Palmyra atoll is a remote coral atoll located 1000 miles south of Hawaii. Purchased by The Nature Conservancy in 2000 and turned into a US national marine monument this island is now dedicated to scientific research and conservation of the marine ecosystem surrounding the atoll. In June 2016 Mathew McHugh visited to fly fish this rarely visited island…..
Having explored much of the South Pacific for bonefish over the past 15 years Palmyra atoll had always been on my radar as a location that would hold bonefish. From my online searches there was little information about fishing on the island and from what I did dig up generally indicated that fishing was tightly controlled on the island by U.S. Fish and Wildlife with permits being very difficult to obtain. By chance in 2015 I met Alex Filous of the University of Hawaii who was joining our research team in French Polynesia and the possibility of a trip to Palmyra arose. Alex had spent time guided for bonefish on Palmyra as part of a program run by the U.S. conservation group The Nature Conservancy. The conservancy allows small numbers of anglers to the island each year as part of its fundraising activities and also conducts some research on the bonefish population. In June 2016 there was an opportunity for myself and some conservation minded clients to visit the island and experience bonefish (and shark!) numbers that we had not seen anywhere else in the world.
Palmyra is unique in that it is one of the few islands in the world that has had an un-impacted fishery since the second world war. There has been no commercial and very little subsistence fishing on the atoll. Even today only 200lb of fish or 3 fish in total are allowed to be taken for food for guests on the island for the ocean surrounding the atoll. The only fishing allowed inside the lagoon was catch and release fishing for bonefish.
A research station comprising a small team of TNC workers and scientists and U.S. Fish and Wildlife officer are the only inhabitants. For such remoteness the facilities are excellent with comfortable bungalows and dinning area, hot water showers and even a bar famously known as the Yacht Club. This building had been a haunt for sailors crossing the Pacific Ocean for decades and the walls provided stories of their sailing adventures.
Our journey to Palmyra began in Honolulu where due to strict quarantine rules are luggage was frozen for 24 hours. The Nature Conservancy had spent considerable time and money on eradicating rats form the island in 2011 and Palmyra has proven to be one of the few tropical islands in the world where rat eradication has been successful. The result of removing rats has been a considerable improvement in bird and land crustacean life. 2 species of land crab previously not thought to be on Palmyra have since been found after rat eradication. The coconut crab population was equally impressive!
Our guides, Greg Moss and Scott Willumsen bought in from Hawaii and Montana had years of experience guiding on Palmyra. They would provide us with 8 days of saltwater fly fishing that would be long remembered. The bonefish population was immense and they variety of fishing situations for them was also diverse from tailing fish on mangrove lined bays, to staking out channels or walking coral flats. Throughout the tidal phase there was always a flat that held bonefish. On average the fish ranged in the 2-3lb range. There was the odd larger fish and you also encountered plenty of Giant and bluefin trevally and triggerfish while bonefishing.
The lagoon was also teeming with birdlife (terns and bobbies) and it is the first time I have encountered large numbers of Manta Rays in the lagoon environment. The black and white tip and grey reef sharks were present in huge numbers. They were generally pretty quick to home in on a struggling bonefish and we had some fun chasing them away.
For those interested in fly fishing in remote locations and also share an interest in conservation and philanthropy then Palmyra is a destination that should be high on the agenda. You can be assured that you will be one of the very few people to have cast a fly on the island. The Nature Conservancy do a great job of preserving many of the world’s wildernesses for future generations and they have done a great job with Palmyra. I look forward to a return visit in the near future.
