NEW ZEALAND: NO TIME LIKE THE PRESENT!

WHEN TO BOOK FOR PRIME-TIME DATES If there is anything we can guarantee about fishing in New Zealand during prime time, it’s the fact that you won’t be able to enjoy it next season if you delay booking your trip! Many of our lodges in New Zealand book out up to one year in advance, so to secure your preferred dates during the peak season (think dry flies, explosive cicada eats and long, sunny days in brown trout heaven) you simply cannot delay. While there are merits to every month of the fishing season in New Zealand, mid-December through mid-March tends to be characterized by more stable weather patterns and fish whose appetites have them hankering for terrestrials and other insects on the water’s surface. The proof is in the pudding; check out some of the fish that were caught by Yellow Dog clients during that time period over the past season!

 

Put simply, there is no place on the planet that boasts the same caliber of trophy brown trout fishing as New Zealand. Not only are the resident Salmo trutta of the South Island staggering in size (averaging 4-7 pounds, but regularly tipping the scales at over 10 pounds), they are beguiling in terms of how you fish for them. The “spot and stalk” technique that is practiced in New Zealand makes the sport of fishing something that is much more akin to hunting — and this is really the quintessence of fly angling.

If dry fly fishing floats your boat (or your Parachute Adams), then this is the ultimate experience for you. Imagine standing up on a high bank, looking down into a freestone river as blue as a swimming pool and spotting what must surely be a log — but then it shows indisputable signs of life as it kicks its tail to slurp another bug out of the oncoming current. You patiently observe this brown trout, in awe of its body mass as it continues to feed freely mid-stream. Your guide ties on a fly—which is just as well since your fingers are shaking. You make your finest cast, presenting a size 16 Manuka beetle imitation with impeccable delicacy so as not to surprise your target. His head turns deliberately in the direction of your fly and he slowly moves towards it, opening his great white mouth with complete insouciance. You wait for a virtual eternity as your guide chants “God Save the Queen” beside you.

But then you are rewarded with the rush of euphoria that floods over a patient angler when the line comes tight and you hear something like the sound of a flushing toilet made by the power-stroke of a big tail as the fish makes a run for the nearest log jam. And then it’s game on! While many a moon and star must align for a successful catch and release scenario with a trophy brown to occur, it is the challenge and the thrill of the pursuit that keeps anglers coming back for more.
 

Did you just get a burst of adrenaline reading about NZ’s trophy brown trout? Call us at 888-777-5060 to help with your next adventure.