New Zealand Fishing Trip    

It was December of 2001 and that was the first time I headed to New Zealand thanks in great part to the Frontiers International travel group.  I only made it to the North Island that time around, but the experience and the fishing continued to haunt my mind.

Fast-forward to March 2005 and I was once again heading to New Zealand this time thanks in part to me, myself and I.  I had accrued enough frequent flyer miles this time to travel “First-class” (the only way to travel when taking such a long trip).

Many hours did I spend in front of my computer plugging away visiting various sites, sending many e-mails but at the end a well planned itinerary was constructed.  I was finally heading to “Kiwi” land to hunt for those sought after monster browns and rainbows.  March 15^th finally here!  I was on my way!

Philadelphia to Los Angeles; Los Angeles to Auckland NZ; Auckland to Nelson ( South Island); shuttle from Nelson to Lake Rotoroa Lodge, I had made it to my final destination 2 days later.

Lake Rotoroa Lodge can only be described as inviting, elegant and comfortable. Brent and Charlene, the managers, run a first-class operation there.  They are friendly, knowledgeable, dedicated and fun!!

This was my first time traveling to the South Island.  The South Island, as you may or may not know, is known for the finest brown trout, while the North is popular for its Rainbows.

My first day out, I was greeted by my guide Scott Murray( Scott has been in the cover of various fly-fishing magazines).  According to Brent, there are around 30 rivers within 1 hour’s driving distance of the lodge!  One hour later, Scott had taken me to the Matiri River.  The last 15 minutes to our destination, took us through some rough and rugged terrain.  I felt like I was in one of those SUV commercials putting it to “the test”!

At last, there it was, The Matiri! How beautiful and secluded! Waders on, fly rod in hand (a 5 weight, 9 foot Sage XP by the way) and the hunt was on.

The weather was perfect, the sandflies were not exceptionally hungry today, and the timing of my strikes were the best they have ever been.  It was approximately 9:15am when we started our journey upstream and I have to tell you that by the time 11am came along, I had already landed 11 Browns!!  After a 45 minute lunch we continued to head upstream where the days total was.. Are you ready for this???  40!!  Yes, you read correctly : 40 browns for the day all  caught on nymphs and the majority averaged 2-3 pounds.  The biggest fish that day was 5 pounds!  It is safe to say that I was so elated that day that if my vacation had ended on my first day, it would have gone down as one of my best fishing vacations ever.

I could not stop smiling all the way back to the lodge as you can imagine.  Upon hearing of my exceptional fishing day, Brent informed me that the most fish any guest had landed in one day at the lodge was 33.  I guess I will have to wait to find out if and when my record will ever  be broken.

The next day, I went out with Scott again, this time to The Mariwea River. Another beautiful, welcoming spot.  I did not come close to the amount of fish caught that first day, but I did catch some big ones!  According to Scott The Mariwea is one of Dave Whitlock’s favorite streams.  I can see why!  The sandflies, unfortunately were not so forgiving today;  thank god for DEET.

My catch for the day was 5 and all were over 4 pounds and all fought a great battle.  My first catch (5 ½ pounds)  for that day felt like I was battling a bonefish after he took me pretty close to my backing.  All in all the day was another success!

Besides fishing in the South Island, I also visited the Marlborough county wineries and tasted some truly wonderful New Zealand wines.

It was time to head to the North Island.  I boarded a very small aircraft in Nelson which would take me to Wellington where I would then change planes and head to Taupo.  Unfortunately, we were unable to land in Wellington due to too much fog.  After three attempts by the pilot to “squeeze” through the fog, we headed to Palmerston North, north of Wellington where I was rerouted to Taupo via Auckland.

I was finally at the Tongariro Lodge located in Turangi.  In the town of Turangi there is a sign which reads “The World’s Best Trout Fishing”!  Wayne and Mandy are the managers there and like Brent and Charlene from Lake Rotoroa Lodge, they make sure that your individual needs are known and met.

The next day I met up with Tim my guide.  He was to guide me down the Tongariro River via a raft.  This part of the Tongariro can only be accessed with a raft and it is a truly wonderful experience to be not only white water rafting but fishing at the same time!!  I caught a dozen rainbows that day and most were over 4 pounds.  I had a few more days of fishing while at the lodge up north and every day was as exhilarating as the next.

For me this was the experience of a lifetime and you can be sure that I will continue to travel back to this scenic wonderland and to a place where I consider it to be the world’s best trout fishing!

If you would like any information, please feel free to e-mail me at cagarcia05@comcast.net

 --Dr. Carmen A. Garcia