West Coast > Fisheries

Fish & Game New Zealand’s West Coast region extends 800km from Kahurangi Point, north of Karamea, to Awarua Point south of Haast. In between lies some 2 million hectares of land, much of it wilderness and containing a huge diversity of angling opportunity.

Visitors tell us that sports fishing is a more challenging experience on the ‘Coast than in more populated or developed parts of the country. With the pressures of modern life, increasing numbers of anglers rate a natural environment and peace and solitude almost as highly as the opportunity to fish for wild trout. On the ‘Coast these attributes exist in abundance.

Brown trout on the West Coast occupy a diverse range of habitats from headwater tributaries to the estuarine portion of river mouths. Scenic lakes and spring fed river tributaries are also a feature of the region. Barriers to angler access are, for the most part, dictated only by climate and terrain.