmas Island. Fanning Island was to be a one-day stop aboard the excellent NCL (Norwegian Cruise Lines) Norwegian Wind.

In planning for the trip, I was able to contact a local American, Chuck Corbett, on the island to set me up with what I found out was incredible bone and trevally fishing. He can be contacted at chuck@fanning-island.com and www.Fanning-Island.com. The island is about 11 by 7 miles in size, and has a Polynesian name meaning sacred footprint.

We arrived a number of months later on a day that featured 30 mph winds. When our tender reached the dock, I was greeted by Chuck and Naan, my appointed guide. Though they said we might struggle to the flats in these "gale force" winds, they suggested the inlet would be quite productive for trevally and papio(skipjack).

Were they ever right! Using casting and spin tackle rigged with white bucktails, every cast was nailed by a gamefish. It was a giant trevally, bluefin trevally, and papio extravaganza! I easily forgot the bonefish since I was catching fish unavailable in my home waters of Florida and the Caribbean. Chuck told me that on calm days, the exact running time to catch big wahoo and tuna was 60 seconds from the dock! This destination now has me as a permanent captive and always tugs at me to return!

Jan
www.flatsfishingonline.com

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