Over 500 anglers celebrated the upcoming fishing season with the 2023 NZ Trout Festival in Christchurch at the weekend.

Anglers from across New Zealand came to the Groynes Fishing Lakes and Clearwater Resort to learn from trout fishing experts from across the globe.

One of the foremost casting instructors in the world, Brian Henderson from Australia, attended and ran several sessions to train the trainers and diagnose casting issues for the anglers.

He was joined by the leading lights in the freshwater angling industry, such Malcolm Bell, Darrin Shaheen, Alex Waller, Rene Vaz, Andrew Burden, Bryce Helms, Kristina Placko, Jeff Forsee, James Fuller and Peter Scott from the NZ fly fishing team.

A joint event hosted by North Canterbury Fish & Game and the Canterbury Fly Fishing Club covered all aspects of freshwater trout fishing, not just fly fishing.

Organiser John Roche said, "The day was great for anglers of all skill levels to learn how to catch more fish. There was something for all anglers, and our goal was to let as many anglers as possible be exposed the skills and expertise that our presenters have".

North Canterbury Fish & Game CEO Rasmus Gabrielsson says, "The support received from the freshwater fishing industry leaders like Hunting and Fishing NZ, Epic fly rods, Kilwell NZ, Manic Tackle, Flytackle NZ, meant that the anglers who attended were able to learn and experiment with a wide variety of techniques and equipment all free of charge.

"This is the third NZ Trout Festival, and numbers have increased each year; we’ve been fortunate to attract the support of the likes of Brian Henderson and the other presenters to share their knowledge and experience with our anglers.

The new fishing season starts in two weeks on October 1, and thousands of anglers will be hitting the rivers and lakes of New Zealand on that day to celebrate the opening day.

Around 135,000 people buy a fishing licence each year to enjoy the great fishing opportunities on offer in many rivers and lakes across Aotearoa.

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