A water lover’s paradise
Fishing in New Zealand: an overview
New Zealand has 15,811 km (9824 miles) of coastline, comprising 4.4 million square kilometers of ocean, which means great saltwater fishing and incredible sailing. The country is also crisscrossed with rivers and lakes, making for some of the best fresh water fishing and boating in the world.
Anglers come from all around the globe, too, to try their luck in the crystal-clear waters. New Zealand has the best trout fishing in the world, from the famous volcanic Taupo-Rotorua region in the central North Island, to the glacial-formed lakes of west Otago and Fiordland.
Lake Taupo, resplendent with brown and rainbow trout, is probably the best freshwater fishing in New Zealand.
Sea fishing offers almost guaranteed fish too, with strict regulations on daily allowable catch ensuring sustainable resources. Sea fishing runs the gamut from fishing off wharfs to big game fishing in the Bay of Islands.The Fishing Website of New Zealand offers regularly updates saltwater and freshwater fishing reports on hot spots around the country.
Sailing in New Zealand: an overview
New Zealanders' passion for sailing is revealed by the large number of craft out on the harbours at weekends and evenings, particularly in summer.
Many idyllic, out-of-the-way places are best accessed by boat – whether through sail or engine power – providing a unique way to explore the country.
With nearly 16,000 km of coastline, it’s almost impossible to escape the sea in New Zealand. But with stunning bays and islands, sheltered harbours, mountain fiords and lakes, who would want to avoid it?
The maritime reserves in the Bay of Islands, the Hauraki Gulf and Marlborough Sounds are among the most beautiful cruising spots in the world. Fiordland, with its deep fiords and glacial lakes, is one of the most unique sailing venues on the planet.
Spring fishing
The start of spring coincides with the beginning of the whitebait season on the west coast of New Zealand. South Islanders and tourists flock to river entrances with nets to collect the translucent, thin, inch-long whitebait, from which mouth-watering whitebait fritters are famously made.
South Westland has some of the largest hauls of whitebait in the country and, says Ranger Gary Patterson, “like panning or prospecting for gold, you never know your luck until you give it a go”.
Spring is considered one of the best times for New Zealand fishing. Rivers have been closed for winter protection and have had no angling pressure for five months, so the fish are often hungry and at their least wary. There are also fewer anglers around before the summer season.
The central North Island's Lake Taupo attracts many international anglers. Lake Rotorua, also in the area, is one of the country's top trout fishing destinations, and one of the best brown trout fisheries in the world. The fly fishing season begins on 1 October and professional guides will take anglers to crystal clear streams accessible by foot or helicopter.
New Zealand fisheries
The Ministry of Fisheries take its role seriously as a protector of New Zealand’s marine life. To date, there have been 16,000 marine species identified, 130 of which are commercially fished.
Currently 129 species, separated into 96 species groupings, are managed by the Ministry of Fisheries under New Zealand’s Quota Management System. Recreational marine fishing limits vary among the five official Fishery Management Areas in New Zealand. It is important to be aware of and observe the recreational fishing limits in your boundary area.
Five of New Zealand’s top sailing spots
Bay of Islands
An idyllic group of 144 islands in the ‘winterless’ north of the North Island, the Bay of Islands is rated one of the world’s best cruising spots. It’s usually the first port of call for hundreds of yachts dropping down from the tropics in the cyclone season.
Secluded white-sand beaches are everywhere, and seafood – snapper, John Dory, mussels and kina (sea eggs) – is plentiful. It’s also famed for its big game fishing – American novelist Zane Grey dubbed its waters "the angler’s El Dorado".
Every year, competitive yachties sail from Auckland to Russell, the ‘capital’ of the Bay of Islands, in the country’s most popular inshore race, the 120-mile Coastal Classic.
Hauraki Gulf
Visitors are awestruck to find a maritime paradise so close to a major city. There are 47 islands dotted around the Hauraki Gulf Maritime Park – some like Waiheke and the volcanic peak of Rangitoto – less than an hour away under sail. Some of the islands, like Tiritiri Matangi and Little Barrier, are refuges for rare and endangered wildlife. Dolphins, blue penguins and, sometimes, orca can be seen in the sparkling waters of the Gulf.
Auckland is known the world over as the City of Sails – its harbours glitter with triangles of white sailcloth. Auckland’s rugged west coast is the ideal place for surfing, kite-boarding and land yachting.
Wellington Harbour
Wellington holds the distinction of being one of the windiest cities in the world, making it a haven for sailors. Wellington sits in a ‘river of wind’, with the Cook Strait between the North and South islands creating a wind corridor that sweeps into its harbour.
The capital city’s wide and deep harbour enfolds many bays that are perfect for dinghy and board sailing, and it is home to 13 strong yacht clubs. Wellington was a short stopover in the 2005-2006 Volvo Ocean Race as the fleet sailed through Cook Strait on the way to the Southern Ocean.
Marlborough Sounds
It’s been called one of the world’s best-kept maritime secrets. The Marlborough Sounds, at the top of the South Island, is a labyrinth of islands, bays, coves and waterways fringed by native forest. A collection of drowned river valleys, the Sounds are a sanctuary for some of New Zealand’s endangered wildlife – South Island robins, fur seals and the Hector’s, dusky and bottlenose dolphins.
The wreckage of the Russian cruise ship Mikhail Lermontov has become an artificial reef perfect for divers.
The Southern Fiords
Fiordland, in the south-west corner of the South Island, is like nowhere else in New Zealand, a World Heritage park with inlets from the Tasman Sea running into unspoilt, primeval forest and lakes gouged out by huge glaciers.
In Milford Sound, described by Rudyard Kipling as the "eighth wonder of the world", mountains rise out of the water, and boats can sail under huge rock overhangs and cascading waterfalls. Doubtful Sound is the deepest of the fiords (421m) and a haven for bottlenose dolphins, fur seals and crested penguins. Lake Te Anau is the country’s second largest lake.
Source: Tourism New Zealand