Why Dunedin?

Dunedin is the largest cosmopolitan city on the lower South Island. It is an excellent and overlooked base for one- to ten-day angling sojourns, especially if you’re travelling with folks who don’t fish.

Home of the nation’s oldest university, Dunedin is a laid-back compact, green, walkable city that reminds me of the best aspects of Seattle, Missoula, Austin or Santa Fe. There’s something for everyone here: wild life, art galleries, walking trails, funky cafes, wine bars, ethnic food, live music, several of the best museums in the country and a wide range of accommodation.

Based in Dunedin, Wild Angler is a high-quality, low-impact guide service specializing in one- to ten-day trips to rivers like the legendary Mataura, whose lush Deleatidium hatches and wild free-rising browns make the river a dry-fly mecca; intimate Otago and Southland tributaries with big fish in small water; and classic backcountry rivers of the Southern Alps where trophy rainbows and browns sway in pools as clear as mountain air.

Wild Angler also guides other regional gems that lend themselves to loop trips out of Dunedin. Kakahi Queen hatches among the kowhai in the Catlins. The lonely waters of the upper Taeiri and Maniototo. The big-fish rivers of the Central South Island. And the wild West Coast—a true troutbum’s frontier.