Barry and Cathy are on their way home from New Zealand as I write the blog for this week. They report another week of beautiful summer weather at Owen River Lodge. The rivers are fishing well and the group has enjoyed a wonderful New Zealand fishing experience. They have fished a number of rivers on the South Island in the Murchison area, saw lots of beautiful New Zealand countryside and loved Owen River Lodge. The food, guides, accommodations and personal attention were exceptional. Everyone agreed that fishing doesn't get more technical or more rewarding than New Zealand! They are all coming home tired and happy.   

Also, we found a few interesting articles in the Angling Trade E-News last month that we wanted to share:

Sage Bolt Rod Review

Kirk Deeter reviews the new Sage Bolt rod in Angling Trade E-News. If you like a fast rod, this might be for you.

And,

In the same issue is a short clip of rising trout - actually a very hungry rising trout! Click here to view the issue.  Enjoy.

We just got an email from Barry and Cathy, currently in New Zealand.  It sounds like they are having a great trip although anywhere with some sunshine sounds good to us in NE PA right now!  The snow, ice & cold have settled in here, however I just keep reminding myself that February is almost half over and Spring is right around the corner.  Below is Cathy's summary of the week.  I'm also including a link to RIO's Blog which Barry wrote.  It's a fun story about his recent trip to Erie where he joined up with two fishing guides.  We hope you'll take a look.

Report from the Field

We have finished our stay at Riverview Lodge in Hamner Springs, New Zealand, and are now at Owen River Lodge, near Murchison. Both on the South Island. Our group finished up a great week at Riverview despite tough weather the first day. After the wind and the rain, the week turned out to be a beautiful fishing week with enough breeze to keep the sand flies down and lots of sun to make spotting fish easier for the guides. Four 11 pound browns were landed in our group of 5 anglers and a lot of 5 to 9 pound fish. The most common size this week seemed to be 6-1/2 pounds as almost everyone caught fish in that range. Of course, we all saw fish bigger than 11 pounds and that's what keeps us coming back to Riverview. Our favorite rod has been the 590-4 Method with an In touch RIO Grand WF5F line. We've got two of them and they make a perfect outfit for NZ, turning over long leaders and big flies in the wind. John & Robin Gemmell are wonderful hosts and we look forward to our next visit with them. If New Zealand is not on your to-do list, it should be! We now look forward to 8 days fishing at Owen River Lodge.    -Cathy

Barry's RIO Blog

Click here to be taken to the RIO Blog

We're not surprised that our favorite lodge in New Zealand has done it again.  Congratulations to Felix and his staff at Owen River Lodge.  Come with us in February 2015, to experience the amazing South Island and Owen River Lodge.  You're not only visiting New Zealand's finest lodge, but also fish the finest rivers with the finest guides.  Click here to review the itinerary.

    TripAdvisor Accolade

   TripAdvisor was awarded Owen River Lodge a Certificate of Excellence for 2014.

This is the 5th year in a row we have won TripAdvisor's Certificate of Excellence and I would like to thank all of our wonderful guests that have taken the time to write a TripAdvisor review.