Excellent dry fly fishing for browns on many of the smaller streams in the Southland region can be found during this month. Rivers are usually low and clear by this time of the year so a careful approach with long fine leaders is required to fool these wary trout.

Low light days with glare become the norm and can make things tricky for spotting trout. Be mindful of where you stand in relation to the fish when casting as long shadows will now spook fish easier as the season is drawing to a close. New Zealand brown trout are coming in to their spawning season and are in prime condition at present.

These wee terrestrials are an important food source for trout and are plentiful over the months of December through to February.

With so many fly patterns available to the angler these days its all become a little confusing! There are literally 100s and 100s of different patterns in many different sizes, weights and colours available to buy from tackle shops and online stores. If you are travelling to NZ to fly fish, looking to simplify your fly selection or even just starting out heres a few of my “go to flies” that I carry in my fly box every day both guiding and fishing personally.

This little piece of goodness is always in my fly-tying kit whether I’m tying flies at home on the kitchen table or on the road guiding for a week .

Bringing your own fly-fishing gear into New Zealand is pretty easy on the whole. Please note that felt soled boots are not allowed here in New Zealand.

Damsel fly nymphs are expert ambush predators and will lie in wait on the substrate or submerged aquatic plants, once prey is near it enough its extendable jaws will snatch out grabbing the unsuspecting insect drawing it into its mouth to be devoured quickly.

Wow what a great start to winter with a big dump of snow a couple of weeks ago!

The water temperature has dropped, the flow has increased and some nice fresh fish have begun moving up the Clutha on their way to their spawning beds.

First time out with my double hander rod for the year today and boy it felt good to feel the line tighten, then the weight go on at the end of the swing ! I was stoked to land a solid 5lb rainbow along with 4 other fresh wee rainbows in the 2-3lb range all fighting fit and in great condition

My 14 year old son does a fishing report for the local sports store here in Wanaka (Southern Wild) where he works over the summer months. He loves chatting with the customers and helping them with fly and lure choices along with how to set up their rods and reels etc. hope you enjoy the read :)

The day started out a little over cast and drizzly, but soon warmed up and become muggy which was just the conditions we wanted hopefully for a small hatch to occur. We arrived at the river and set up our rods, the water was slightly up but tannin in colour due to the run off from the surrounding swamp land that drains into it up high in the headwaters.

The weather played ball for the most part except for a little rain on the walk out late afternoon on the second day. The river was quite boisterous and tough to cross in places from the recent we have had .Many of the fish were sitting deep and difficult to get at. Most of the deeper holes held a fish or two and we found a few hugging the edges tightly also..

e decided early April to head down and followed the weather forecast closely, deciding to head to the Mataura on the first Saturday of the month. The forecast for the day was for light winds, slightly over cast with the day time temp reaching a balmy 21 degrees Celsius around midday perfect conditions for this time of the year ! We chose a beat I knew well, rigged up our rods, tied on fresh leaders and fine tippet headed off for the day full of enthusiasm as to what lay ahead. The first we found 4 nice fish sipping off the surface in the foam line.

Exploring new water along with revisiting some old ones has been very enjoyable.The fish have been far more relaxed and I haven’t seen another angler on any of the rivers I’ve fished on all season to date. Below are some photos from the past few months…. and I hope to get out a little more this season to the make the most of it !

The tidal sections of the South Island lowland rivers on both the East Coast and West Coasts are well known for their sea run/estuarine trout fishing. Its a highlight on our fishing calender, and each spring my son Louie and I plan a couple of trips to specifically target these fish.

Sea run trout are very mobile and move between the salt and freshwater in search of food, especially during the months of Sept-Dec when white bait enter our river systems in large numbers. They also feed on smelt, yellow eyed mullet, native bullies, lampreys, juvenile flounder, crabs and other small crustaceans such as prawns.

The river was dammed in 1958 and is under the control of Contact energy .Lake Hāwea is New Zealand's ninth largest lake. The only flat land around the lake is at its southern end, surrounding its outflow into the Hawea river , a short tributary of the Clutha river , which it enters near the small township of Albertown. A stunning rainbow taken on the swing in the mid section of the Hawea river on a sunny mid winter afternoon.

A good 10 min battle was to follow before i was able to subdue one of the better rainbow trout I’ve caught in the Clutha river over the past couple of winters. Fishing your fly at the appropriate depth is everything when swinging for trout and therefore choosing the right sink tip is the key and can be the difference between getting your net wet or not some days.