Meaningful Travel - Fishing
The sheer breadth of fishing experiences in New Zealand is not widely known.
Starring in the photo above - a juvenile Yellowtail Kingfish caught off Golden Bay up in Nelson. In a supporting role, Alex Waller, one of our favourite fishing guides. New Zealand is well known as a trout fishing destination and has attracted people from all over the world. We're not going to talk about that. We're going to talk about all the fishing in New Zealand which people don't know about.
To start with, the latest thing - salt water fly for those explosive kingies. The videos show spectacular joy and action. There is also salt water fly fishing around Waiheke Island mainly for kahawai - our native mackerel.
And as far as trout fishing is concerned, this is something we have introduced many many people to. Yes, New Zealand is beginner-friendly as well as having abundant fish in an easily accessible and beautiful environment. Also an environment where you can fish in the morning, have lunch together and do something totally different in the afternoon. Takes all the pressure off the day, is inclusive, and makes everyone happy.
The well know rivers, like our well-known hikes, are busy. But, just as there are hundreds of kilometres of unknown beautiful walking tracks, there are also dozens of lesser known rivers. Why be where everyone else is? And as a special treat for people who really love trout, we have a special experience of a trip back in time to see how trout behaved before tourism was invented. A special stretch of river which no one knows about.
Eel fishing is something we do from a cultural perspective, understanding the environment, working within it, and then finding just the right eel to catch and smoke. Freshly smoked wild eel is truly spectacular. One the cultural side again, freshwater crayfish, known in France as ecrevisses, are off limits to everyone except Maori. This is where our mate Tom Loughlin comes in again :)
And we haven't even started to mention the sea. New Zealand holds world records for Striped Marlin, Yellowtail Kingfish and Hapuku (Groper). These are fished mainly in the Far North where warm water currents are more reliable. For the ultra-keen fisherman this can take the form of multiple days at sea up at the Three Kings. Then we have several different types of tuna, and a whole host of smaller fish, as well as a whole host of chefs keen to get their hands on them and served up to you.
Spearfishing is also very healthy in New Zealand where the experts take Marlin and the rest of us something somewhat smaller.
So, whether you are motivated by fishing technique; environment; target species or the dinner plate - there is more than enough to choose from here if you know where to go and who to go with.