My trout fishing in New Zealand was pretty unsuccessful, but I did learn a few things.
Tackle: Most fly fishermen on New Zealand's streams will use seven weight rods. A lighter rod, like a five weight, may be useful for smaller streams. Two-piece rods fit fine in helicopters. Bring floating lines, preferably in dull colors. To fish the lakes a sink-tip line, or a four-foot bit of sinking line looped to the end of a floating line, is desirable. Tackle is generally costly in the shops and the selection is limited, so it is better to bring your own. There are no New Zealand-produced flyrods or reels to buy in the shops, as far as I could tell, so you'll end up paying $NZ350 for an imported System Two reel that would cost less than $US200 at home. The usual American dry flies and nymphs are commonly used. There are some local flies (especially for lake fishing) that may be hard to find at home, but flies are widely available and not not expensive in New Zealand. The locals typically use 4x and 5x tippet. For bush streams on the West Coast of the South Island, bring a lot of effective sandfly repellent and some sort of salve for stings; as you slowly retrieve your fly over a big trout, thirty sandflies will swoop down and begin stinging your hands.
License and Regulations: You can buy licenses for individual areas or a one-year national license, that allows you to fish anywhere except Taupo, for $NZ62. The wardens do come around and check, and the fines are reputed to be heavy, so don't skip this part. The fishing regulations will not affect most fly fishermen; in general, note that multi-fly rigs (e.g., a dry fly with a nymph on a dropper) are legal, treble hooks are not, and that multiple rigged rods per angler (e.g., in a boat) may be trouble. You should get a booklet with your license that details the regulations and open/closed seasons. In general, rivers are open during wintertime in the States, which is summer in New Zealand, but some may be closed during other months. Do note that minimum size is 30 cm (about 12 inches) in most, if not all, areas.
Rivers: New Zealand has just about any sort of river you would want, from little spring creeks to broad deep rivers that are better spin-fished. There is a pair of books by John Kent, "North Island Trout Fishing Guide" and "South Island Trout Fishing Guide", that details many good trout streams all over the country with access and fishing tips and good maps. These are commonly available in bookstores. I only sampled a few rivers and areas, but for what it is worth, if I had a chance to return to New Zealand I would head straight for the Nelson-Murchison area in the north part of the South Island. Many of the rivers on the east coast of the South Island were very low or dried up when we visited (late summer in New Zealand, early March by the calendar), and the water was often warm and low elsewhere as well, especially on the North Island. I would guess that December and January would be a fine time to fish New Zealand, as long as rain is not clouding up the rivers. There is plenty of fine fishing accessible from the roads and lots more reachable through an hour's hike, so you don't need to take helicopters to catch trout. Often you will have to cross fenced-off farmland to reach the river; you should ask for permission if you can find someone around, especially if you will be crossing around houses or structures, but often there will be nothing for miles but some sheep. In those cases it seems accepted to simply climb the fence and fish, being careful to close any gates and leave nothing behind.
Tactics and Guides: I mostly fished the streams blind (i.e., casting to fishy-looking water), as I would at home, and caught my usual number of fish of my usual size -- that is to say, not very inspiring. I learned that although there are some large trout (say, two feet and longer), there are not very many of them. For example, in a 200-foot long pool, full of boulders and deep holes, where I would have expected there to be fifty fish, there might be only five big trout. In fact, there might be only five trout of any size there, as some of the rivers seem to be off-limits to little trout, due to the eels, birds, or the big trout. Most of the fishy-looking spots may thus be empty. Also, for some reason, in several days of fishing I never saw any sustained surface feeding activity, either to rises or falls, that would give away fish lies. So most fishermen seem to walk the banks and try to spot a fish before casting. Some of the rivers are peat-stained (tea-colored) and spotting is very hard there. Unless you are skilled at spotting fish, it is a good idea to fish with a guide, if not throughout your stay then at least for a few days at the start of your trip. I would hire the guide for a full day, as time seems to fly when you are fishing, and especially if you are also paying for a helicopter shuttle.
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