Guys,
Just to get a general idea, would you recommend North or South island for trout fishing in March? More questions to follow - thanks for any and all advice. Thinking about heading your way in '08 and need to start planning now…
Marty
I’d say South to hunt a few browns active as the weather cools… Ass far as I know the North is best late in the year, of course that is a very rough generalisation and I will probably get my but kicked for it, the fishing is great everywhere! I like the South in March/April, in fact will be there then so keep in touch.
Hi Marty,
I’ve only fished in the South Island in August, and then only in and around Queenstown (I usually go there to an annual conference). In the North Island, some good fishing can be had though. I’ve had some of my best trips camping over Easter Weekend at Te Awa Camp by the Rangitaiki River (about an hour or so south of Rotorua). There are a number of rivers and lakes in this area, all of which should fish well in March. Rotorua Lakes often are best Jan/Feb, when the fish come into the river mouths as the lake warms up, but should still be producing large fish at the river mouths in March. The Ngongataha will still have large browns and rainbows, and the Waiteti Stream should have some fish as well. Rotorua sits on a lot of thermal activity, so there are a lot of relaxation attractions (thermal spas, walks, etc). There’s a great thermal park area (Waiotapu) which is worth seeing. Also, Rotorua has a number of Maori Cultural Experiences, any of which are well worth going to.
About 40 minutes drive from Rotorua towards Auckland, there’s a small village called Tirau. About 5 miles before the township is Whites Road, which has public access to the Waihou. This is a wonderful spring fed small river with lots of small fish, and some larger ones. It’s become over populated with small fish, so they have no limit for keeping fish under 30 cm, but you can only keep two over that. Since implementing this the average fish size has increased from 18 to 20, or so I’ve been told by a member of my fishing club. There is also the Waimakariri River, which is another great fishery. This area fishes well all year.
The above are the areas I am most familear with.
I’ve only fished the Taupo region a couple times, so I don’t really know it well. I would suggest going to the Turangi Township as the Tongariro runs along the edge of the town. The Tongariro River is best known for the winter spawning runs, but I’ve heard people say that the summer fishing there is overlooked for some reason. As the TO can get very crowded, fishing it in March would give you more of the river to yourself. Also, there are a number of other good rivers in that area which get ignored because everyone goes to the Tongariro. There are a number of good walks in this area, with the Tongariro Crossing being one of the best known.
I’ve heard of good fishing around Taranaki, but have not made it there myself yet.
Unfortunatley, with all of this, I can’t compare it with the South Island for you. However, I don’t think you could go wrong with either choice!
- Jeff
Like Jeff says the small streams and rivers in the North Island are pretty good in March. The trout are still looking up and the dry fly fishes very well.
I would say that we in the North can cater for pretty much any sort of Fly Fishing Lake River or Stream and we can include Salt Water if needed.
The governing factor would be Time and your mode of transport. Jax
Thanks for the tips guys. I will post again as the time draws near and PM you fellows in the meantime if that’s OK…
Marty
Go for it Marty. Will help all I can. Jax
Hey Marty, sorry it has taken me a while to chip in, I have been in the Cook Islands for the past 10 days so have been out of touch.
I have to say that whatever you decide you will have some great fishing, as a general rule in the South Island you will be fishing for some very spooky browns and I would recomend a Guide if you can afford it. The south Island scenery is fantastic and there are plenty of other things to do for any non fishing days. Every region has some very good streams and rivers but the access can be problematic.
In the north the fishing is at least as good but the access is mostly easier, I have never had a farmer refuse me access across his land, you need only to knock on the door and ask, plus a fair bit of the North Island has Queens Chain accesss meaning if you can get to the river from a road bridge you can legaly wade up or down as long as you stick close to the river. However it always pays to ask at the nearest farm house.
In the North Island there is a bit of everything, you can fish the wilderness areas for big Browns and Rainbows or you can fish the lakes for some even bigger fish and some great average size ones as well. Or you can fish a stream meandering through farmland for some great fish and on most of the rivers and streams you will be unlucky to see another angler! All you need is a map and a car and you are away!
Please feel free to P.M. me and if you decide to spend any time in the Auckland and Waikato areas I will do my best to be available to show you some good streams.
All the best.
Mike.
All has been very useful thus far guys. This will be our first trip south of the Equator, though we made it close once by heading to Barbados. Not a dang trout to be found there, however. :lol:
My wife will be running a marathon there (unsure which island at this point) and we may have around 10 days to hop around and do as we please, which for me includes a few days of hunting trout. I’ll gather some information from her tonight and post again tomorrow. Thanks very much!
Marty
I could only add to that by saying that ten days will go in a heartbeat. Travelling around NZ by road is a fairly slow process, just make sure you have plenty of time to do what you want. They ain’t big freeways over there!
A little southern, south island info.
Access to the south island is very straight forward. I have never been refused acess and most rivers I fish have queens chain access, and fish and game access points abound.
Best thing about the south is that in bad weather, a 30 minute drive will often get you into a completly different climate. If its raining in queenstown, Wanaka may be fine.
If the Matauras dirty chances are the Oretis in form. Theres always somewhere to fish, easy of access in most conditions.
You could be throwing small dries to choosy trout on the mataura one day and after a 30 minute drive, you can be chasing trophies on the Oreti. The mavoras are again 20 mins distant from here and provide some great lake edge action.
From the southland area a short hour and a half drive will get you onto the wanaka / queenstown region. Here you have many small alpine lakes as well as our large souhtern lakes system. lake tributaries such as the greenstone, makarora and hunter can provide some great backcountry action.
Another hour and a half you can be in the mackenzie country, home of the mighty Ahuriri and Tekapo rivers.
Suggested bases - Twizel, Queenstown, Gore or Te Anau.
Plenty of water and a pretty safe area in which to leave the car unatended 
Ahh… the Oreti… I gotto get back down there soon, some of those fish are just plain scary!
yup. rumor has it one guy hooked into one of em back in April and hasnt been seen since 
I believe it. Biggest fish I have ever seen, and I mean including farm fish! I saw a couple of shadows move in one spot and I thought a cloud or plane had raced by overhead - but just dolphin sized fish.