Heli Fishing the Fiords of Southern New Zealand
Our base for the week for the Fiordland Heli trip was near the bottom of the South Island, in the lakeside town of Te Anau, roughly two hours southwest of Queenstown. Widely regarded as the gateway to Fiordland National Park and Milford Sound, this region is famous for its dramatic mountain scenery, glacier-fed lakes, and postcard-perfect landscapes that seem to appear around every bend. I know of no other place on earth that offers a more visually stunning trout trip than Te Anau does. The town is small and friendly, with just about every amenity that a traveling angler could want. It’s one of my favorite weeks of the year because it just ticks off so many boxes.
Our fishing week out of Te Anau New Zealand January 4-11, 2026 started out under clear blue skies and light winds, conditions that did not last for the rest of the week. In fact, we ran into a tropical depression that dropped down from Fiji, bringing with it a significant amount of rain for much of our week. Fortunately, we were being guided by three extremely knowledgeable guides, who knew how to adjust to the scruffy weather and where to take us. The Te Anau group consisted of six anglers, all of who enjoyed themselves immensely.
One of the really special aspects to fishing for a week out of Te Anau is that anglers have access to some of the most isolated rivers in the country, when utilizing the helicopter component of this trip. First and foremost, there is flying out of Milford Sound, which is nothing short of jaw dropping. The scenery is simply incredible and while it’s a 90-minute drive to get up to the heli pad, it is always so well worth it. On this year’s trip we fished a river out of Milford Sound that I’d never fished before and it was truly one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen. Closer to our base in Te Anau, you have a variety of rivers on the other side of the lake and mountain range that faces the town. By Chopper, the flights are awe inspiring and when doing them, it’s easy to forget that you are going to be trout fishing at the end of the flight.
I like Te Anau because it has a nice mix of both Rainbows and Brown Trout and while I generally focus most of my time in New Zealand targeting big Browns, I decided to spend my Te Anau week principally targeting Rainbow Trout. Some of the region’s rivers are exclusively Rainbow Trout, others strictly Browns and there are a few rivers here and there that offer a nice mix of both. I really enjoyed the sight casting to Rainbows with a variety of dries, and while the Cicada Hatch was delayed by the cool and wet start to the summer, we had superb dry fly fishing using mostly the Parachute Adams patters in sizes 12 and 14. It’s hard not to get giddy when wading a crystal clear mountains stream, where you are stalking and sight fishing to five and six pound Rainbow Trout with dries.
This is just a great overall fishing trip and I’m already looking forward to next years week, which is once again, January 4-11, 2027.
