I live near the foothills of Yellowstone Park. March is not really springtime, it’s still cold. But it is a nice 75 degrees on the North Island of New Zealand, their early fall. After fishing NZ off and on for 51 years, I decided to do something new. I packed an Outcast Trinity backpacker float tube and flew to Auckland to fish lakes for big rainbows. The South Island was getting chilly, and I knew that the middle to northern part of the North Island would be like our September, as in perfect fishing weather. I got the float tube, fins, waders, tackle, large net, clothing and a sleeping bag all in one duffle bag that weighed in at 48.5 pounds. I went online and rented a peer to peer (like our TURO car rental service) van (around $350 US for a week).
Just a van. No kitchen and bed, just a van with two seats. Once I hit the road, I plugged in thrift stores and found a big Salvation Army. There, I outfitted the van with a mattress (quite clean), a blanket to cover it, a pillow, a towel and a cooler, all for $35 US. After stocking up on some food, mostly meat pies and Gatorade, I went to a Fishing & Hunting New Zealand store and got a few flies and some very good maps, dedicated to lakes on the North Island. 40 minutes later, I was in a lovely non-commercial campground, watching large trout rise. There were clean bathrooms, grass to the water’s edge, level spots to park the van and a half dozen apple trees that were loaded. I was then only six hours since leaving customs at the Auckland Airport.
In minutes I was on the water. I brought three 6-weight rods. One had a floating line, one was set up with a clear camo, slow sink, and the last one had a super fast sinking line. I used all three about equally. I fished rather long leaders on the sinking lines, around ten feet, down to 4X fluoro, as the waters were very clear. The smelt (2.5 inch- sized skinny minnows) were being harassed by the big, four to ten pound trout on the surface. If it sounds like fun, it is. For eight days, I sat in a float tube while kicking from spot to spot. I often chased big trout blitzs, with smelt flying out of the water to evade rainbows built like linebackers.
There are lakes everywhere. I found a cluster of eight or so lakes, just minutes from each other. Some were shallow and quite fly friendly. Some were inland oceans, a bit big when the wind cane up. I did not catch a brown, but some lakes had monsters. There are lots of places to camp, some official camping places (free), and some were just a flat spot in the forest. Several days, I fished multiple lakes, and after more than a week of this, I never saw another angler. Because the fishing was all about large, quality fish, it wasn’t crazy fast action.
I probably averaged a fish every two hours. But, in one 30- minute stretch, I landed a ten and an eight pounder. When the smelt action slowed down, I went deeper with small leeches and dragonfly nymphs. On my second to last day, I fished until noon, then went back to the Salvation Army and donated my gear back to them. I went to a laundromat for washing and drying, got a hotel where every room had a natural hot springs hot tub, and then treated myself to a great dinner at an Irish pub. On the flight home I wondered why I waited 51 years to fly fish a lake in New Zealand (and no sand flies)!
Contributed By
Brian O’Keefe
If this kind of trip is of interest to you, just do what I did. Everything is online: lake info, licenses (over $200 for over a week), van rental (peer to peer), thrift stores, etc. This is DIY at its best. And you can add guided trips on the rivers, or do a week on the North Island and a week on the South Island. Both islands are very scenic. You might want to add a tarp to your packing, or buy one upon arrival. The tarp can be used to keep water from your float tube, off your sleeping bag, while driving. I can’t say it enough, please be really, really cognizant of the left side driving. My van was a stick shift and shifting left handed was a bit weird. And, I don’t know how many times I turned on the wipers when I meant to turn on the turn indicator. All the lakes I fished were good for swimming, which is a nice way of saying ‘taking a bath’. All the lakes I fished were never further than 20 minutes from a pub, restaurant, food truck or mini-mart. A credit or debit card works everywhere. Meat pies are OK cold.
Brian O’Keefe – [email protected]
