Fishing in New Zealand is a popular sport, hobby and pastime. With lakes, rivers and ocean everywhere you look, fishing fanatics will be in their element.

You just have to go to any beach or wharf to see how popular fishing is in New Zealand. With more than 15,000 kilometres of coastline there’s a fish and a fishing spot with your name on it. If you’re up north you can expect to catch snapper, kingfish and tarakihi. In the far south, you’re looking at blue cod, trumpeter and grouper for your dinner. Snapper is the prized fish for most sea fishermen. Go snapping as they call it and you could be looking at a fish in excess of 10kg.

From December to June, it’s the big game fishing season, Head out on a charter from Russell or Tutukaka in Northland, or from Tauranga in the Bay of Plenty and you can be chasing some seriously big fish including marlin, billfish, yellowfin tuna and kingfish.

New Zealand’s crystal clear rivers and lakes provide excellent freshwater fishing with rainbow and brown trout being found in rivers and lakes of both islands and sea-run salmon in the South Island. Lake Taupo, in particular, is world-renowned for trout fishing.

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