Sight-fishing in New Zealand is simply the best. Endless Rivers with clear water and robust challenging brown trout and some rainbows too. All you have to do on most flows is be willing to walk, sometimes significant distances, and search for them. You use your legs, and you use your eyes. If you are pretty good at spotting trout you’ll probably find one or two in a day, occasionally several. It depends on the river. Fish numbers on average tend to be low in comparison to home (North America). You have to cover water in order to find them but at the same time you have to go slow or you might scare the few fish that inhabit the water that you have selected. Choosing where to fish in New Zealand can be overwhelming as there is so much water: rivers, streams, lakes and ponds. In the past I’ve used John Kent’s book: South Island Trout Fishing Guide. Anglers consider it the Bible. Even though I have an older and well travelled edition (2002) I find its description of rivers and their fish populations amazingly accurate. There are newer (updated) editions which can be purchased and of course there is a lot of information online. Maybe too much…

The fish I encountered on most rivers were wary. This is often the case if you go late in the fishing season (as I did) when there has been angling pressure for over several months. The trout season in New Zealand is a long one: from October 1st to the end of April. One river I fished this year in the North Canterbury region had some of the most cautious/vigilant trout that I’ve ever pursued. Stumble or slip a bit when wading into casting position even in rumbling fast water 30 feet behind a fish and their lateral line would detect it. They’d respond by moving-up into the deep fast flow at the head of a pool for cover. Crawl down a bank in order to get behind a good fish and a rock rolls and careens off of another, even at great distance from the targeted trout, Adios fish! Slap your line a bit when trying to punch your fly into a fierce wind and fish gone…bye-bye! Unforgiving. 

There was a noticeable absence of terrestrials on this trip, including Cicadas, even though it was late Summer, early Fall. I became aware of this as I spent a lot of time crawling on my knees and belly streamside in order to avoid detection while stalking fish. Getting trout to take a surface offering was at times challenging. Sometimes a strange New Zealand dry fly pattern called a Blue Blow fly or Blue Bottle fly did the trick. I also caught a few on beetles and ants but not consistently. On some rivers the fish were “locked into” feeding on nymphs. I saw very few mature mayflies or caddis on the surface in spite of angling a variety of rivers and rising fish were a rarity especially higher up on some flows (not unusual). New Zealand is always challenging. It’s why I come here to sight-fish. It’s the walking. It’s the hunt. It’s demanding. Each connection very special.

 

Some imagines. Some connections made by Roman, a friend, and I on a thirteen day self-guided angling adventure in beautiful New Zealand, South Island… 

Some color: