Fly Fishing
Fresh Water Brown Trout Fly Fishing,
South Island - New Zealand
Trophy Brown Trout Fishing with Experienced,
Friendly Fly Fishing Guides
"The Ugly Anglers" film crew from France did a special movie on River Haven Lodge (see shorts on River Haven Lodge Face Book page), due to the exceptional brown trout fly fishing that they experienced while in New Zealand.
Our Guides are experienced in sighting brown trout, as though they had a type of radar connection with the fish themselves!
They tie their own flies giving you an edge. Tying flies to match the exact insect stage, is where our Guides shine!
You can be assured, River Haven Guides are among the friendliest and most patient, in the country, and they are all non-smokers.
Learn more about our guides here.
Michael Keaton stays at River Haven Lodge
to fish with Scott The Trout Murray!!
http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/77930850/Actor-Michael-Keaton-goes-unnoticed-in-Nelson
“Brown Trout Fly Fishing in New Zealand”
Upon arriving at River Haven we were greeted very cordially by Leya and Scott Murray. The cabin we stayed in was very well appointed with kitchenette, big screen TV, generous bathroom with a nice shower and plenty of room for the two of us. Our meals were prepared by Leya and were delicious. She served a variety of food, each prepared and served elegantly. The hors d'oeuvres at the bar before dinner were very good and provided a great time to relive the days fishing adventures.
Our reason for being in New Zealand, however, was for the fly fishing and with Scotty as our guide we had a wonderful fishing experience. Scotty is an outstanding guide and he works very hard when he is on the river and is exceptionally good at spotting fish. This is critical when sight fishing for Brown trout. Even when he pointed out a trout and we knew where it was, we had trouble seeing the fish. Left on our own, we would have walked past 95% of the fish Scotty spotted. We had a few days with cold, cloudy, rainy and windy weather and even under these conditions Scotty found us fish. Fortunately Scotty had scheduled a helicopter trip on our only really sunny day, and we had one of the best days on the river in our 60+ years of fly fishing. On this day we landed 22 Brown trout between 4 and 7 pounds and cast to numerous others. Over half of the fish we landed were taken on dry flies. It doesn't get any better than that!
Another thing that we should mention is that Scotty was very conscious of our walking and wading abilities. As older fishermen we have difficulty on rivers with large, slippery boulders or long distances to walk. The water he selected to fish fit our capabilities very well.
This was our third trip to New Zealand, but our first time staying with Leya and Scotty. We had an outstanding time and cannot overstate the importance of fishing with a good guide on any trip to New Zealand.
In summary, if you want outstanding fishing, excellent accommodations and five star cuisine contact Scotty and Leya at River Haven!
Dan and Dave Ellis, Goleta, California
