I think that I have come to the realisation that it may be futile trying to plan a trip to NZ based on weather predictions or expectation. Leading up to my early November trip I was little apprehensive that I may be pushing my luck a bit and I would encounter cold, rain and high-fast flowing […]
Friend Jon Clewlow just sent me these pics of his adventure last week with my brother Mark and mate Nick on some rivers in the north of the South Island (when I tried to ask which ones he mumbled something about the Nunya and the Whatsits.) Apparently the trip was threatened from the start by heavy rain warnings from the NZ […]
After 5 months of ‘look but don’t touch’, on Wednesday the 2014/15 river season opened and I was finally able to fish my local rivers again. Good mate and guide Craig joined me and around mid morning we headed to a stream just a few minutes’ drive from the lodge. It didn’t take long to […]
What a great way to finish the stream season, across the ditch. The long drive from Auckland Airport to the Bay of Plenty area in the early hours of the morning was well worth the effort and with all the plotting and scheming between me and mate Al, it went like a flash. I don’t think […]
The multi award winning Stonefly Lodge is situated on 156 acres of private forest on the banks of the Motueka River, only 50 minutes drive from Nelson. The luxury 5 star Lodge is centrally located between 3 spectacular National Parks (Abel Tasman, Nelson Lakes and Kahurangi National Park) making the Lodge an ideal base from […]
After our adventurous start, Felix and I have stuck to more familiar waters for the rest of my trip at Owen River Lodge. Yesterday we fished the mighty Maruia. After the scree slope scrambles and clifftop dead-ends of Saturday, it seemed almost too easy to park the car beside the all-weather gravel road and stroll across green […]
You don’t often associate the north of the South Island with rainbow trout, but today was the exception. I’m staying with my good friend Felix Borenstein at Owen River Lodge, as I’ve done as often as I can (but not as often as I’d like) over the last 10 years. Usually we sight fish for […]
….and why weren’t you there? Well, after 3 weeks on the road it’s nice to be sleeping in my own bed and eating greens again. I love travel (especially when fishing) but when you do it as an itinerant it’s not always easy to plan a proper diet. The annual NZ safari started on 31 […]
A week out, the forecast for my trip to Queenstown was looking like rubbish – rain every day. I called a mate who fishes NZ regularly for some backup options should floods and high water hit. He made some suggestions, but then added that New Zealand forecasts are notoriously unreliable, and more than 5 days […]
I know water is the essential ingredient for trout and memories of prolonged drought back home in Australia are ever-present, so it’s hard to begrudge rain. But three wet December trips in a row to the West Coast are starting to make me wonder what I’ve done to upset the flyfishing gods! In these not so uncommon conditions […]
Wild trout live in wild places and it doesn’t matter where you go in this world, if you flyfish for trout the weather can – and quite often does – play a significant role. Indeed, the quality of the wild trout fishery in New Zealand is, in a large part, a result of the amount […]
By November, most rivers are open to fishing in New Zealand (the rivers around here in the north of the South Island mostly open in October.) However it is springtime and that usually means rain. But don’t be put off by the chance of spring rain and high flows; with a bit of effort you […]
