Just returned from two weeks fishing the beutiful island of Aitutaki.
This used to be a flyfishers paradise.
Unfortunatly i say used to be as it is not what it once was.
We last fished it in 2018 before the Pandemic. Flyfishing the hugh lagoon was something to behold with plenty of hard fighting Bonefish and GT's to be had to a fly.
However this trip was to put it bluntly a nightmare
Air Newzealand decided to stop the direct flight from LA to Rarotonga. You now have to fly over the Cook Islands to Auckland spend 4 hours in Auckland befor spending 5 hours flying back to Raratonga. then a four wait befor the 40 minute flight to Aitutaki. So a 10 hour flight from LA is now and 18 hour flight plus the air fare has nearly doubled.
As I Live live in the Uk this means a flight from London to LA then above now takes us just over 30 hours to get there and the same for the return jurney.
If you live in Australia you used to be able to from Sydney to Rarotonga you now have to fly to Auckland and spend the night in Auckland.
Now to the fishing whilst Aitutaki is one of the most beuatfull Islands on the planet the fishing is a mear shadow of what it was in 2018
Talking to the locals the reason for this is because Aitutaki is tottaly dependent on tourisim and when Covad 19 first became apparent New Zealand closed the Cook Islands to averybody NO body was allowed to enter the Cook Islands. They only just opened them this year. Talking to the locals who we know as we have been going there for years they said they had got no finantcal assistance from either the cook Island or the New Zealand governments so were forced to fend for themself which ment fishing the lagoon and catching and eating the fish.
Last time we were theere we saw and caught many Bonefish on the flats and in the deep water to 10lb this time 3 of us caught 2 small bonefish in the deep water and never saw one on the flats the same with the GT's there is an Island in the lagoon called one foot island there used to be half a dozen big GT's that would arrive as the Island cruise boat used to have lunch there and people woul feed the Gt's I caught one on a fly that went 55kilo.
This time we didn't see oneGT's the whole time.
Sorry to say these two factures will not see me or my fishing partner returning for a number of years. which is a shame as we loved the place and made some good friends of the gulids we hired.
This used to be a flyfishers paradise.
Unfortunatly i say used to be as it is not what it once was.
We last fished it in 2018 before the Pandemic. Flyfishing the hugh lagoon was something to behold with plenty of hard fighting Bonefish and GT's to be had to a fly.
However this trip was to put it bluntly a nightmare
Air Newzealand decided to stop the direct flight from LA to Rarotonga. You now have to fly over the Cook Islands to Auckland spend 4 hours in Auckland befor spending 5 hours flying back to Raratonga. then a four wait befor the 40 minute flight to Aitutaki. So a 10 hour flight from LA is now and 18 hour flight plus the air fare has nearly doubled.
As I Live live in the Uk this means a flight from London to LA then above now takes us just over 30 hours to get there and the same for the return jurney.
If you live in Australia you used to be able to from Sydney to Rarotonga you now have to fly to Auckland and spend the night in Auckland.
Now to the fishing whilst Aitutaki is one of the most beuatfull Islands on the planet the fishing is a mear shadow of what it was in 2018
Talking to the locals the reason for this is because Aitutaki is tottaly dependent on tourisim and when Covad 19 first became apparent New Zealand closed the Cook Islands to averybody NO body was allowed to enter the Cook Islands. They only just opened them this year. Talking to the locals who we know as we have been going there for years they said they had got no finantcal assistance from either the cook Island or the New Zealand governments so were forced to fend for themself which ment fishing the lagoon and catching and eating the fish.
Last time we were theere we saw and caught many Bonefish on the flats and in the deep water to 10lb this time 3 of us caught 2 small bonefish in the deep water and never saw one on the flats the same with the GT's there is an Island in the lagoon called one foot island there used to be half a dozen big GT's that would arrive as the Island cruise boat used to have lunch there and people woul feed the Gt's I caught one on a fly that went 55kilo.
This time we didn't see oneGT's the whole time.
Sorry to say these two factures will not see me or my fishing partner returning for a number of years. which is a shame as we loved the place and made some good friends of the gulids we hired.
