After a fun day kicking around Papeete, Tahiti with friends yesterday, this morning we caught a flight to Anaa Atoll.  Anaa is a unique atoll of French Polynesia that up until 2014 was suffering the consequences of heavy fishing pressure from local fishing villages.  In 2015, Fly Odyssey in conjunction with the Indifly Foundation instigated a lagoon fishery restoration project on the island.

Today I find myself here because the results of the rehabilitation project have been a huge success.  All flats fish species including bonefish and triggerfish along with reef dwelling grouper and snappers have made a comeback.  Results have been so good that its believed Anaa could soon be one of the premier bonefish destinations in the world.

Me and longtime friends Josh Gallivan, Scott Smith, Tim Brune and new friends Turner and Matt boarded our Air Tahiti flight at 10 AM.  Its only about a 150 miles to Anaa but our plane ran like a bus and stopped at other islands before ours.  It was 1 hour 35 minutes to Makemo then another 30 minutes to Raroia and another hour to finally arrive at Anaa.

The flight gave us a good look at the territory.  French Polynesia is made up of atoll after atoll.  The size and shapes vary but all are stunning in view.  Although from the air one would assume they all have great fishing this isn’t necessarily the case thanks to the usual worldwide overfishing.  Perhaps the recovery of Anaa Atoll is the start of making fishing better throughout the world.

The flight was far longer than I expected and we didn’t arrive on Anna until 2:30 PM.  All those stops with people on and people off, refueling and sitting around and the time added up.  Perhaps it was especially painful because I flew from Africa to home last week and here this week.  But the flight was over and we met our hosts from the Anaa Fly Fishing Lodge and collected our luggage.

On our short ride to the lodge I took the back of the pickup truck.  There’s no better way to soak up a new place.  Although Anaa is remote this is a fairly large community.  There’re cars and motorcycles a regular size village.

The Lodge, Pension Anaa, is simple but very nice.  Its on the water.  There are four cabins with decks and an outdoor roofed eating and drinking area.  We posed for a group picture for the Lodge owner, Joel, then got to work setting up our gear.  Joel fixed us up some mean hor d oeuvres of fresh fish and fries.

I have one goal for every trip.  This week I want to check the Napoleon wrasse off my species list.  I’ve had friends catch small ones around me on the dredge and while wading the flats at Farquhar.  But I’ve never pulled one in myself.  It’s a strange quest in the eyes of many I’m sure, but not for me.

As it often does when I’m on location, the weather has gone to crap.  They’ve had no rain in three months but right now we have a drizzle.  The wind is big and we see lightening in the distance.  Regardless, I’m with great friends and our porch seems to be where the party has started.  Everyone is so psyched.  Time for one more Hinano Tahiti beer then bedtime.

It’s still not too late for Christmas shopping.  DON’T FORGET my Online Store has gifts for the angler that has everything!  I have painted over 60 species of fish now available on my coffee mugs and frosted beer steins.  There’re also my new Solar Flex shirts in both men’s and women’s.  AND my growing collection of fish decals can be purchased on Amazon.

Be sure to keep track of my upcoming travels around the world!

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Jeff Currier Global Fly Fishing