One week to go until the NZ rivers open for fly fishing on the 1st of October. Excited – I bet you are! I am!!

So are you going to go to one of your old fav’s or are you going to look for some new water to hit on the opening? Sometimes it can be a tough call. Going with what you know or putting yourself on new water where you have to figure it out anew – always an interesting dilemma!

I am heading down from Queenstown to my place in Lumsden Southland to switch the house on as such and will spend a few days basing from there. I will most definitely explore some new water and refresh on some of my old favorites. The biggest call will be working with or around the weather to get the best fishing on any given day. Most of New Zealand has been hit by some pretty serious spring weather and down in the lower South Island there has been tons of snow to very low levels. If the temperatures stay low and limits the amount of melt and run off some of the main rivers will fish well especially further towards the headwaters of the system. Rain fed smaller waters could also be a great option but even these may have run off from melting snow over the first week this season. Watch this space as I will post updates as the season opens. I have some great weather and river information links on my public NetVibes page – look for the Weather and Cams Tab.

I am sure that you have all been out practicing casting drills, replenishing the equipment and watching plenty of SPAWN (fish porn) and are already to go.

Here’s a clip from last seasons opening 

You can check out more by visiting my You Tube Channel

I would suggest that when you hit the water over the weekend especially down in Southland and Otago that you are very mindful of the farmers remaining livestock if you are fishing thru farmland. They have taken some big losses of lambs (some of the worst in 50yrs in Southland) and they maybe a little out of sorts. Please make sure that you respect the farmers and their land. If you are not using a public access point be sure to obtain permission first. Leave gates as you find them. Don’t block access ways. Let the farmer know if you see any livestock in trouble. If you want to know more check out New Zealand Outdoor Access Code this will give you some great info.

I have started a Newsletter so if you want to receive it be sure to sign up – look on the right hand side of the screen. For those of you that use Facebook  check out my FB Business Page – another great way to keep up to date with what’s happening down this way.

There is some great fishing in Southland through October and before the high country rivers open on the 1st of November so make sure you get out there.  If you are after a guided fly fishing trip make sure to get in touch with me so I can show you some of the secrets of early season fly fishing – go to my booking page and secure your time with me.