Trout Hunting New Zealand by Brian Gies

Trout Hunting New Zealand

By Brian Gies

F

or a number of reasons I consider the New Zealand angling experience the most distilled and rewarding trout fishing in the world. Over the years I have primarily seen it described as challenging and technical…a game for advanced anglers, but I see it differently. My take is that this is a fishery where short accurate casts matter most, as does a desire to truly hunt fish. New Zealand is rarely a numbers game, but rather a place where walking, stalking, teamwork and exciting visuals come together to produce what I feel is the most exciting trout fishing imaginable.

TROUT HUNTING NEW ZEALAND

Even though New Zealand has

grown-over logging roads.

a relatively small land mass it has

Typically days play out like this:

a seemingly infinite number of riv-

Anglers and their Kiwi guide (most

ers. Depending on the source and

often a hearty affable fellow dressed

what is defined as a “river,” New

like a bow hunter) don their back-

Zealand has well over 10,000 that

packs that are loaded with the day’s

run 100,000 to 200,000 river miles.

supplies, hoist a 5 or 6-wt rod and

Given the sheer number of systems

walk upstream attempting to spot

it is hard to generalize about the

the country’s abnormally large rain-

character of these waterways but

bow and brown trout. Once the

from an angler’s viewpoint a vast

quarry is spotted, a plan is hatched

number of them would be classi-

as to how the angler will set up for

fied as smallish freestones that are

the cast and the guide will describe

short in length, gin clear and are

where the fish is lying and where

easily covered by a moderate cast.

he wants the cast to land. Once the

They run through every imaginable

angler is in position the guide will

landscape from rough and tumble

give the signal and the angler will

mountains, to open highlands, to

attempt to do as instructed. Typically

pastoral valleys, to braided coastal

this will entail casting the fly 30 to

plains. A good number of these riv-

50 feet and landing it somewhere

ers run along lightly traveled coun-

in a three foot diameter. Despite

try roads and even more of them lie

the long leader, it is a reasonable

hidden in the mountains, behind

enough request. The problem is not

ranchers’ properties, or down long

so much the actual task as it is the

TROUT HUNTING NEW ZEALAND

fact that the angler has just gotten

drifted downstream. When the fly

a glimpse at one of the largest trout

was six inches from the target, the

in his or her life and is having

fish slowly moved up to sip it in and

trouble walking let alone delivering

then, just when its nose was creat-

the fly to the appointed target.

ing a bulge and slight dimple in

Ultimately the most challenging

the water, the fish slid back down

element boils down to keeping a

to the bottom of the river. As I re-

grip on your emotions so your body

leased the breath I had apparently

can perform the relatively easy task

been holding for some time, my

at hand.

fly continued to drift and I started

For me the act of hiking these

to relax. Then quite suddenly the

streams, spotting fish and watch-

fish turned again and swam directly

ing a trout move to the fly is one of

at me with its substantial mouth

the most visually and emotionally

agape, fully out of the water. In a

enriching angling experiences in

moment the fly was engulfed and

the sport. I have had the opportu-

I was so out of breath and charged

nity to participate in this hundreds

with emotion that I let out a terri-

of times and have yet to tire of it.

fied scream, stumbled into the river

On my last trip I was able to cast

and was barely able to keep control

to a particularly large fish from a

of the fish, which was now firmly

bird’s-eye position that allowed me

attached to the end of my line. For

a better than normal view of the

me, these types of visuals are what

scene: My fly landed four feet up-

both define and exalt the New

stream of the fish and immediately

Zealand angling experience.

TROUT HUNTING NEW ZEALAND

“The act of hiking these streams, spotting fish and watching a trout move to the fly is one of the most visually and emotionally enriching angling experiences in the sport”

“I consider the New Zealand angling experience the most distilled and rewarding trout fishing in the world.�

New Zealand trout are abnormally large.

Even though New Zealand has a relatively small land mass it has a seemingly infinite number of rivers.