Fly Fishing info for South Island of New Zealand

[Kiwi Fly Guy]

hello to all, If anybody is thinking of spending some time in the South Island of New Zealand I may well be able to assist with providing plenty of info, all free of course, so you can spend more time fishing than finding where to fish.

I'll be there next year April,I think!I'll be attending a wedding in Oz and the date has yet to be finalised.What's april like?

I'll be in NZ in March (racing the Ironman) and will need a few days off after to recover. My wife and I are going to bring our fly fishing gear but will need to find a guide as we're both novices. We'll be in the north and south for a couple of weeks.

J.

[Kiwi Fly Guy]

Email me closer to the time you'll be travelling and where you are thinking about seeing ie Queenstown etc and I'll be only to happy to provide as much info as I can about specific locations close to where you will be, or even suggest an itinary to get in some quality fishing and touristy stuff too.By the way the South Island has vastly superior fishing, scenery, tourist spots, hospitality and ...and ...well just about every thing better than the North Island and yes I'm very biased, so spend more time down here!!

[Hankdog]

Thanks for the generous offer.
We are hoping to be in Aus/NZ in late September and early October. We have friends on the North Island to spend time with, but on previous visits we have found the South Island more appealing. (In fact, my dream is to retire to somewhere around Christchurch someday.)
As the date of our trip approaches, I will try to reach out to you for some info. How is early October for fishing? Does the snowmelt blow out most of the rivers? Is that too early/late for spring runoff?
Thanks again for the offer of assistance. I hope to be taking you up on it in a few months.

Charlie

[Jax]

Hi there Tony. Things must be getting tight in the South. Up here in the North where the fishing is awfull the scenery is lousy and the tourists are conspicuous by their absence. The Backcountry fishing is just out of this world,and unlike the South. You do not need to fight for a possie on a river or stream, or fear a copter dropping another party a hundred yards upstream of where you are fishing.
So go south if you must fellahs but you will miss some GOOD Fishing if you give the North a miss. The South may be cleaner and greener, but the North is keener and meaner when it comes to fishing for REAL Browns. Jax

Thanks for that, I'll be in touch nearer the time.

We were in NZ a couple of years ago (my wife was working there for 9 months, I came down for 3 weeks) but we weren't fly fishers then. We toured mainly the south island and did all the usual touristy stuff, plus a kayak trip in doubtful sound.

This trip we'll probably do more of the north island, wellington and abel tasman park (another kayak trip).

Will know more nearer the time.

Thanks for the offer, I'll be in touch.

J.