The Makarora River Valley, cradled in the shadows of the Southern Alps in New Zealand, is a destination renowned for its stunning natural beauty and exceptional trout fishing. This remote and pristine region, home to Cedar Lodge, offers anglers from around the world a unique and rewarding experience.
Lake Wanaka and Mount Aspiring National Park near Makarora. Source: Wikimedia Commons
A Land Steeped in History
The Māori were the first inhabitants of Aotearoa, “the land of the long white cloud.” Legend has it that they were guided to what we now know as New Zealand by Kupe, the great navigator, about 1,000 years ago. They were expert boatmen, hunters, and gatherers. They wove fishing nets from flax, carved fish hooks from stone and bone, and they hunted moa-the world’s largest flightless birds-using snares and traps.
The Waitaha iwi (tribe) are one of the South Island’s earliest Māori inhabitants. According to traditional accounts, Rākaihautū led his people to Te Waipounamu using a giant adze for protection and chanted incantations to pass safely across the sea from the North Island to the South Island in the area of present-day Nelson. The Waitaha iwi made early settlements here, and in the Southern Hemisphere summers, they used fair weather for hunting and fishing expeditions to the West Coast and to the Southland, where the combination of snow and terrain made travel difficult in the winter.
During the warm summers, the Southern Alps was a paradise, with native whitebait, longfin eels, and shortfin eels from the ocean swelling up the rivers of the West Coast, and upland moas roaming the fjordlands and alpine valleys in the area of what is now Mount Aspiring National Park. These southern rivers and streams were also home to the most valuable mineral and trading item of the Māori.
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Precious greenstone-most often found in and along these South Island streams-was called pounamu by the Māori. It was used for spears, hooks, and tools, and often passed from one generation to the next as portable wealth.
Today, fishing parties from around the world organize expeditions to this same spectacular region of stunning mountains and ethereal rivers, not to haul nets full of whitebait or to collect greenstone, but to stalk rainbow and brown trout in a region widely considered to have the most beautiful, challenging, and rewarding trout fishing in the world.
2023 Casting for Recovery Makarora fly fishing retreat
The Allure of West Coast Rivers
The first view of a West Coast river often reveals a wide pool flowing gently over a uniform cobble bottom, appearing almost like a lake. The water's clarity is striking, allowing you to see through it as if it didn't exist. Anglers cautiously scan the water for any sign of trout, often finding them in unexpected locations.
The challenge lies in the precision required for each cast. In such clear water, a single mistake can spook the fish, making a second chance unlikely. Despite the difficulty, the rewards are well worth the effort.
Fly fishing in South Island. Source: fishing.net.nz
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A Day on the River
A typical day of fishing in the Makarora River Valley involves covering a significant amount of water, often requiring a hike of at least 3 to 5 miles. The more water you can cover, the more trout you’ll spot. Experienced guides can maintain a brisk pace while keeping a keen eye on the water, increasing your chances of success.
The fishing here is hunting. You don’t cast blindly and “cover the water.” There is far too much water and not enough time. Everything is precise, strategic, and designed to produce the most exquisitely beautiful moments you can experience while trout fishing.
Catching trout may not be easy on New Zealand’s South Island, but it is the most rewarding and visually stimulating trout fishing anywhere. I’m sure there is no other place on the planet where you can make only a handful of casts, and have the best day of trout fishing in your life. If muskies are “the fish of 10,000 casts,” South Island brown trout are the fish where you get one cast, and you better do it right the first time. What you need here is precision, not endurance.
Cedar Lodge: A Base for Adventure
Cedar Lodge is cradled in the deep, glacial Makarora River Valley, right along the river and just a few minutes from the village of the same name. It lies literally in the shadows of the Southern Alps, and is within striking distance of about two dozen trout streams, several of them among the most iconic rivers on the South Island. The closest to the lodge-in the area of Mount Aspiring National Park-are the well-known but remote Wilkin and Young rivers, and in the opposite direction, rivers like the Dingle Burn and the Hunter. It’s also a short hop to fly over the park to fish the rivers of the West Coast in the roadless area between Haast and Milford Sound, home to New Zealand’s most famous hike, the Milford Trek. The rivers here include the Turnbull, Okuru, Waiatoto, and other smaller rivers that eventually flow into the Tasman Sea.
The Makarora itself also has large trout, but Cedar Lodge guests rarely fish these waters, as the guides and guests focus on the remote rivers in the mountains that are not accessible by road. You’ll fly in one of two helicopters, the workhorse Airbus Heli H125 (formerly the Eurocopter Squirrel), which takes up to five passengers plus a pilot, or the McDonnell Douglas MD 500E, which takes up to four passengers plus a pilot.
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Some people think heli-fishing is easy, and relatively speaking it is. It gives you glorious access to places that would take days and days of hiking. There are no other ways to get there. But you don’t often catch fish right where the helicopter lands. To have a successful day in New Zealand, you’ll need to walk at least 3 to 5 miles. The more water you can cover, the more trout you’ll spot, and top Cedar Lodge guides like Paul Wright, Pete Stevenson, and Alex Scott can keep up quite a pace while keeping one eye on the water. Come prepared to hike in rugged terrain in often hot, arid conditions.
When the helicopter returns at the end of the day, the incomparable Cedar Lodge host Alexandra Hill meets you just outside of the rotor wash and hands you the cocktail of the day-something crisp and thirst quenching after a long day of fishing. Every cocktail was something special I’d never had, many made with edible local flowers frozen inside clear ice cubes, local kiwi, or other fruit. Alexandra plans your trip itinerary and makes every moment at the lodge as comfortable and relaxing as possible.
Head guide Scottie Little sniffs out the local weather and water levels each day, gains regional intelligence on where the contracted pilots in the area have been flying, and more importantly who else has been flying. Are they hunters? trekkers? other anglers? Scottie makes the call on where the guests and guides are heading the next morning, and is careful about resting the water between visits. Usually, guests visit beats that haven’t been fished by Cedar Lodge in several weeks, and Scottie tries to make sure no one else has been fishing there recently either. Reaching remote waters is part of the equation, but unpressured water is the key to finding trout that are a little more settled and catchable.
Scottie has been a guide in this area for more than 30 years and has run some of the top lodges on the South Island. Eleven purchased Cedar Lodge in 2019 and Scottie became lodge manager when it reopened to the public in December 2022 after New Zealand opened for international travel following the Covid-19 pandemic. Scottie is funny, engaging, knowledgeable, and one hell of a golfer.
He has a small pitch-and-putt course set up around the perimeter of the helicopter landing pad, so if you want to drink cocktails and swing clubs with a golfer who has a handicap of 1, Scottie is your man. He can help with your golf swing just as easily as he can help you fine tune your casting.
You can play golf on those long days of summer until the sun sets behind Mount Turner, and wait until one of the darkest night skies in the world-free of light pollution-presents a view of the stars, constellations, and galaxies you’ve never seen before. You won’t see the Big Dipper, but you will see the Southern Cross and observe the Milky Way with a brilliance unlike anywhere else in the world.
Custom Experiences with Eleven
Eleven owns off-the-grid luxury outdoor adventure lodges in Colorado, Iceland, Chile, Bahamas, and most recently Alaska. It’s owned by Chad Pike, who founded the company in 2011, and personally developed a portfolio of resorts around the world with luxury lodging and diverse outdoor experiences. They do everything well, but their fly-fishing and heli-skiing programs are incomparable, likely because Chad Pike is a passionate expert on both fronts.
In the world of Eleven lodges, Cedar Lodge is a small, intimate experience, with four guest suites with king-size beds and en-suite bathrooms. All rooms have king beds with the ability to split the kings into two twins for double occupancy, so the maximum occupancy is just eight guests. Nothing here is canned or out of the box. Cedar Lodge staffers pride themselves on custom experiences tailored for anyone, so if you want to have your midday lunch on a glacier, they can arrange for the helicopter to pick you up. There’s nothing they can’t plan for you.
On my trip, the helicopter dropped us off high in an alpine meadow, and we hiked along a tributary stream Scottie himself hadn’t visited ...
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Location | Makarora River Valley, near Mount Aspiring National Park |
| Accommodation | 4 guest suites, king-size beds (convertible to twins), en-suite bathrooms |
| Maximum Occupancy | 8 guests |
| Activities | Trout fishing, heli-fishing, hiking, golf |
| Access | Helicopter access to remote rivers |
| Cuisine | Customized meals, unique cocktails |
| Owner | Eleven, founded by Chad Pike |
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