I am not sure if this is the correct place to post this, but I own a small travel agency and have been approached by a few people that I know to set up a trip to New Zealand for fishing and sightseeing. I have never been there so I am hoping that I can do a site inspection tour the end of March and was wondering if anybody has been there for fishing and sightseeing? I have heard that they have some big browns there, but they don’t have the number of fish like we do in our streams and rivers. Any advice on where and when to go would be appreciated.
My first advise is if you ever go for fishing and not site inspecting is to go fairly early in their season. Big fish in crystal clear water but very few. They not uncommonly hang out in plain sight as they don’t have the all the predators preying on them as in the northern hemisphere. Go early because most of these fish just don’t tolerate much fishing before becoming lockjaw. Once the season is underway fish that have seen a fisherman or fly in the past 5 days aren’t going to be fooled again. It’s either that or get helicoptered in to remote places later in the season. The guides that do this know to give areas sufficient rest before returning to try again. Hard to catch many fish on your own as you have to be stealth and fish from quite a distance from behind. Problem is a fish that’s visible up on a bank at a distance is hard to spot once in the water and you work into place. Someone to tell you where that fish is goes along way. I spent a couple weeks Feb 2009 on the South Island only. It’s tough. It’ll rain and your best plans will not infrequently blow out. Watching the radar and clouds I’d always find somewhere else to fish even if it took a couple hours. It’s pretty but besides for the glaciers down at sea level I’ve seen thousands of places prettier in western North America. Lots of Beech Forests. No native evergreens. So the only ones you’ll see will be tree farms growing in ugly rows on mountainsides. The South Island is the sticks, I mean real boondocks, not much to do. I have friends that live there and met up with. I found out the several days I spent on my own before getting to their part of the island I didn’t miss much on the to see list. Oh and the beaches are beautiful but the water is cold as Oregon and they have biting flies. Their bush is the thickest most impenetrable bramble laiden brush you can imagine. So bushwacking even 30 yards isn’t advised unless you’re looking for wild boars. PM me your address and I’ll send you a book called Trout Fishing A Guide to New Zealand’s South Island if you want it. I did find it useful. If you look at that and have questions maybe I can be of some help narrowing things down. I cover a large part of the South Island and fished dozens of rivers. Here’s a few pics. The first one is the Makarora River Valley in the southern third of the island. The last one is Maruia River Falls on the northern third of the island. The middle one is of the back side of a glacier off the coast ( ? Fox or Franz Josef Glacier) lined up with a river ( can’t recall name now) valley somewhere between the others.
Thank you very much for the information. It is very useful. I worry that going that far, it would really have to be a memorable trip with great fishing to make it worth it. Maybe if they still want to go, I should focus on the beauty of NZ. Those pictures you send were awesome. Fishing can be just a side note.
Thanks wiperhunter2. I will keep an eye out for him.
Below is a link for a great angler and South Island guide based out of Te Anau, gateway to the Fiordland National park. His name is Ron Peacock, friendly bloke. Email him and tell him Todd Grace from the Destination Te Anau travel office (Queenstown) recommended you. He will gladly help your clients out and give you some insight into Southern New Zealand. Your clients have amazing fishing opportunities in New Zealand, You dont need a helicopter or even a guide (although you will like the commissions) as water is a plenty.