Christmas Island Fishing Tides
Christmas Island Fishing Tides by Moana Kofe.
Dear Anglers:
Fishing is good all year round here on Christmas. The temperature is about the same all year round. The hottest days are in the upper 80 degrees and the coolest in the lower 80 degrees F. The sea temperature in the lagoons vary between 68 degrees and 80 degrees F. Bonefish feed better when the temperature is about 78 degrees F.
Giant Trevally roam the flats at high tides in the early mornings and late in the afternoons. Remember that we have the spring tides when the moon is full and also in the new moon, and the Neap tides when the moon is at it’s quarters. Highest springs are around 4.2 ft and the lowest springs are around 0.5 ft. The neap tides are the highest around 3.2 ft and the lowest neaps are around 1.5 ft.
Bonefish feed better in the incoming tides, but much better when the incoming tide is around 0800 hrs which is about 3 days after the Quarter moon. This is the best if you have difficulty seeing fish. Because Christmas winds stays mostly from the easterly direction, you will have to fish all the flats from their east ends down to their west ends. In the afternoons, the sun and wind will be in opposite directions so you will have to fish to the fish that you can see better, which are to the southwest and to the northwest. You do not really need a compass. You will know what I mean when you come down.
The Neap tides are when the sea on the flats is not too high and not too low. You can fish the whole day, because there is always water on most of the flats. The neaps, coming in and going out are very gentle and there is not too much milky waters.
Also during the Neap tides, fishing the Ocean reef for bonefish and small trevally is good. Especially from the Southeast point of the island right down to Bension Point. The whole stretch is about forty miles long.
More trevallys are caught during the Spring tides. If you are after Bonefish and Trevally at the same time, this is the time to come down. You can fish for giant trevally in the mornings, and go for bonefish in the afternoons when the tide turns and is rising. During the spring tides, your chances to cast to trevally is twenty five times per day.
At the full moons the bonefish also feed at nights so they are only hungry in the afternoons. Sometimes you will catch the bonefish that feed in the early mornings. This feeding mostly lasts about one hour. You will have to go where it is shallow though because it is peak tides in the early mornings.
When it is new moon, bonefish and trevally feed best but like the full moon period, you have limited fishing time. For example, if you after bonefish, you fish one hour at morning peak tide and bout four hours in the afternoon. That is five hours of fishing
Good Luck!
Moana T Kofe
Christmas Island Fishing Tides by Moana Kofe.