Trip to the South Island of New Zealand, January/February 2001

I will not attempt to describe trout fishing in the South Island of New Zealand but, rather, give my first impressions and overview from the perspective of a lough fisherman from the West of Ireland travelling around.

The first rivers I encountered were either dry or virtually dry. Water extraction for irrigation is a serious problem in some areas. The rivers are extremely large when in full flow, boulder strewn and fast flowing.

Without a guide I simply did not know where to start. Fish do not show themselves readily, frequently only appearing from nowhere to feed on sedges just before dark. Spotting fish is not easy in the fast water and there also appears to be a constant wind disturbing the water surface. Dry fly fishing is extremely difficult and not very successful under these conditions. The preferred method of fishing is with a weighted nymph in surprisingly small sizes (14-16) often using an indicator or a dry fly as an indicator.

As a lough fisherman, I thought I would feel more at home on the lakes of the western seaboard. These are very different places to what I am accustomed to - tinged milky white by glacial "flour" and apparently with no tradition of "lough style" fishing, as we know it. I was confined to shore - fishing bays, inlets and outlet streams. The relatively low numbers of trout I could see surprised me. However, the average weights and condition of those I did encounter was superb. As a touring angler, one does not have the time to familiarise oneself with any one location and, to be successful, you must seek local advice immediately.

With this in mind, I allocated myself three days at Wanaka in order to fish the Upper Clutha River. My first sight of the river was of a raging torrent! How could anybody fly-fish this? I had not realised that Lake Hawea, above the Clutha, is used as a reservoir for the major hydroelectric scheme further downstream at Lake Dunstan. Just my luck to arrive on the day they decided to release water. It would take at least a week for this river to be fly-fishable again. To make matters worse, in the occasional back-eddy, I could see the shapes of monster fish moving in and out of the current. Yet again, I was confined to fishing lake margins and bays, hard going during daytime, building to a thirty-minute frenzy of sedge feeding before dark.

It was not until I reached Gore (Southland), proclaiming itself to be the Brown Trout Capital of the World, that I finally began to come to grips with New Zealand fishing. The Mataura river was slightly less intimidating than most of the rivers I had encountered up till then. I was extremely fortunate to meet Mike Roche, ex. school teacher, Town Crier and fanatical angler of Gore. Without Mike's expert guidance and advice I would still be "all at sea" in New Zealand. Within hours of meeting, we were fishing the Mataura river to the late evening hatch when large trout come into the shallows, with backs out of the water, to feed on whatever is going. Mike introduced me to spectacular Lake Onslow, 3000 feet up in the hills, where cicadas were being blown on to the water: incredible dry fly fishing. The mind boggles as to what dapping "Irish style" might achieve here. Mike was directly responsible for my catching a 7.25lbs. of pure Mataura muscle in about 9" of water on a size 14 Gold Head Pheasant Tail Nymph. God willing, I shall return again some day - certainly, next time, much the wiser. Thanks again to Mike and Helen Roche for their hospitality and advice.