Lake Wakatipu Fly Fishing

Queenstown is regarded as the adventure capital of New Zealand and offers a wide variety of attractions over both the winter and summer months .It has 2 world renowned ski fields on its door step with both Coronet Peak and The Remarkables ski fields both only a short drive from the centre of town , and then also the Cardrona ski field just over the other side of the Crown Range about 45mins away. Queenstown offers accommodation of all types from high end outique lodges right through to budget back packer style and every thing in-between ! Queenstown is nestled on the shores of Lake Wakatipu a large glacial lake that is approximately 400m deep, 80km long and 300m above sea level, it is an unusual ' 'S' shape and it is surrounded by some of the most stunning scenery to be found any where in New Zealand. Lake Wakatipu holds both brown, rainbow trout as well as quinnat salmon of around 1-2kg. Each season a few lucky anglers land that magic 10+ lb fish from the lake and from the mouths of several of the in-flowing streams and deltas. Lake Wakatipu is fed by several in-flowing rivers , with the largest being the Dart and Rees river's at the head of the lake near the small township of Glenorchy. On the western side of the lake there are the Lochy ,Von and Greenstone rivers all of which offer the typical 'hike in' back-country style of fly fishing that New Zealand is famous for. The outlet of Lake Wakatipu near Frankton forms into the Kawerau river that flows down through the gorge and into Lake Dunstan. There are some fantastic shallow flats around the Frankton area that are great for spotting cruising brown trout on a clear calm day, and also at the top of the lake near Glenorchy where the Rees and Dart river delta forms is another great location for spotting cruising fish.  Always take care when wading in this areas though as the silt builds up after flooding and the bottom becomes treacherous ! April-August the in-flowing stream mouths of Lake Wakatipu such as the Lochy ,Von and Greenstone rivers offer great fishing with the use of sink tip style lines of varying speeds. I usually fish lightly weighted black and olive woolly buggers , magnum style rabbit streamers, egg patterns and attractor style streamers, good numbers of fish are beginning to congregate at the stream mouths in preparation for their spawning runs and the fishing can be fast and furious some days if you hit it right !  Lakes Moke and Kilpatrick are two smaller lakes not to far from town that also offer some great fly fishing especially over the summer months when cicadas , beetles and other terrestrials are in the air, both hold a reasonable population of well conditioned fish. The Wakatipu area has some fantastic fly fishing opportunities, and is a great place to base your self for a week of fly fishing especially as it is only an hour away from the Southland region and all its wee gems !