New Zealand, Argentina & Chili in our winter.... [Archive]

Bill Kiene semi-retired

12-12-2010, 09:13 AM

.....and their summer.

Not everyone has the time to go and the money to spend but if you do you can have great fly fishing for trout way down south in our winter.

You can fly to New Zealand and Argentina and rent a vehicle and drive and fish just like we do in Montana.

Some of our customers go every winter.

Nor Cal guide Fred Gordon and friends go every winter to New Zealand for a "do-it-yourself" trip.

One of our customers who goes every year to New Zealand with his dad said it is very uncrowded now with the condition of the world economy.

Another customer goes to Argentina every winter to Mendoza where he has friends at the Mendoza Fly Shop.

esummers

12-12-2010, 12:14 PM

I did a do-it-yourself trip to New Zealand 9 years ago, by myself - I think I was 28. I spent 5 weeks there, rented a car and off I went. I had a friend who was living in Masterton, on the North Island, so I spent some time with him and his wife. He was a guide back in Michigan and one of the best anglers I've ever seen, so he had it dialed in when I got there and gave me some pointers.

I really had no idea what I was doing. I had been to Montana and fished the west for years along with Michigan, but this was a totally different game. As many of you know, there aren't a lot of trout in New Zealand so you have to sight fish. Blind fishing, for the most part, is a waist of time. The tradeoff is, that they are huge fish for the most part. They aren't selective when it comes to flies, but it's all about stalking them without them seeing you. The water is so clear, that sneaking up on them can be really difficult. Things like line color, the color of your clothers, limiting false casts, glare off of a shiny reel, etc. are really important things to consider. My buddy insisted on fishing the traditional way they do it in NZ. Sight fishing with nymphs and no indicator. It was really difficult for me to get the hang of this. Looking for things like the gills opening or a subtle moves made by the trout in order to determine a take. Needless to say, I took a beating. After I left him, I headed to the south island where I started fishing dries more often and had better success. I did a couple backpack trips on the Greenstone and Caples rivers which was amazing. Milford sound is a must see.

Anyway, all in all I didn't really catch a lot of fish. However, I had one of the most amazing fishing experiences of my life. The 8lb. Brown I caught I will never forget. I believe it was a tributary of the Oreti (spelling?). I found two huge browns working a pool one afternoon and just watched them for hours without making a cast. By that time, I was so gun shy about spooking them, I wanted to have my plan nailed down before attempting a cast. Spooking a trout in NZ is much different than in the States. Those trout get spooked for days, not minutes, because they rarely get casted to. So if you @#$# it up, its over. They just kept circling this pool. Two full times around the pool, followed by a half circle. So I watched them do this over and over until nightfall and went to the local bar\hotel where I was staying. I told the bartender and a few patrons the situation (all seasoned anglers) and they gave me some good advice to use the next day. As those trout worked the opposite end of the pool from where I was stationed, put by dry fly (a Cicada bug) on the opposite end of the pool from where they were, but on the path they were using. So that's what I did the next morning. As they came by my bug, I gave it a little twitch and up from the depths came this beast. I was actually on a bank and when I set the hook I ended up falling into the pool during the fight. I ended up landing him after a long fight. Soaked and dillrious with joy - I believe that was the first trout I had landed in 10 days or so. Sorry - Long story, but I'll never forget it.

Anyway, I did the 5 week trip for $3,500US (including air), by myself and camped most of the trip. The US dollar was strong back then and went a long way in NZ. The people, landscape and fishing are some of the best in the world IMO. If you get a chance, please go - you'll never regret it.