New Zealand

New Zealand's South Island is, for many anglers, the pinnacle of freshwater fly fishing. The rivers of Canterbury, Otago, and the West Coast are extraordinarily clear — you can see individual stones on the riverbed from 100 yards — and the wild brown and rainbow trout that inhabit them are large, selective, and in some cases, have never seen a fly before. Sight-fishing here is a discipline unto itself: you locate individual fish, study their behavior, make a precise cast, and watch the entire take in real time. Nothing in fly fishing compares to it.

Southern Alps glacially carved river valleys, Canterbury Plains braided rivers, Otago schist country, West Coast rainforest, and the extraordinary light of the Southern Ocean.