Welcome back to The Weekly Five! We’re up to Issue 30 and there’s fishing in the forecast. A run of balmy 12°C (54°F) days means your fair-weather editor has garaged the ski gear, spooled a new textured Scientific Anglers 8wt line onto the Epic Backcountry 7/8, looped on a stiff SA Absolute FC leader, and is heading for local water with streamers in hand and a couple of rods to test. Stand by for some Wānaka winter fishing reports.
Announcement: I’m thrilled to be hosting a group at Las Segadas Lodge for the 2026 season opener of the world-famous sea-run brown trout fishery on Chile’s Río Grande in southern Patagonia. Four excited anglers have already signed up, and there’s space for two more. If you are interested in coming on this epic trip (Feb 1-8, 2026), drop me a note and we can chat through the logistics.
Back to Wānaka winter fishing – I’ll hit the Clutha first and report back. Local anglers increasingly refer to this huge watercourse – the second longest river in the South Island – by its Māori name, Mata-Au. The name translates from te reo Māori as ‘surface current’ (of which there is plenty). Interestingly, in Japanese, また逢う (mata-au) means ‘to meet again’. A fitting coincidence for a river that keeps drawing me back.
At home, we’ve just finished rewatching talented angler and filmmaker Will Phelps and his wife Erika’s bike journey through southern Patagonia with their friend Miles Sebald. It’s an entertaining journey with some lovely fly water. Highly recommended viewing.
“Striking the right balance between conservation and multiple use of our resources is the Montana way,” said Rep. Zinke when announcing a bill to protect 98 miles of Madison, Gallatin rivers under Wild and Scenic designation last week. Western Montana Congressman Ryan Zinke’s ‘GYREAT’ Act will add nearly 100 miles of Madison and Gallatin County rivers and streams to the National Wild and Scenic System.
Our commentary, When a River Doesn’t Run Through It (July 26), stirred up plenty of conversation. Reflecting on the apparent decline of two internationally renowned fisheries – one in southwest Montana and the other in New Zealand’s Southland – drew a full spectrum of responses.
Some readers pushed back, even insisting there’s no decline in the quality of fishing in the Missouri’s storied tributaries. Others, from Southland, pointed to active involvement in farmer-led catchment groups (there are 28 – many supported by the dairy industry), working hard to improve outcomes on the ground.
Nothing to see here, it seems – except for the water quality data, the anecdotal evidence and myriad of published articles, and, for Southland, those pesky nitrate tests that shut Gore’s water supply down for three days.While mapping out a West Coast fishing itinerary for a friend, I was reminded of some stock footage of a South Westland spring creek. If this doesn’t have you jumping online to book a ticket to New Zealand’s South Island, nothing will!
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