Everest of Fishing

“New Zealand’s South Island is a trout hunter’s dream,” Cathy and Barry Beck write for the magazine Fly Rod and Reel magazine. “In this land of big fish and gin-clear water, guides tell you to forget large numbers of fish caught — it won’t happen here. There can be zero-fish days that are thrilling, as you may spend hours stalking a 1-plus-pound brown trout that refuses every offering until it finally “stiffens” as New Zealanders say about fish that are off the feed. No matter; we’re here, after all, to test ourselves against the best trout in the world. A friend presented a perfect toast at the end of a New Zealand journey when he simply said ‘To the Everest of trout fishing.’”