With so many countries becoming more aware of the travelling fly fisher, the choice of where to go is a challenge in itself. Some countries have freakish sized fish to be hauled in, others have so many fish it seems unlikely to have a blank day, and many are visited just because everyone else goes there.
New Zealand is none of the above.
With a population only 6% of the UK and roughly the same land mass as Japan which has well over 125 million human beings nudging past one another, New Zealand prevails as the place to come for solitude. Come to New Zealand South Island to fly fish crystalline blue rivers gently manipulated by the Southern Alps and you would be challenged to see another soul that day.
New Zealand seems familiar to home no matter which country you are from. It has the Fiords of Scandinavia, the mountains of the European Alps, anxious volcanoes of distant tectonic islands, glaciers of the Canadian Rockies, communities of the Scottish Highlands, vineyards of the French Loire, coastlines of southern Spain and everyone is welcomed with an inspiring nature.
The fly fishing in New Zealand is considered without exaggeration the best in the world. It is not due to the number of fish caught, nor fisherman telling tales of huge fish “bent on changing area codes”, it is the best in the world because it provides each and every angler an experience, a challenge that is never rehearsed, repeated or ever forgotten.
