Trumpeter - Latris lineata by Allan Burgess The Trumpeter by Dick Marquand (Scroll down this page). A freshly caught trumpeter has a brightly coloured handsome appearance. This one was caught by Allan Burgess fishing off…
By Allan Burgess Very few New Zealand anglers fish for salmon with salmon flies and true fly fishing tackle. The Canterbury braided rivers, which are where the majority of salmon are caught, don't really lend themselves to traditional fly fishing. These big rivers often run swift and dirty. Even when running clear the water where…
Fuzzy Wuzzy is a trout egg imitation fly The Fuzzy Wuzzy was created by the late Fred Fletcher to imitate freshwater crayfish (koura) in Lake Taupo. Fletcher was the original builder and owner of the Waitahanui Lodge he started way back in 1932. The simple bach-like lodge situated next to the Waitahanui River, which flows into the eastern…
Black Phantom Trout Fly The Black Phantom is the most handsome of night flies, particularly…
Bottling Salmon - Also effective for Trout, kahawai and Mullet The Americans call this preserving process canning even when glass jars are used Following congratulations from your fishing mates on having finally landed a salmon,…
By Jack Whittler My aim is to encourage do-it-yourselfers to make up their own - they can be made of all manner of tubular materials built to suit an individual's requirements, can cast any bait materials to distances in excess of the old method, by wrapping the trace around the bait. Any length of trace may…
Catch and Release - Exquisite Moment at Larry's Creek - also known as the Awarau River, Near Reefton by Graeme Smith It happens in that one exquisite moment, that moment we wait for, are watching for, yet usually miss. One instant it's there, the next instant it's not. Catch and Release. Like watching a magician,…
Whitebait Streamer Fly for Sea-Run Trout Fishing by Chris Tonkin The first of the smelt runs appear in South Westland rivers about mid-October, adding a further dimension to some very interesting tidal fishing. River mouths with adjacent shallow tidal areas have provided great sport for the few anglers exploiting them. There is really nothing to…
Catch and Release - Exquisite Moment at Larry's Creek - also known as the Awarau River, Near Reefton by Graeme Smith It happens in that one exquisite moment, that moment we wait for, are watching for, yet usually miss. One instant it's there, the next instant it's not. Catch and Release. Like watching a magician,…
French Pass, D'Urville Island - Top Yellowtail Kingfish Spot Plus French Pass Kingfish by Maurice Scoble (scroll down). by Roy Jones French Pass is a most beautiful and rewarding location. It is a top spot for yellowtail kingfish. For those of you fishing it for the first time, it can be quite daunting. That's…
By Monty Wright Being on holiday Colleen and I woke at a respectable hour. We had stayed overnight at Makarora House which is a farm stay facility in the Makarora Valley. From our bedroom, we could look right up the Wilkin River Valley - a beautiful sight for anyone to behold first thing in the…
by Peter Lemin - Harling Lake Dunstan Part 1 The main angling methods in Lake Dunstan have been trolling as well as fly fishing and thread-lining from the shore. During January, the fishing slowed down considerably, no doubt partly due to the angling pressure the lake received over the Christmas holiday period. I felt sure…
By Monty Wright The habits of various kinds of trout differ considerably. Even though transplanted to new surroundings they still maintain their individual ways. The majority fish which we angle for in the South Island are now in their own individual right a wild strain. These fish were introduced originally by the old Acclimatisation Societies…
by Allan Burgess One of the controversies that surround fishing in the Twizel Canals relates to the percentage of trout that survive after being caught and released. Some of the big trout captured and let-go back into the canals clearly don't survive. Evidence of these being sightings of dead fish floating past "belly up." In…
Sockeye Salmon - Oncorhynchus nerka - only landlocked stocks are found in New Zealand Most New Zealand freshwater anglers will have never seen a sockeye salmon. They are only found in the Waitaki River catchment, especially in lakes Ohau and…
By Tom Fraser The Tongariro can be an intimidating river and sitting in the pre-dawn gloom with the frost settling on me, it dawned upon me just how easily someone could approach this river, be overawed and have very little success. We were excited to be finally fishing the world-famous Tongariro River Trout fishery that…
Game Fishing with Andrew Padlie During the winter months fishing around Tauranga becomes pretty much limited to the usual table fish species. Not knocking the area as the bottom fishing can be red hot at times, but it seems the same situation occurs all around the North Island. Only recently though we have found something…
By Monty Wright Nature's creation of rivers was originally developed by excessive rain falling on the land creating its own channels and flooding much of the deltas. Some floods are slow and steady while other ones have immense energy through the amount of rain that falls. Although the river systems were originally created by this…
Catch and Release - Exquisite Moment at Larry's Creek - also known as the Awarau River, Near Reefton by Graeme Smith It happens in that one exquisite moment, that moment we wait for, are watching for, yet usually miss. One instant it's there, the next instant it's not. Catch and Release. Like watching a magician,…
"A good game fish is too valuable to be caught only once." Lee Wulff Advice on Catch and Release to give your big trout the best chance of survival The coolness of the approaching evening signalled the end of another glorious day in paradise. I had covered many kilometres of the Caples River, a…
West Coast Marlin with DJ Moresby The coast to the west of Te Kuiti is genuine New Zealand "West Coast". The Tasman sea rolls in as two-metre high waves on a calm day to…