Brown trout are native to Europe and were first introduced into New Zealand in the late 1860s from British stock that was first established in Tasmania Australia. The colour pattern of brown trout varies with their habitat. Sea-run and lake fish tend to be silvery with brown and olive spots of varying intensity, whereas river-dwelling fish are darker in colouration with brown and red spots, the latter being surrounded by paler halos. These red spots are particularly prominent on small river fish. .Brown trout are primarily a freshwater species, but can spend time in the sea.Brown trout occur virtually everywhere in New Zealand south of Auckland.

When conditions turn nasty and spotting trout becomes impossible, either due to surface disturbance from the wind and or high cloud that's blocking out the sun light , hunt out an elevated rocky out crop or bank from which to sit and scan the surrounding lake edges. The elevation will help cut out the glare caused through low light and will also help with the lake surface chop, a stretch of water that was seemingly impossible to see into and spot fish 5 minutes earlier has now come to life with cruising trout!

A beautiful stretch of lake edge that was partially sheltered from the NW , this stretch produced the most hook ups for the day. It was perfect as it had a stony bottom that stretched out over to a weed bed and then over a deep drop off. I watched several fish cruise in from the deeper water onto the weed beds to then chase bullies along the stony bottom almost beaching themselves in the shallows as the bullies dashed for the shelter of the shallow edges !

Spring time fly fishing around the Lake Wanaka shoreline is something I really look forward to each season. By mid to late August there are plenty of post spawning Brown trout cruising the shallow stony margins of our Southern lakes in search of bullies and dragon fly nymphs. While most fish didn't hesitate to chase down and eat our bully imitations , the odd fish would rush over to inspect our flies then turn away quickly only to then have another inspection before deciding something wasn't quite right and speeding off for cover.

Morning and evenings seemed to be the best time to catch them from my experience, they are usually found in large schools near the surface and if you see good numbers of birds dive bombing the surface for bait you can bet that Kahawai will be close by ! They are very mobile and can be there one day and gone the next , always on the move following bait fish up and and down the coast.

Jeremy with a thumper of a fish that put up an epic fight , these fish will put on even more condition over the next few months as they gorge themselves on the white bait that will begin to move into rivers and streams of the West Coast region.

More and more now I am tying my streamers for swinging on my Switch rod with a stinger hook attached to them. When swinging flies downstream many fish will chase your fly across the current into the edges and hit your fly from behind, most streamer patterns these days have longer marabou and rabbit style tails to create movement and life likeness which trout will sometimes nip at so having a stinger hook set well back towards the end of the tail helps increase your hook up rate.

We are very lucky in the Wanaka region to have several sections of river open through the winter months that are great to swing streamers on. After a stop off at the Hawea cafe for a Brekky pie ( the best pie ever! IMO) a coffee and a couple of cheese rolls topped with loads butter we wer'e on the road again. We headed to the Makarora river and drove down a dirt 4WD track to the confluence of the Makarora and Wilkin rivers , we are fortunate enough to have the section from the confluence down to the lake open all season

Queenstown is regarded as the adventure capital of New Zealand and offers a wide variety of attractions over both the winter and summer months .It has 2 world renowned ski fields on its door step with both Coronet Peak and The Remarkables ski fields both only a short drive from the centre of town , and then also Cardrona ski field just over the other side of the Crown Range about 45mins away. Queenstown offers accommodation of all types from high boutique lodges right through to budget back packer and every thing in-between ! Queenstown is nestled on the shores of Lake Wakatipu a large glacial lake that is aproximately 400m deep, 80km long and 300m above sea level, it is an unusual ' 'S' shape and it is surrounded by some of the most stunning scenery to be found in New Zealand. Lake Wakatipu holds both brown, rainbow trout as well as quinnat salmon of around 1-2kg. Each season anglers land 10+ lb fish from the lake and from the mouths of several of the in-flowing streams and around the shallower deltas. Lake Wakatipu is fed by several in-flowing rivers , with the largest being the Dart and Rees river's at the head of the lake near the small township of Glenorchy. On the western side of the lake there are the Lochy ,Von and Greenstone rivers all of which offer the typical 'hike in' back-country style of fly fishing that New Zealand is famous for

The Purple UV Hot Head Hot leech pattern has proven itself time and time again this winter season. This streamer pattern has all the things you look for in a streamer, good profile, lots of fishy movement and just enough "bling" with the UV simi-seal dubbing to catch the eye of fish.

Just down the road thirty minutes from Wanaka is Lake Dunstan ,this medium sized lake was formed in 1993 for hydroelectricity and irrigation. The old town of Cromwell was flooded at the junction of the Kawerau and Clutha rivers and was then rebuild on a large terrace overlooking the old town. Since then most of the land between Wanaka and Cromwell has beenturned into farmland for either cattle or sheep ,fruit orchards or vineyards which produce internationally acclaimed Pinot noir.

 Gold was discovered in the mid 1800s and many folk moved to the region in hope of making their fortunes ! Once the gold rush had died down high country farming became the next big thing in the area , these days Wanaka is more of a tourist destination for outdoor enthusiasts, people come to ski Treble Cone and Cardrona in the winter months and in the summers rock climb , para-glide , hike , hunt and of course fly fish !

As the water temperature drops over the winter months here in NZ a fish’s metabolism slows-down,making them a little more reluctant to move to quickly or far for their food. Fish are more interested in conserving their energy so it becomes essential that you put your fly right in front of them !

I targeted the back fish first hoping to hook it and then keep it down the back of the pool as to not disturb the other fish , giving me another shot at the fish at the head of the pool. My plan worked and after a 4 casts I had hooked the very back fish and was doing my best to keep it from charging upstream and through the pool disturbing the other fish. A few acrobatic jumps followed by a couple of blistering runs saw me reaching for my net and gently sliding it under a solid 4lb Rainbow jack . I continued upstream and managed another couple of good rainbow trout to the net , I didn't see many brown trout which surprised me as there were usually reasonable numbers of them present in this tributary at this time of year and especially after the big fresh we had just received, perhaps many of them had already run up from the lake and were well up in the headwaters of the stream. 

I had a few free hours on Friday morning so shot down to a favorite section on the Clutha river to swing a few flies with the Switch rod . It was cool morning after some snow had fallen overnight , the river was up slightly and had a tinge of colour .

After 5 days of torrential rain most of our local Wanaka rivers and streams are blown out big time . So this is where heavier double beaded nymphs come into their own to help get your nymph rigs down into the "bingo" zone.One of my favorite patterns is the Hooligan nymph from Manic Tackle , this wee number comes in brown /green/black and red and pink it has to Tungsten Beads and a quill body that is covered in epoxy making it a slim -smooth bodied nymph which allows it took sink quickly in faster- deeper water.

Heavy Double Beaded Tungsten nymphs with a smaller nymph trailing off the back did the trick on the first 2 fish which ate Jacks fly without hesitation but due to a slow strike both came unstuck . The 3rd fish we came across again was sitting deep in a rather swift moving pool with a tricky current,  a pool that required a large mend of his fly line in order to get the correct drag free drift and to get his flies to sink quick enough and get into the fishes feeding zone ! After several attempts he got it all right and the fish moved a couple of feet and intercepted his flies , Jack struck , tightened up on the fish and he was on ! After a good 5 minute tug of war I managed to reach out and slip the net under a nice 5lb silver bullet of a rainbow trout.

April and May are great months to target these larger fish as they move up from our Southern Lakes into the rivers and streams begin spawning. We headed off early morning and and after an hours drive geared up and headed straight to the confluence pool where we spotted several large fish holding deep on the bottom. These fish were very spooky and before long had headed upstream into a fast piece of water to take refuge...bugger 1 nil to the fish !

We are now heading towards the winter months and I find myself thinking more about using my Switch rod , casting heavy sink tips and swinging flies ! I tend to use unweighted streamers these days when swinging flies , especially on the Clutha river where I spend most of my time over the winter months fishing . Due to the heavier grained Skagit lines and fast sinking tips that are required to get your fly down into the "bingo" zone I see little point in weighting the flies . A favorite knot that I use to attach my streamers to my tippet is the Non Slip Loop Knot or also known as Lefty Kreh'sLoop Knot , this knot allows a very strong fixed loop in the end of the line. Because the loop doesn't grip the eye of your fly , it creates a flexible join and allows a more natural action to your streamer , making it more life like in the water.

Californians Dylan and Kate Garrett contacted me earlier this year wanting a guided full day of fly fishing around Wanaka or Queenstown in late April . April is a great time to fly fishing here in the Central Otago region . They decided to drive over from Queenstown early morning and meet me at an arranged location , we would then head off from there to a local river for the day . They both had done a reasonable amount of fly fishing around the US , both fresh and saltwater so their casting ability was right up there !