More Trout

First picture this brown took on a nymph and was 5lbs on the Hope River. The second picture was a 5.5lbs brown on the Hope River.

The Proof

The biggest fish I have ever caught on a fly rod. 7 lb brown trout. Greenstone rainbow trout. Really that is me with another brown trout

The Greenstone Valley. Rainbow trout. All the fish we caught were released. Sunrise in Glenorchy, south of Queenstown.

Fly Fishing

One month ago I left the North Island for the South Island to fly fish the southern rivers of New Zealand. I met up with friend Bob Wright and we planned our attack. We started on the Greenstone River, outside of Queenstown. We packed our backpacks and headed out for a 6 day tramping ( backpacking) , fly fishing adventure. The first day we tramped ( Kiwi term for hiking) for 4 hours and reached the lower Greenstone hut. The tramp was up hill most of the way and I was sore on the arrival to the hut. The huts are sponsored by the NZ government and I believe the country supports about 190 huts throughout their forests. The cost is $5.oo a night and it is first come first serve. The huts have bunk beds with foam pads and sleep 6 to 24 people, and a area to cook and eat, all enclosed. Some of the huts are very primitive and others have running water and flushing toilets. Most of the huts are policed by local rangers. The second day we headed up river to a private hut we had rented from the deer stockers association. This hut had running water and a nice view of the valley above. We fished for 4 days and caught several nice fish and had great weather. We worked our way out on the 5 day and on the 6th day we made it back to the car ready for a hot shower and a big steak. Several days of dehydrated food can turn your stomach. We spent one night in Queenstown and planned our next attack. We fished some local rivers for the day and we packed up for a 5 day tramp on the Oreti River, the home of the trophy trout.

We had a two day drive to the area around the Oreti. We packed our packs again for the tramp in. We spent a half of day tramping in and were able to fish the afternoon. We fished for three days and got skunked. We saw many fish but the fish weren't biting. In New Zealand fly fishing is usually done by sighting the fish then you stalk and go for the presentation and hopefully the trout will take your fly. The river was very low as many of the southern rivers were and many of the locals told us that this slows the fishing down. The fish are in survival mode and are un-fishable. I believe that is why we got skunked. We spent a few days on the road again and arrived to the entrance of the Hope River.

We planned a 6 day tramp into the Hope. We had great weather and caught many big fish. I was able to land a 7lb brown trout. I caught several 5lb fish too. The tramp in was easy but the tramp out was the most difficult. The terrain was very technical. We made it out just before the rain. The rain has been coming down for the last three days and the rivers have become to dirty to fish. I will be on the North Island next week and will look for more rivers. All and all the fly fishing and tramping in New Zealand has been incredible.