About South Flyfisher
It's on these adventures that I get to test all sorts of fly fishing paraphernalia, apparel and tramping kit. Then I write it up and share it online. Along with other opinions that you might not agree with ;-)
With any luck, a few fish are caught and carefully released along the way too.
My hope is that Southflyfisher (the site) informs & inspires anglers to travel further, armed with the right gear and a great attitude. That's the mission anyway.
What's coming up?
The '24/'25 summer trout fishing season started on October 1 in New Zealand. It was a wet spring, but I had plenty of days on the river, a couple of days in helicopters, many rivers shared with foreign anglers from USA and a couple of Chile. Great fun.
I'm in Te Anau in Fiordland plus a backcountry camping trip near Queenstown over the Christmas/New Year period.
Then I'm off to Chile and Argentina in February for a late start to the Patagonia fishing season. I'm chasing the grand slam of chunky Brook Trout in beaver ponds, porpoise-sized sea-run Browns, Atlantic Steelhead, and large lago-domiciled Rainbows. This will be epic!
There, along with meeting a bunch of guides and lodge managers, I'm doing some research into a bunch of streams that back onto the Andes way down south. Plus I'm hosting a small USA group deep into Patagonia. These guys will be the first to cast on a previously un-fished Tierra del Fuego estancia. That's pretty cool for them. And me.
The plan is to try to squeeze in some Xcalak/Mahahaul saltwater action (a scouting mission ahead of a hosted trip in July) before flying back into New Zealand for the rest of summer. That might be pushing things too far, but hey, if you don't plan ... right?!
Then the focus is on New Zealand's South Island again until May. Deep south. If you're thinking of heading down to New Zealand in 2025, feel free to drop me a line for a chat or recommendations. I'm happy to share a few thoughts on 'when/how/what' and a bit of general info on the 'where'.
Autumn/Winter 2025 will be drilling into some double-handed casting practice into the local Mata-au and testing 8 weight rods with streamers at the river outlets. Good practice for saltwater fishing and for the intense Spey casting needed down in Patagonia.
Saltwater 2025
I have two saltwater flats expeditions planned for 2025. You're welcome to join me on these. Just shout out.
I’ll be in Christmas Island (CXI) in May ’25 with a local mate, and then on another saltie trip – possibly Aitutaki, Cook Islands, or maybe Fanning Island (near Christmas Island/Kiribati on the equator) or even French Polynesia – in September ’25.
I'm hosting a Grand Slam (fingers crossed) trip to Xcalak/Mahahaul in July 2025 with a group of American anglers. It will be hot.
South Flyfisher
Hi, I'm Michael Gregg. I've been fly fishing the South Island since 1982. I remember seeing my first trout in a local stream as a young fella. I was climbing a willow limb overhanging the water when a solid speckled brown cruised under the tree, likely in search of willow grubs. I saw it and marvelled. It saw me and took off. The start of a repetitive pattern that has continued for over 40 years.
Back then, it took me months of spooking flighty fish in a couple of the town's crystal-clear streams before I managed to hook my first on a size #12 Dad's Favourite dry. It was a very patient 2.5lb brown, my favourite type.
In hindsight, these world-class spring-fed rivers weren't the easiest place for a newcomer to this sport to cut his teeth on. I hoovered up everything I could read about entomology, trout behaviour, fly tying, casting and small stream stalking, just so I could better the stakes on these speckled beauties within a bicycle ride from my childhood home. I camped out on rivers with mates, biked for tens of kilometres in a weekend, consumed angling magazines and kept casting with mixed results.
Since those halcyon days, I've walked, climbed and flown by helicopter and fixed wing, into all corners of New Zealand's North and South Island backcountry – both hunting and fishing. I've done my winter pilgrimages to Taupo and Rotorua, and explored the back of beyond on both islands over endless springs, summers and autumns. I've tramped, swam or floated out of many wilderness rivers after days of isolated camping, searching around the next bend for new water and the promise of large trout. I'm just another kiwi angler really. Now I'm focused on international waters with a bucket list as long as my arm including a lifetime of spectacular saltwater locations and toothy species. It's been a lifetime since that first spooked brownie.
Fitting these expeditions into busy senior business and marketing roles, raising a family and trying to maintain a suitable work/life/angling balance has been challenging.
Image: South Flyfisher circa 1986 on a New Zealand Spring Creek
What I do now
Decades of advertising and marketing experience combined with what I've learned about the angling industry in recent years has put me in good stead to study consumer buying behaviour in the fickle fly fishing sector. I respect the immense power of brand and conscious bias that drives loyalty. I understand the value of experiential marketing. I'm a digital marketer from way back (ask me and you might be surprised about my credentials) so I appreciate the challenges facing the local fly fishing shop, and the myriad of choice available to consumers nowadays.
So I buy a bunch of products that I expect, and hope, will be excellent. I test them and share my opinions after taking them expedition angling. I also share my thoughts and images on fly fishing forums, on social media and across the web. Typically, I'll just share the good stuff. So if I'm writing about it, it's probably passed with flying colours.
I also write about the broad locations I fish, without writing about the places I fish. I hope this inspires others to fish the same places I get to enjoy. To go on the same journey I've been fortunate to trek. I try to share my thoughts on angling approach, access issues, what I see and worry about with the fisheries I care mostly deeply about, and without coming across as another whinging angler.
I interrogate the web for fresh locations, peruse newly released gear, plan more exotic destinations and species to pursue, and add to my fly collection along the way.
Come fishing with me if you're around where I am. I go fishing with a lot of different people from all corners of the globe and love meeting new people and sharing a yarn or a couple of flies.
Feel free to drop me a line. Perhaps we can wet one together sometime soon.
Cheers,
South Flyfisher
Image: South Flyfisher with a fine South Island Brownie.