Anglers Anonymous Spot X Fly Fishing Lodge

On the banks of the Wanganui river near Taumarunui an hour and a quarter from Taupo, this roomy self contained studio apartment is detached from the owners house.  The unit looks out over a large pool/dam and normally has a great evening rise of both wild brown and rainbow trout. You can literally cast off the front lawn at rising trout.  Clay bird shooting can be arranged from outside your front door, and rabbit or turkey shooting is also another great way to fill in your evenings.

Spot X provides a friendly, easy going, relaxed atmosphere from which to base your fishing trip to New Zealand and has the advantage of being right on a great river and within 20 minutes or so of several others.  From a fly fisherman's perspective Spot X is heaven as you can literally catch wild rainbow and brown trout from the front lawn - they do seem a little selective though and can drive you nuts on the evening rise where they can appear to be everywhere but can sometimes be difficult to hook.

Complimentary continental breakfasts are included. Lunches are provided by your guide and evening meals can either be self cater or eat out.  There is a restaurant/bar within walking distance and several more 10 minutes away in Taumarunui.

Your Hosts

Sit back in the evenings and enjoy a fine New Zealand beer or wine and talk fishing with your super friendly hosts Charlie and Nadine.  Nadine is a local girl, born, raised, and schooled in the area and being a fantastic artist can be commissioned to paint a memento of your trip if you wish.  Charlie is an avid fly-fisherman who has in his past been both a professional deer hunter and a commercial fisherman and now helps run a local power station as well as raising a few sheep. Charlie's pride and joy (other than his family of course) is his bass boat for fly fishing the local lakes for trout.

Prices

  • NZ$150/night and is the same price whether there is 1 of you or 4 of you. See our Prices & Packages page for package deals or contact us to enquire about a customized guiding/accommodation package to suit your time frame and budget.
  • Guided rabbit shooting NZ$100
  • Clay bird shooting NZ$50/person
  • Guided turkey shooting NZ$200. Turkey shooting in New Zealand is different to the US, the turkeys here are often in large groups wandering around farmland and periodically need culling.

Testimonial: Paul Seymour & Mark Hayes, Australia

Fishing from Spot-X Lodge was awesome. The location was unbelievable, just meters from the river with fish rising everywhere.

On the first 1/2 day Andrew had us hooked into numerous rainbow and brown trout (despite our clumsy casting). The second day was even better, we took a boat up the river and within the first hour had four fish between the two of us, the best over 4 1/2 lbs. Throughout the day we landed almost 20 trout.

This was my first fly fishing trip to New Zealand and in years of fishing I have never had such fun as fighting wild trout in Spot-X.

Andrew was a great guide. He knew where to fish, what to use, and I think he was as stoked as us when we hooked up.

I will definitely be back. I could not think of a better guide or location.