The Fishing

Fly Fishing for Trout

The South Island is renowned for its fabulous brown trout fishing, and the North Island’s brown and rainbow trout are legendary too.  

Because of its mountainous inland terrain New Zealand’s often generous rainfall creates fast-flowing rocky rivers, still brooding lakes and stunningly clear streams. Surrounded by high snow-capped mountains, craggy tussock-filled alpine fields or dark, native forest these fishing spots are drop-dead gorgeous and well worth a visit, even without the fishing. It all adds to the privilege of being able to fish in such sensational surroundings.

All the lodges are central to a number of excellent fishing sites – in some cases it’s not unusual to have over 20 world-class fishing sites to choose from on a given day. So if the weather is bad to the west, you’ll be taken to the east of the island, or vice versa. You won’t often lose fishing opportunities to bad weather.

Sight and Stalk Fishing

The fishing is generally ‘sighted’ or ‘sight and stalk’ fishing – not a problem in these glass-clear waters – and a guide is essential. New Zealand’s trout fishing guides are known to be the best in the world and they will improve your fishing experience ten-fold, yielding bigger fish, and more of them. Each lodge has a selection of top guides on call, all highly skilled at fishing in their local area. A good guide will cost around $NZ 850-1,050 a day, but this is one investment that shouldn’t be given too much thought.

Heli-Fishing

Heli-fishing is also an option in most places, allowing you access to remote fishing spots that would otherwise take days to walk to. Get picked up from your lodge in the morning, taking a packed gourmet lunch and your fishing gear along for the ride, and enjoy a stunning scenic flight high over the mountains, across a gorgeous national park or dodging up a steep-sided river valley. Enjoy some of the most satisfying fly-fishing you will ever do, then fly back to your lodge for a hot shower, a fantastic meal and some great company.

Felt-soled waders and boots are banned from use by anglers in New Zealand, to prevent the spread of waterborne invaders like didymo.

Fishing Seasons

Bag limits, fish size and type, and open season dates vary between location. Below is a general guide but we can confirm details for you on request.

North Island  –  mostly Oct 1 – Apr 30,  some places are open all year

South Island  –  mostly Oct 1 – Apr 30, a very few are open all year

You will need a fishing licence to fish New Zealand waters – your accommodation or guide may arrange this, or we can help with this too.