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Fishery patrols there sounds like dream job material hahaha

No worries about the questions and thanks for watching the video! If I forget to answer any of the questions or you have more, let me know. For the GTs, we had to let our guide know ahead of time. As everyone in our group wanted to spend a day or two catching GTs and Papio, it worked out fine but I could see a conflict of interest if you're with peeps who want to do Bonefish fishing in the flats. For poppers, check out the Wombat Mini. That thing killed. I used a few Yozuri poppers too with good results. Rod sized ranged. I had a short 7'6" single piece heavy rod (max line weight of around 60 pounds). One of the guys had a Shimano heavy jigging rod that worked out well and the others had these heavy duty Tsunami ones but those were probably like 11' 2 piece rods. For the GT and heavy fishing rod we used 60 pound PowerPro with 80 or 100 pound mono leader. We brought wire leader too and used those for when targeting GT too but you can probably get away with just heavy duty mono leader.

As far as how many of each type of lures, it depends. 3 of the 4 of us were planning to mostly use lures and the fourth was primarily bait fishing. For the lures, I brought maybe 10 to 15 medium to large poppers but if you use a good one (like the Wombat Mini) and manage to keep it, you can just mainly plug with that. I primarily fish in Hawaii so I had some GT Ice Creams and Mark White lures but didn't have as much luck with those, although I didn't use them as much as the poppers either. I would recommend bringing a few jigs too and maybe one of the lures that have a lip for diving deeper water but again it'll depend on where the guide takes you since the diving ones probably won't be as good if you're in the lagoon or shallow flats fishing for Bones. We didn't use any weights but when we did a bait day, the guide picked up those smaller looking tuna like fish and cut up chunks to throw on large circle hooks. I'd recommend if possible, seeing if your guide is open to emailing prior to the trip for guidance because once you get there, not like you can go buy more tackle and bait on the island. When are you heading there?

@@robotswithkites Thank you! I am going the first week of May 2020. I see that you took a single piece rod, how did you pack your long rods? I have been trying to find three piece travel rods that I can fit in my suit case and all that I can find are 7 footers and one is a Heavy action. Did you just decide to pay extra for a long tube to check as baggage? I am worried that 7 feet is not enough for popping and even casting distance. The rod must need a good backbone to pull those poppers through the water. Im pretty much all alone on this one, with everyone bringing their fly gear I cant get any advice accept for the stuff I find on TH-cam and nobody gives a really comprehensive guide for conventional fishing. I need to know everything and its a lot to ask. From reels to rods to use for the flats and then what do use from the boats. What exact poppers and sizes and colors to bring and how many as well as stick baits, gliders, jigs...etc. I intend to make a video of my adventure and give future salt virgins a good list of all these. I know it will differ based on weather, time of year, etc., but dang... this is hard. Knowing that you have one chance to bring all the right stuff is nerve racking. I have to buy most everything online. I live in Arizona and only have one small salt water shop with limited help. So im begging for details and I KNOW its too much to ask. Like the Mini Wombat popper, what color and weight and how many should I take? Same with the Yozuri poppers? Let me tell you, I LOVE top water. If my arms and shoulders can handle it, I would throw it exclusively but I know I need to switch up even if its just to give myself a rest. I was given advice on a jig for flats fishing for bonefish too but they did not offer advice on colors or weights buggsfishing.com/product/flats-bugg/ I always guess white is a universal color but I would like to know what is known to work and how many I should bring. I would also be happy to bait fish. What size and type of hooks should I bring for that? Just in case they offer that chance. I was also told to bring wire leader. Uhm... never used it and have no idea how or what to buy. I need to TH-cam that and learn it. Just need to know what size. I was also told to bring extra hooks or even upgraded hooks for the lures because the ones that come with the lures are usually not strong enough and get bent. Good idea? I see that some are throwing sinking lipless baits and glide baits as well. I even saw some big spoons too but have no clue what they are to order any. I see the line recommendations so I will get on that for sure. I will take a variety to be sure I am set up. I hope to order as much as I can through Bass Pro so if I dont use it I can return it. All this gear is a one time only use anyway. I will be selling it all for a loss after my trip Im guessing. Heck maybe I will just add it to my collection of fishing gear for when the day comes again. Im sure I have more questions. The problem is when you a new to something you dont even know what questions to ask, but thank you for indulging me this far!

@@BrianAz No problem! If you're going in May of this year you at least have a bit more time to plan. We used a rod tube. As we were flying via Fiji Air, we checked the odd shaped checked luggage height and adjusted our travel rod to the specified length (I want to say under 8'). Me and two of the other people in the group don't even live in HI anymore so a lot of us bought lures online. When I'm not on my phone let me send you some links of lures we used but a lot of them can be bought via Amazon, Tackledirect and online stores (even Mark White has his own online store if you're not buying his lures in HI tackle shops). I brought one heavy rod and one lighter travel rod but found myself mostly using the heavy. You probably don't need a ton of lures since fish are so plentiful there so you could feasibly get away of say 4 or 5 poppers, 2 diving lures, 3 or 4 jigs and 4 or so stickbaits. Just keep in mind you might not be able to buy much gear while there so we brought way more than we needed just in case. Anyhow I'll get back to you on some links for a few of the lures we used with good results.

Albert C Thank you!!! I need my hand held on this one for sure. If you are willing to give me specifics on what exactly to take, you would take the pressure off me trying to decide. I now have three reels, all Penn Slammer 3’s 4500, 5500 and 6500. I have a 7’ medium action travel rod picked out for the flats. What heavy rod did you use and what size reel did you pair it with? Did I ask what it costs to get out on a boat with a guide?

I hope you have a chance to visit your home again sometime soon! I would love to make another visit. When we were there, we got to spend a little time with the locals and all were so welcoming and kind. They did tell us to stay away from the Lady Wheelhouse though as they were saying it can get a bit rowdy on weekend nights! But yes, it is a beautiful island and hopefully stays this way for a good long time (worried about commercial fishing ruining the ecosystem there).

@@robotswithkites No worries Albert I think the policy will be much more serious on commercial fishing thing as I heard from the Kiribati Radio and have you ever heard about PIPA? I think that is the how our government sustain and protect marine lives at the Phoenix Islands

@@tokatieratamton2254 Good to know. I have not heard about PIPA but will look into that!

@@robotswithkites finally found this vid..which is quite answering what is PIPA lol th-cam.com/video/JFB7qWRld1E/w-d-xo.html

Nicely done. What did you end up catching at Crystal Beach? I want to go back sometime soon.

@@robotswithkites I only did flats fishing, they only used the boats to ferry us around. My mistake was I didn't bring any light tackle for the bonefish, that would have been a blast. Caught smallish trevally using lures but later netted milkfish at low tide to use them as bait for the big GTs. Hooked into four really big ones and landed two, one weighed roughly the same as my 50lb suitcase and the other was well in excess of 100, the guide said he'd only seen 4 or five that size during his 20 years guiding on the island. Was about to spool my Van Staal with max drag and 80lb braid on the first run but the boat was nearby and we managed to chase after it just in time. The boat fishing in your video looks awesome! Crystal Beach accommodations were adequate but the guys who had been there before said Captain Cook Hotel would be the best choice if I make it back there someday.

@@Sporkmaker5150 Almost about to spool your Van Staal?! Damn, that mush have been an awesome fight. Sounds like a fish of a lifetime!

@@robotswithkites We couldn't land it from the boat without hurting it so we eventually led it back to the shallows where I could stand and grab it. The Gamakasu size 6/0 hook I was using was bent half straight and was about to let go. photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipPl1afCdXFo2zL6n6Pk4GrpF8V_a29wHeXfUuYM

No luck with Mantis Shrimp when we were there. How was it for you? And were those Tuna boats still there? Our guide was telling us a few years before we went, you could pop for tuna but that wasn't as common these days.