Southland Willowgrubbers

In this episode, the team are fly fishing for 'Willowgrubbers' in the Southland region of New Zealand's South Island. Many of the native bush plants have gone here and have been replaced by non native plants, like the willow, which can be found on many of the rivers' banks in the region. During summer, Willow Grubs, the larval form of the Sawfly populate these trees and many fall into the water. Trout just love them and will often ignore everything else when these grubs are around but they are small (6mm) and not easy to imitate. Local guide, Mike Wilkinson has invited his friend Rene Vaz down from Auckland to experience the Willow Grub fishing which is unique to this area. The summer so far has been poor as heavy rains have made the rivers unfishable but today the river looks in good shape so the pair set out with high hopes. The quickly find a couple of fish feeding on grubs but as Rene finds out, this isn't easy fishing and puts numerous casts over them with no success. Moving on they find another fish which is feeding heavily and this Mike shows Rene how its done and hooks up. Moving upstream they find more Willowgrubber feeding fish and catch 4 more stunning browns in quick succession. The rivers in Southland are famous for their high fish densities so when the fish switch on like they are today, the anglers can enjoy some epic sport. The following day, the guys decide to try a smaller creek where the fish are often much bigger than in the main river. Again they find more 'Willowgrubbers' and wrap up the trip with another great session in Southland. To watch just login or join