Richard Armarti joined 2 of his buddy’s for 3 days of fishing around Queenstown. The weather allowed us to get 2 great days before the rain set in and put most of the local rivers up high and coloured. Richard was an expert with his casting skills and on 1 of our days hooked well over 30 fish, well that’s a guess because we lost count after 20.

Trust me that is not a usual day by any means, but everything lined up on the day and when you understand about casting, presentation and getting the right drift things can work out just right!

After about an hour and making about 7 good casts this beautiful brown finally took a small pheasant tail (#18)  and we reckon he also had a go at the dry. What an amazing fish!

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Gordy Watson (Trout Stalkers), Bruce and myself went Back Country for some R & D

The pictures will tell the story..

Couldn’t help ourselves, these are healthy fish that run and jump, so much fun!!

Wind on the Nose.

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Terrie, Theresa, & Liz Golden escaped the approaching winter of Chicago (usa) to New Zealand for some Adventure and especially to celebrate Terri’s birthday. (What a GREAT idea!!)

Turns out they left their husbands behind to fend for themselves, while the the Golden girls Hit the West Coast with some heli-hiking, Milford Sound, Canyoning in Glenorchy, TeAnau, and Queenstown.

Also turns out that the boys back home love Fly Fishing. Research and Development was the order of the day, and it wasn’t long before we were somewhere up the Head of Lake Wakatipu.

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Tim Pope-Ellis from Cape Town South Africa, was in Queenstown for 3 days and had 1 day to go fishing. We went out towards Glenorchy and spent a day hiking and fishing a beautiful valley that holds nice Browns and Rainbows.

If you are travelling to N.Z and want to catch fish, give us a call. If we are unavailable then we can put you on to somebody who can help. Point is if you love to fly fish for trout you need a professional fishing guide, all things being equal we will put you into the business end of your fly rod and have you casting at fish and making your dreams come true.

Lake Wakatipu, on the way to Glenorchy. Just driving to  and from our rivers is amazing.

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Pictures paint a thousand words they say, and for Gordy Watson and myself  well we reckon the place where we went was worth more than a thousand words, much more!!

Myself,Gordy Watson, Craig, Wendy & Shane Cole, Just being there is special. If there was ever a place to go fly fishing in your wildest dreams?? This could be it!!

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Peter Gomm was in Queenstown for about the third visit with his wife and as always makes the most of his time here. With plenty of snow on the mountains around Queenstown and only a coulpe of days in town. Snow shoeing in the morning and fishing in the afternoon was the call.

Peter Hitchman from Snowshoeing Queenstown and Guided Nature Walks Queenstown  showed off what we call our back yard and got up close and personal with country that unless you were a skier or snowboarder would never imagine in your wildest dreams going to!!

From snow shoes  and the mountain tops to a pair of waders and the river valley in a matter of hours is what is possible here in the Wakatipu.

Some people sit in offices and dream about this stuff all day long, we wake up in the morning and do it!! Living the dream!!!

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Bruce and I went for a drive south of Queenstown and went exploring in some head waters of one of our favourite rivers. The weather could not be matched with blue sky and a slight tail breeze, perfect to help roll out our 15ft leeders.

We spotted a few fish and even though it was the first day of the season, they were not making it easy for us!! The stretch of river we chose is known for large fish, but also for the fact that there are not big numbers.

For us as always it is about being there!! And the valley we were in was looking at its best. Lunch and a nice cup of tea or coffee riverside is always a pleasure.

We did get to meet some locals up close and personal and a bonus with one fish happy to take a dry fly. All in all a nice day out in our back yard. Bring on the rest of the fishing season!!!

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Joe, Beth, Katie & Joe jr, were here in Queenstown visiting from Alabama. Winter will often see the lakes glassy calm with scenes you could make a calender out of. I teamed up with Gordy Watson and we had a good look around the top of the lake. We spotted some good fish and had some opportunity but i think the scenery got in the way!!

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We really do love our work, it is pretty cool to be able to say that and really mean it!! There is more to it then just the fishing, its  more so about being there and seeing the BIG picture. The places we go, the stories that go with them, the opportunities of casting to the biggest wild trout you will ever see (unless you come back) and the ever changing environment we explore.

Sure our job is to guide you to catch fish and teach the different techniques needed from nymphing to dry fly, understanding the local insect life, casting, mending, striking and playing a fish. When you see the rivers that we fish and the valleys, lowlands, gorges, and forests they run through you will understand why we called our-selves Dream-waters and why we LOVE our job!!!!!   

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New Zealand has no dangerous animals, i mean we have no snakes, no bear no tigers.. what we do have is the weather and if you go back country and are no prepared for 4 seasons then that is one thing that will catch you out!!

Reading a weather map is a skill that is handy, but even then this place is so changeable!! The plan was to go back country by helicopter but looking at the weather things were looking touch and go. We drove south to get away from the North Wester and found some fishing on the Apirima. We spotted a number of fish and managed to time it right for a mayfly hatch. Shawn caught his first fish on a dry fly, made the perfect cast and timed the strike just right, and then landed the brown by net, another first. Worth the travel from Sydney Australia i think.

We are still watching the weather for our chance to go back country, will keep you posted…

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