NZ Experience

[DonT]

Hi folks,

I thought the forum might be interested in my experience this past week in the Queenstown NZ area. This is a long delayed trip for my retirement and we’re off on a hiking tour now. A couple disclaimers: one big one is that I did not fish bamboo. I don’t currently have a strong three piece that I thought would be suitable over here. I intend to remedy that next time. Second is that I have three whole days of experience, take that for what it’s worth….

Is been super dry and the rivers are low and clear, but still cold. Long casts to very spooky fish with very long leaders were the order of the day, it was at the outer limits of my ability. I cut my teeth the first day on the Mataura, which is a well- known lovely little stream in the sheep country with quite a few 2-4 lb browns. If I were to stay here for weeks, I would fish that river often because there are many chances at spooky fish and you can get a lot of real world practice quickly. The next two days were in widely different backcountry rivers with not many fish but some big ones. The guide took me way back in a place that is not fished very much and he specifically asked me not to name rivers because they have had trouble with hotspotting and groups of folks showing up and sitting onthe fish for days and days. The fisheries won’t hold up to that. Anyway, I was being asked to cast 50-70 plus ft, sometimes more, with 18 ft leaders and a double fly rig, and put it in a space the size of an end table, which I could manage enough to catch fish, but not into the wind, that was beyond me. We carefully approached the fish from behind and he did not want me even in the water if we could help it. He was wearing all drab colors as was I for the most part and he initially was concerned about my bright green fly line, which I will remedy next time. Anyway I managed to hook up maybe 15 to 20 times total and land about a dozen in the first two days and only once the third day, but it was worth it. Here at a few items of interest if you are thinking about coming down:
I carried on two fly rod tubes taped together ( 4 piece graphite) on United and Air New Zealand with no questions asked.
I brought my own waders and boots because I knew I could walk in them comfortably, which was a good idea.
Take a drab fly line and drab clothes.
Practice as much as you can and ask your guide way before you come how long a leader to practice with. I never thought to do this and was practicing with 10’ leaders and my muscle memory of where the fly would be was way off and I had to correct this on the fly by spooking fish and hearing “ that won’t cut it mate”, more or less politely.
Book early. I was lucky to get in when I booked back in May.

Here are a couple pics to show it can be done. Feel free to pm for more detail.

[para_adams]

Don, awesome report and pics. I've never been, but I did own for a time a 9' bamboo quad made by Chris Carlin that he originally made for his own trip to NZ. You can watch Chris fish that rod on Youtube in a video titled "Carlin Bamboo in New Zealand." Chris's quad certainly would have been well suited to those 70' casts. Cheers!

[mrampant]

I glad you have enjoyed your experience. Fishing NZ is certainly a steep learning curve. Looking for a bamboo to suit is something you need to consider well, I have used a 6wt and had my butt handed to me on several occasions with some of the back country fish, combination of wind; spooky fish and getting hooked up on something over 8lb that moves like a freight train up a river.
Cheers, Mark

[flyrod]

Great report Don, thanks for sharing the NZ info and photos!

[DonT]

Two more things I neglected to add. It’s towards the end of summer holiday for the kids here and Queenstown was packed. It’s a big vacation destination. They are having the same issues hiring enough workers that we have and it was very hard to get a table in the evening without a reservation. The other is that my Maui Jim’s were a little too dark for the best chance to see fish, the guide was wearing an Australian brand with fairly light brown lenses. He a wizard at spotting fish as you might guess.

[Brooks]

Really important point, Don, about polarized glasses that are too dark:
My many experiences in NZ always have me using the lightest tint polarizers I can find. Between the many rain and overcast days, bush canopy, shadows and early and late fishing, you still need to have polarizers (but not dark ones) to see those NZ monsters. I’ve never needed a dark pair down there.

[mlarocco]

Some nice trout. Any pictures of Middle Earth?

[Bill Terry]

I have been on the South Island for a week, based in Wanaka. Fishing is as DonT describes. At home (Colorado), just about the only place I double haul is on the lawn. Here, more often than not. Casting wind-resistant flies, like cicada imitations, into the wind with those long leaders varies from difficult to impossible. Even if you do get the leader to straighten out, unless the fly hits the water just then, the wind will blow it right back.

The rivers down here are very low, which makes the trout even more spooky. There was a good rain last Friday, and another last night, so things might be getting better. But today I’m heading up to the North Island, where they are famously having the opposite problem. My guide there offered a full refund, but I told him we could fish lakes if the rivers are all unfishable. My biggest NZ fish have mostly come from the North Island (this is my 16th trip here).

After a week on the North Island, I’ll be on the South Island again, more northerly. Who knows what the weather will be doing then?

[16pmd]

I'm headed to the South Island of NZ soon and have been there 10+ times. In my experience, a true 70' cast is extremely rare and just a Hail Mary throw with almost no chance of success. The much more common challenge is a 45' cast into or across a stiff wind with a 16' leader to a small target area. It's almost always sight fishing to individual fish, so accuracy is the key and the your first cast is the best shot for a take. With a much more limited variety of bugs, the fish aren't super selective, but they tend to be found in very clear water, so not very tolerant of an inaccurate cast. And then there's nerves when casting to a two-footer in plain sight. I fish bamboo when the conditions are good, but a fast 5 or 6 wt. graphite is usually the rod of choice.

To me, NZ is one of the peak experiences in fly fishing, with the spectacular scenery, friendly and hospitable people, and sight fishing to big fish. Almost all streams are accessible to the public and most private landowners allow access to streams on their farms or ranches.

[Brooks]

Bill, I've had some fun up the Hunter R. in low-water years. Fish would hold in big turquoise pools.

[Bill Terry]

I fished the Hunter on Sunday. Did pretty well. Would have done better if there hadn’t been any wind early. Thanks for the tip, Brooks.

16pmd, I agree that a true 70’ cast (measured from my feet to the fish) is extremely rare, and it’s just about my absolute limit when throwing something like a cicada on a long leader. But 50-60 feet is common, for which I need to double haul. I mark my lines every 10 feet, so I know how much line I’m throwing. I agree with most of what you say, but I often have a fish move 10 feet for a cicada.

And I don’t bring bamboo to New Zealand. I have been fishing 5-wt and 6-wt graphite.

Another observation: In past years, I have hardly ever just fished the water, instead almost always casting to sighted fish. This year, I’m fishing the water quite a bit, with good results.

[Flykuni3]

I read this thread and the drool drips onto my keyboard. Someday, and I hope soon.

[tyghguy]

Nice fish Don. Glad you are having a successful trip

[bassman]

Great trip and pics. What I'm wondering is NZ big enough you were actually in low water conditions when the news seems to be telling NZ is washing away in floods?

[mentorsteve]

Beautiful! I think it would make a great place to retire. Mark

[DonT]

A couple more comments on the thread. Auckland is hundreds of miles (a thousand?) north of Queenstown and there was 70 degree weather in Queenstown during the terrible flood in Auckland. I likely was guilty of casting distance creep but in thinking about the line I normally had out of the rod tip ( the head section of which is a different color), the length of my rod and the leader length, 40-55 ft was happening often. I shouldn’t have said 70. More than maybe 55 was not that common but he legitimately asked me to try a few shots that were at least 80 across an open river to a fish cruising up the bank. I was standing on the opposite bank with unlimited back room and shooting a very big piled up loop of my running line with a mild crosswind ( or trying to, anyway…). That was beyond me, the success rate there was maybe 10-20% to get the leader turned over and we soon quit trying. Scott 9’ 5wt FWIW….

[Bill Terry]

I have been fishing on the North Island, on the south end near Palmerston North, for the last couple of days. My guide has found water that is fishable, in the sense that the fish should be able to see a fly from a few feet away, but even those rivers were high and fast, and we haven’t seen a single fish. I have only caught one, a 16” rainbow that I dredged up by fishing the water. I managed to find a guide in Christchurch who is available for a couple of days, so after one more day of fishing here I’m heading down there. After that, it’s Murchison for a week and then home.

I would like to recommend Maree Carson of NZ Travel Brokers, who made changing my flight schedule and finding lodging in Christchurch very simple.

[Bill Terry]

Update: We did see a fish on Friday, and I caught it! I also dredged up some small rainbows and one 20” rainbow by just fishing blind.

[Caneghost]

You guys have a tough life! It was minus ten here in the Catskills yesterday morning. No fishing. Enjoy while the rest of us dream about it...

[oneculm]

I was able to fish there many many years ago when it was much cheaper. We fished mostly the Mataura and a spring creek feeder to it. We were very lucky that a person I was fishing with and the owner of a large sheep station on the upper Mataura felt they might be related. That gave us great access. I used only a 7' cane rod and had no problems. We met a couple of brothers at a local pub who were from the North Island and were on the South Island on holiday. We met them on the North Island and they took us to a couple of small streams that I doubt were well known but had very nice sized fish. The people were fantastic. Have any of you who fish there more often ever fished the upper Nevis? dave