Latest Newsletter from the Best of New Zealand Fly Fishing - 06

We Are The New Zealand Experts
The past season was a record year for The Best of New Zealand Fly Fishing due in a substantial part to our high level of repeat clients and their referrals. We also helped a number of travelers confused by the overwhelming amount of information on the internet. They turned to our expertise when they learned there was no additional cost to use our services. (For more details see Who we are & what we do).

Next season already looks like it will substantially surpass this past year. The more favorable exchange rate and the increase in travel in general, are contributing to what appears will be a rebound in tourists from the USA for New Zealand. Don’t be left out --call now and let us start to help plan your trip Down Under.

Early and late seasons are as good as they say - Mike with a 4kg brown.

Since my last newsletter I've made three trips to New Zealand (for a total of 43 trips to NZ) and sampled both the early season and the late season fishing --see Early Season Fishing Is As Good As They Say! and Late Season Fishing Is As Good As They Say!. In June I attended the New Zealand Professional Fishing Guides Association’s annual meeting in Christchurch. It is always fun to catch up and share a few beers with the fishing guides.   I also attended the Luxury Travel Show where a small group of luxury accommodations and operators held two days of presentations and social events.  This was followed by the four day TRENZ (Tourism Industry Rendezvous New Zealand) where major travel operators are invited from around the world for individual presentations by various tourism operators. In between I also managed to return to the Marlborough, Martinborough, Nelson, and Auckland areas.

The Minister of Tourism with Mike McClelland

I am not the only Best of New Zealand member to take multiple trips to New Zealand.  It is my practice to send all of our employees to New Zealand at least once a year to visit the properties we use and experience the activities we recommend. There is no substitute for personal relationships with the owners and managers and being able to describe a property or activity from first hand experience.

The Best of New Zealand Team (left to right) Front row: Andrea Esquivel, Cristina Randall, Georgina Zepeda, Jill Linsk Back row: Connie Lown, Mike McClelland, Karen Miller

This past season our Kiwi native, Karen Miller, visited her family in Auckland and then traveled to Coromandel, Rotorua, Hawkes’ Bay, Queenstown and Te Anau.  Cristina Randall  followed shortly thereafter on her 14th trip to New Zealand and toured Wellington, Nelson, the West Coast, and Christchurch.  Connie Lown, on her 20th trip to New Zealand, joined me at the Luxury Travel Show and TRENZ. We participated in over 65 individual meetings in the week.  Connie then journeyed down the West Coast and visited accommodations in Wanaka, Queenstown, Te Anau, The Catlins, and Dunedin ...and several farms in between.

A trout and its most recent meal.

The Year of the Mouse!!  --We have received reports that this past season included the best Mountain Beech forest flowering in at least 46 years! The beech trees simultaneously flower every 4-5 years with the trigger thought to be a hot summer the previous year. This simultaneous flowering across the whole population of a tree species is called “mast flowering”.  The 2005 beech flowering is exceptional in its intensity.  What will follow in the autumn is the ripening of an enormous volume of beech tree nuts about a third the size of your little fingernail. These seeds are the favorite food of kakariki (green parakeet), kea parrot and mice so expect record numbers of these critters in this coming season. Since trout eat mice, an increase in the mouse population means an increase of overfed trout. The guides report witnessing increases in mice and rats in their areas; therefore, we are looking forward to large football shaped trout next season. For details on mouse-eating trout see the complete article.

New book - Stalking and Catching Trout by Les Hill & Graeme Marshall

Stalking and Catching Trout by Les Hill & Graeme Marshall Fishing to sighted trout is one of the most exciting forms of trout fishing. However, fishing to a trout is not enough - the aim is to catch it. Les Hill and Graeme Marshall have combined their talents once again, after a more than ten year gap, to jointly write what is destined to become a New Zealand Classic.

The first time they collaborated was in 1984 when they co-wrote Stalking Trout. They followed up in 1991 with Catching Trout and Images of Silver in 1993. All have been continually in print since publication. Stalking Trout has been reprinted over twelve times. We sell this book and a wide variety of other fly fishing books from New Zealand which will help you learn about the fishing techniques; suggested fly patterns; and fishing locations in New Zealand.
 
Please check out our books page for prices and books currently available.

We continue to offer our very popular Two Lodge Package with 4 nights accommodations and meals and 3 days of guided fishing at both the Tongariro Lodge on the North Island and Lake Rotoroa Lodge on the South Island. For details and costs click here.

We can also organized special programs combining two or three of our featured lodges.  We also have negotiated some very attractive early and late season packages to take advantage of some of the best fishing of the season. Contact us for details and costs.

Now is the time to give us a call, (800) 528-6129 or email info@BestofNZ.net, and let us help you plan your New Zealand trip. There is no charge for our services and no hidden fees in the detailed invoices we provide each of our clients. Don’t be left out -- call now and let us start to help plan your trip.

Mike's twin granddaughters visit the flock of sheep in Best of NZ’s offices

We are proud to share some of the letters of congratulations we received last year when we celebrated our 15th anniversary in the New Zealand fishing and travel business. As we start our 17th year of specializing exclusively in New Zealand fishing and travel, I wonder where the time has gone and how a country could change (for the positive) so much? Although many choices are now available on the internet our clients select us because we are unique in the travel industry - New Zealand is our only destination!!

Fly Fishing is our central focus, but we are also experts in the many other activities and accommodations available in New Zealand. We sell exclusive fishing programs; however, most of our itineraries include sightseeing and other nature-based activities of interest such as golf, winery tours, bird watching, trekking, and sea kayaking.

Industry Recognition and Awards
We were honored to have been selected by Tourism New Zealand and Air New Zealand as the only travel agency permitted to organize and offer "The Royal Tour", a visit to each of the favorite New Zealand sights and adventures of New Zealand's Prime Minister, The Rt. Hon. Helen Clark. I flew to Auckland to participate in the launch of this product. For details on this program go to our non-angling website www.TheBestofNewZealand.com

Mike McClelland receiving The 2005 New Zealand Travel & Tourism Award for Recognition of Excellence from Tourism New Zealand CEO George Hickton.

Mike McClelland receiving the the 2004 American Chamber of Commerce/UPS Success& Innovation Awards for "Contribution to Tourism with the USA"

We received the 2004 American Chamber of Commerce/UPS Success & Innovation Awards for “Contribution to Tourism with the USA.” We are the first USA-based travel company to receive this prestigious award. I personally flew to Auckland to attend the presentation dinner and receive the award.

This year Tourism New Zealand presented awards for the first time to travel companies in North America and we received The 2005 New Zealand Travel & Tourism Award for Recognition of Excellence.

Mike & Nancy McClelland with New Zealand Tourism CEO George Hixton and his wife, Maree McGill, and the Hon. Charles Swindells, US Ambassador to New Zealand.

We organized the accommodations, guides, and air arrangements for the televised fishing program New American Sportsman. In February 2005, host Tom Ackerman and celebrity guest, motion picture actor Michael Keaton, filmed a program at the Lake Rotoroa Lodge that will be shown on ESPN later this year.

Tom Ackerman, host of the New American Sportsman tv program, and celebrity guest Michael Keaton, wearing one of our fishing hats while filming a program at The Rorotoa Lodge.

Does your group have a special interest?
We have created custom itineraries for many groups and can suggest an itinerary best suited to your group's particular interests and budget. Special interest or general sightseeing can be organized for your group. Besides fishing or seminar facilities we can organize food, wine, garden, nature, hiking, golf, or bird watching tours for your group. We work with incentive groups and small groups wishing to combine meetings and seminars with fishing. For the group from Belgium (pictured below, right) we organized a week's sightseeing tour by mini-van and driver, followed by a week of fishing at Lake Rotoroa Lodge. For the group pictured below left, we planned a trip that combined seminars and fishing for a week.

A Quality Saltwater Fly Fishing Experience
New Zealand has been slow to offer a quality saltwater fly fishing experience, but good friend Dud Smith, a skipper for over 18 years, has the boat and knowledge to offer a memorable saltwater fly fishing trip in the North Island's beautiful Bay of Islands.

The 'Triple B' is ideal for all fishing options - Fly Fishing, Light Tackle, and Big Game Fishing - and is especially suited for island cruising and sightseeing. One of the most popular options is a sightseeing cruise though the islands then finding a good spot for fly fishing - and maybe an hour or so of Light Tackle Fishing.