Anyone Fished in New Zealand before?

[vikingmeatwad]

I leave in a few days. Will be in Auckland for 3 days then in Lake Taupo for about 5-6 days.

I don't know jack about fishing there but have read/heard that taupo area has some of the best trout fishing in the world.

I'm hoping someone can point me to some info to trout or even ocean fishing somewhere as I am used to our nice lakes here in MN and Canada :-)

Thanks!!

[Slyster]

Try the New Zealand forum. Kidding. I would guess you won't hear much about this topic! But.. I would say.. as soon as you get there.. look up and hire a guide! Really the only for something this exotic.

[PikeBayCommanche]

One of my best friends is student teaching in New Zealand right now. He has been catching tons of trout. He has caught some 5lb+ Rainbows. So you should just to some research and think you will be ok.

[riverrat56]

Don't they have Zander in New Zealand, those big walleye looking things?

Tie into about a 20 lber and bring it home telling people its a walleye.

[RK]

Hiya -

You can't fathom how jealous I am.... I spent close to a month in NZ just knocking around one summer in college. I think if someone told me I had a job waiting there, I'd pack tonight and leave in the morning. I loved it. One of the most spectacularly beautiful places I've ever been (and I've been all over Canada and Alaska), and they people make 'Minnesota Nice' seem rude by comparison. It's really a remarkable place.

And the fishing can be unbelievable. They have some of the best trout fishing in the world. Fall down there so some of the seasons may be closed (fall spawners). I fished on the S island mostly - dunedin and Queenstown areas. When I was there in May browns were closed but we fished Rainbows. Also fished what they called "Quannat" salmon. When the guy I fished with told me about them I thought it sounded pretty cool - I'd never caught a "Quannat" before. Started casting a river mouth for them. Got a hit, set the hook, and a 4# Coho came flying out of the water... Turns out they'd stocked Cohos in a couple of the lakes on the S Island. (We went back to trout fishing...caught plenty of little Hohos before ) The other wierd thing...at least on Lake Wakatipu on the S. Island, they have these great big bloody eel things with some serious chompers. They get like 4' long. One swam by me while I was up to my elbows in the water and scared the bejeezus out of me.

You'll be about an hour from Rotorua when you're at Lake Taupo. Some tremendous rainbow fishing around there. It's been a few years now since I was there, but back then, their fishing technology was a little behind the times. One of the guys I fished with was the envy of everyone on Lake Wakatipu because he had a depth finder - which was a digital display that read in 5' increments.

As for the fishing itself - rapalas, small spinners, little spoons, even small jigs all work pretty well. I bet the small size husky jerks would kick. Even #5 shallow shad raps. The really seem to like spinners though. Hard to go wrong with some #00, 1 and 2 Mepps and little Panther Martins (panther martins spin well in current). See if you can find some SMALL (like 1/64 oz) marabou jigs too. Can fit all you need in one small box probably.

Post on the trout forum here if you haven't already. Trout heads will have some good info for you.

Have fun - and PLEASE report when you get back.

have to say again: wow am I jealous...

Cheers,

Rob Kimm

[vikingmeatwad]

Thanks so much for your info everyone. Especially RK, your input will be huge to help me decide where I spend my couple of tdays fishing.

Do you know if it would be worth it to get on a charter boat somewhere close to auckland and fish the ocean?

I will be checking out the local guides and try to get a package deal where I can try to catch a few different kinds of fish. I know Taupo is open yr round but it looks like many of the seasons very from place to place.

I will not have much room to pack but I will bring some small lures I think will work for trout.

Thanks again, I can't wait! Besides the 13hr flight from LA :-(

[vikingmeatwad]

fyi, got back from the trip a couple weeks ago and forgot to post an update here.

Had a great trip, only got to fish one day as we hired a guide for 4 hrs on the morning of the queen's bday(big holiday there) Didn't get much fishing time in that day as most was driving around, learning how to fly fish and walking around. Beautiful rivers around Lake Taupo, the "picket fence" was cool to see that morning.

Had a good bite, didn't see the fish but after fighting it for a couple minutes it got off the fly somehow. My fiance also hooked one but didn't get it in.

We could have got in a boat with riggers instead but I thought fly fishing would be a better experience and I think it was.

[MidCoast]

Nopes, never fished there...