Rainbow and Brown trout were introduced to New Zealand in the late 1800’s and just like every other introduced species have thrived since their arrival.

New Zealand in my eyes is the ultimate paradise and when those first fish got released into our waterways at that time, i’m pretty sure they thought it was heaven!!

We have the most pristine rivers and lakes in the world, but we also have a number of rivers around the country that are not what they used to be.

This makes the places we go even more special..

Healthy Rainbow Trout, about 8lb

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This has to be one of life’s treats, going fishing with your son. Doesn’t really matter wheather you are on a boat, a jetty or a lake really, it’s all about being there when a fish is on!!

Paul and Barney Fairbanks were in New Zealand for thier first time and a trip into the back country was the first of many to come.

We flew with Brendan from Alpine Choppers and had an amazing time with both rainbows and browns coming up to dry flies. The boys got a taste of what things can be like when everything comes together just right.

Barney and Paul, hanging out in the hanger before lift off.

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Jesse and his family having fun on the river!! The wind was blowing hard on the nose and had quite a chill with it.They were well prepared for what the great outdoors can throw at you, and had a great day of fishing, shared and enjoyed by all!!

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John and Peter were into some exploration of our high country rivers. The weather in the west was rough so we hit central Otago. This place is Cowboy and Indian country that offers some challenging fishing and will give your skills a test. We mixed up the accommodation with Local Pubs, and a overnight Tent camp.

Managed to fish the Greenstone for a day, flying with Brendan at Alpine Choppers. Over all we had some great fishing with a few shots at some good fish. My personal definition of a good fish is 7 pound + and we had shots and hook ups on more then a couple of good fish. One fish up in the Nevis would have been 10 pound + easily!

Cheers Peter and John, looking forward to the next mission code” FIORDLAND”

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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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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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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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Yasu Kobayashi from Nagano Japan, stepped up to the plate and delivered some beautiful casts that got instant results.

If there was ever a lesson in casting and playing a fish then Kobayashi-san is the man to watch, and on the river we fished he was definitly the boss.

Using his faithful SCOTT ROD  #5 of 10 years the experience of fishing some dream-waters was made even better….. after 9 years of travelling to N.Z to fish Yasu and Kazu finally made it to the top of Lake Wakatipu, after today it won’t be the last.

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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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