You can spend a lifetime learning about freshwater fishing - but there's plenty of tricks and tips to help make things easy and fun.
The biggest step an angler can take to go from casting well to regularly catching fish is understanding where the trout are likely to be - referred to as 'reading' the water.
Too many novice anglers fish the 'wrong' places and quickly become disillusioned. The prime focus should be locating trout rather than fishing barren water. Most success will be achieved in places where there's an abundant food supply, cover or deep water for shelter, and well-oxygenated water.
Find a place where all of these needs are met and the angler will find trout - and hopefully catch more too.
Click on the image on the right to download a copy of our 'Reading the water, finding the fish' brochure. If you'd like a hard copy, please contact your local Fish & Game office.
If you want more info on this topic, click here for an article by Hamish Carnachan on reading water published in Issue 84 of Fish & Game NZ magazine.
There are also some excellent books on reading water - we suggest:
Stalking and Catching Trout by Les Hill and Graeme Marshall.
We hope this helps you catch more fish and get greater enjoyment from your angling.
Tight Lines!
Looking after your fish
Anglers love trout. They spend thousands of dollars on the best gear, amass extensive collections of flies and lures that realistically will never get wet and travel huge distances to cast to fish they may never catch.
Tips for taking kids fishing
Fishing trips are exciting for both parents and children. Shared experiences connect us.