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The Traveling Angler — Fish Kiritimati, Colombia and More

The Traveling Angler Intelligence Report for November/December offers a look at six great spots: Kiritimati (Pacific bonefish), Panama (easier in-country travel), Kenya (sailfish up!), Bimini (wahoo packages), Colombia (unexplored coast) and Australia (the wild Torres Strait south of New Guinea).

By Doug Olander

Updated: November 25, 2013

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Torres Strait, Between Australia and New Guinea

For sport fishermen, this remote and wild stretch of water remains unexplored. But that’s about to change when Australia’s famed Nomad Sportfishing Adventures spends a week starting Dec. 9 exploring new waters. The 80-foot cat mothership Odyssey with its attendant fishing boats (from 18 to 36 feet) will be making the trip starting in Torres Strait and moving down into the northernmost reaches of the Great Barrier Reef. The timing was chosen for December’s light winds in the area. The list of anticipated species is far too long to list here but will include giant trevally, dogtooth tuna, yellowfin tuna, wahoo, billfish, coral trout, Maori wrasse, narrow-barred Spanish mackerel, longfin tuna and red bass (snapper). Courtesy Capt. Damon Olsen, Nomad Sportfishing Adventures

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Sailfish Time in Kenya

“We are seeing amazing sights of up to 30 sailfish balling sardines” off Kenya, reported Angus Paul of** Kingfisher Fishing Lt**d. in Malindi, last season. The tough part was getting the sails to bite, since “there are tons of white bait and sardines for them to feed on.” But just watching the sailfish in action, working the balled bait, “is mesmerizing,” Paul says. With luck, this November-December will see the sails back. Besides sails, Kenya waters offer excellent shots (depending on time of year), at black marlin, blue marlin, striped marlin and swordfish.

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Colombia’s Unexplored Coast

“A massive sardine run, big sails, lots of small yellowfin and big cubera snapper” — TV personality Larry Dahlberg found that and more just out of Bahia Solano, Colmbia. The nearshore coast is loaded with rocks, rocky islands, humps and flats, where they encountered a number of cubera more than 60 pounds. For the adventurous angler, lots of ops. Dahlberg suggests staying at the Hotel Bahia Yubarta. Larry Dahlberg

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Kiritimati: Central Pacific’s Magical Realm for Bonefish

Located 900 miles nearly due south of the Hawaiian Islands, Kiritimati qualifies as one of the most remote Pacific atolls, located nearly on the equator. Also known as Christmas Island, Kiritimati offers vast areas of flats for bonefish, as well as all the other expected usual suspects such as giant trevally, red bass (snapper), yellowfin tuna, mako sharks and more. Recently returned from Kiritimati, correspondent Mark Masker puts it this way: “If you really want to disconnect from the modern world for a week of serious fishing in the South Pacific, this is the place to do it.” Masker — who with his father, Bill, stayed at the Villages (email famyrite@gmail.com) — recommends the guide Teannaki Kaiboboki. For more information, visit the island’s U.S. booking agent.

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Bimini: Wahoo Time!

Bimini has had a historic reputation among anglers as one of the world’s prime places to troll for wahoo. The primary season for wahoo there runs November through March, and with that in mind, Bimini Sands Resort & Marina is offering “all-inclusive five-night packages” at $145 per person per night during this time. That’s for a fully equipped villa, free dockage and unlimited beverages of all types. From Miami, Bimini is a 50-mile run, including crossing the Gulf Stream. Anglers who fly in can find a number of charters available. Productive wahoo grounds begin with minutes of the resort. Courtesy Bimini Sands Resort

Panama: More Options for Flying In-Country?

Panama’s Gulf of Chiriquí increasingly attracts anglers from all over the United States and the planet, offering world-class fishing around Coiba Island, Hannibal Bank and a host of small, productive islands. Most visiting fishermen fly into the city of David on small commuter planes from Panama City. But getting there might become easier soon, since the airport at David now has a wider, longer, harder runway, plus a new and larger terminal built to handle 200 passengers, and featuring customs offices and baggage carousels. That’s the word from Tom Brymer, who publishes the e-newsletter The Panama Perspective. Doug Olander