New Zealand words of wisdom

big foot · 12-22-2005, 10:35 AM

Going to so island for the month of march to try and catch some of those big browns and rainbow. Looking for any wise words of wisdom or information . Planing on a do it yourself type of a trip staying in campgrounds and hostels and doing lots of hiking if needed to get where needed. Any advice to make it a good trip would be appreciated. thanks

FallRiverGuy · 12-22-2005, 10:54 AM

If things have not changed too much you can hike into huts and stay in them for free on many rivers. I managed to bum around the South Island for about a month on $100 (20 years ago). I did not concentrate on fishing but on hiking. I did fish every where I went though. Two rivers that produced lots of nice (18 inch) fish were the Greenstone and Caples rivers. There must be better fishing rivers than these two that other can throw out, but with these you can hike up one and down the other. I remember I caught most all my fish with nymphs. Make sure you have lots of strong bug juice. The sand fleas will eat you alive without protection.

This is one of the few pictures I have of fish I caught. This was taken on the Caples river.

boo · 12-22-2005, 08:14 PM

My experience was that it was like flyfishing501...grad school, and took a week to catch my first fish. Very light tackle, 12-15' leaders, size 18-20 flies, and stealth. Every fish I got in two months was sighted, which was a whole lot different than what I was used to. Traveled around for 2 months in a van/bus equiped with a lot of rod racks and mostly hiked up streams that we came across...I'd recommend getting a guide in the area you want to fish just to get your bearing and then solo it, you just learn so much so fast from them. I waited a month until breaking down and hiring one, and my 2nd month there was much more productive because of it. Many of the rivers are on the NZ Hut system, and those are comfy, but also many camping opportunities. Enjoy the hiking and the access that NZ has to offer and work for those 6lb'rs.
Gooday then mate.

reelman · 12-23-2005, 08:09 AM

I havn't fished the South Island in March. I did fish it for 2 months Nov. & Dec. One stream I enjoyed was the Arthur River. It is at Milford Sound. You need to catch a boat to the start of the Milford Trac. I used#6 Muddlers fished dry. One morning caught 12 with 10 of them over 4 lbs. Another river you need to fish is the Waitaki which is like the Deschutes. It has sea run browns, rainbow and salmon. Did well on it with soft hackles in size 14. I averaged 10 a day there from 14-24" Our largest fish were caught on the Hope River. Landed some to 7 1/2lb and lost 12lb. That river was more sight fishing. To catch fish on alot of the streams you will need to do some hiking. Most streams do not have the number of fish that our strems do, but they are larger. Good luck.

O Tshawytcha · 12-23-2005, 09:38 AM

I might be wrong but I was under the impression that splitshot and other weights were illegal down there. Sounds like you should tye up a bunch of leadeye nymphs.

Have fun,
GRIFF

big foot · 12-23-2005, 09:58 AM

Thanks everyone for the information , keep it coming, you can be sure it well be put to a good cause ! Have a friend over there now that should have some good info but wonder about the different time of the year making much difference ? thanks again

Sweet Melissa · 12-24-2005, 11:42 PM

big foot-
My husband is in frequent contact w/ a couple Kiwis, at least one of whom knows I have an interest in flyfishing over there. I think they are both from the north island, but if you have some specific questions, I could pass them along.

Melissa

TillamookChinook · 12-26-2005, 01:13 PM

I was there for a couple of weeks about 3 years ago in November. I managed to fish a few streams while also doing family sightseeing, etc. There are a lot of very beautiful rivers with trout that are hard to catch. Of course, the water is so clear you can see the big fish you're not catching. And I did not find too many other anglers competing for bank area, although it seemed everytime I managed to get on the river it would rain like hell.

Enjoy New Zealand and give us a report.

TC

waterman · 12-29-2005, 04:22 PM

I spent 5-6 months there fishing an hiking all over. The south island is the better bet is you have limited time. However, the north has the rainbows / steelhead in the Lake Taupo region if you get there at the right time. It takes time to learn the water there and it is much different than you would think. The south has the big browns that reside in the rivers full time and also has a fair share of "coasters." The main thing is sight fishing. Most of the rivers you can see 20 to 30 feet down during normal water conditions. The trout get exceptionally big, and therfore there is only one or so in each big hole. If you spook the hole, it might take a week before that big brown will take any suspicious offering. You would think the big fish reside farther downstream, but this is the area of braided gravel and constantly changing river beds and the small ones grow up there. The big ones take the pole positions upstream in the nice tumbling holes further up the watershed. Sometimes the big browns that were intially coasters decide to live upstream after their first spawning run. The average trout is 3 pounds in most rivers and the meat is typically white since they eat mainly smaller fish. It took me a few weeks of fishing before I got the feel of the rivers over there. It can be so good that you have to pinch yourself to make sure you are not dreaming. PM me if you want more info. Also, watch out for the 6 foot long freshwater eels. The first time I saw one swim by me when I was wading about made me soil my waders!! :blush:

Mike

frankenfish · 12-29-2005, 09:16 PM

Remember to disinfect all of your equipment when you get back before using it here. Kill the mud snails.

FallRiverGuy · 12-30-2005, 09:07 AM

Quote:

Also, watch out for the 6 foot long freshwater eels. The first time I saw one swim by me when I was wading about made me soil my waders!! :blush:
Mike

Those eels take a bit to get use to. We would go out at night with some bloody meat and the eels would come swarming. Some would even come part way up the bank looking for the food source. They are greasy but eat ok. The locals would catch them and throw the whole thing in a camp fire. After about 10 minutes the cooked eel would be removed from the fire. Peel off the bunt skin and enjoy...kind of like a piece of corn on the cob.