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International travel with fishing gear
Traveling with fly fishing gear internationally can be a real pain in the backside. Its funny, as Kylie and I are starting to pack a 10 day bone fishing trip to the Cook Islands, where they have no loan gear, and it appears we are packing a complete fly shop (or two) Anyway, I digress… Way back 19 years ago when I established… Read more
Attention, women: Our trout need you in April 2023!
Our trout need you in April 2023! - to catch them, that is. To show them who’s boss. To teach them a lesson because they probably evaded other anglers all season and grew fat and complacent. In April 2023 our trout will need you to land them, kiss them, and then let them go so they can swim off to make big,… Read more
News flash: Owen River Lodge is the world’s first B Corp-certified fishing lodge!
Well, this is a big one. B Corp certification is an internationally-recognised accreditation that measures a company’s social and environmental performance. And getting it is tough. Really tough. The certification process involves being audited to assess an organisation’s… Read more
NZ welcoming international visitors in May
New Zealand’s border opens May 2022 It’s been two long years in the making, but finally… from May 1 2022, fully-vaccinated people from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia (13 April) and most European countries can enter New Zealand with no quarantine or self-isolation requirements. The Outlook for Fishing… Read more
Learn to Fly Fish School is back in March 2022 !
We promised the 10 newbie anglers who attended our inaugural Learn to Fly Fish School in November that it would be “cool as hell”—and it seems they agreed. Dan certainly liked it. Here’s a snippet from his Read more
ORL wins two international travel awards—with borders closed.
October 19, 2021When you look after people, they look after you We limped through last season. Now, as we stare down the double barrel of still not knowing when our international borders will reopen and the possibility of Level 3 lockdown restrictions continuing for our biggest domestic market, we’re realising there’s a chance this one… Read more
Learn to fly fish like a pro at Owen River Lodge’s Fly Fishing school
Here’s a quick survey with only one question: Why are you interested in fly fishing? A. You like wearing waders. B. You enjoy standing in rivers for hours and then going home. C. You dream of making the perfect cast; catching a fast, fat, wily trout; getting your photo taken with it to show off to your… Read more
Owen River Lodge is the world’s first Carbon Positive fishing lodge!
Owen River Lodge is the world’s first Carbon Positive fishing lodge! We’re pretty sure of this—we weren’t able to find any others—but we’ll happily stand corrected if we’re wrong. As far as we’re concerned, the more Carbon Positive luxury fishing lodges in the world, the better. All the certifications we hold… Read more
Owen River Lodge wins at the Qualmark Awards
We’ve made history! Following last week’s win at the 2021 Qualmark Awards, Owen River Lodge is now the most-awarded fishing lodge in New Zealand. Qualmark certification is no pushover. The requirements, particularly for the Luxury Lodge and Gold Sustainable Tourism accreditations we hold, are stringent. And the competition… Read more
A review of the season that was 2020_21
Wow, what a ride! The past 15 months have been one hell of a journey, for me as well as for most of you, I bet. I always try and seek out the good in every event—perhaps I’m just naturally optimistic—but this one’s been the biggest test ever. About this time last year we faced the great unknown and a new adversary: a… Read more
New Zealand’s first “Women Only” luxury fly fishing retreat
On 8–14 April 2021, Owen River Lodge hosted our inaugural luxury fly fishing retreat exclusively for women. What’s more, this event was the first of its kind in New Zealand. The first in the country. We can’t believe that no-one else here had even considered such a thing. As if women aren’t interested in catching big,… Read more
May Santa bring you a fishing trip to ORL in 2021!
Merry Christmas and a big welcome to 2021 When it comes to wrapping up 2020, what can I say that hasn’t already been said? We all know it’s been one hell of a year. For some, it’s been tragic. You don’t need me adding to all the noise. So let’s not go there. Let’s look forward to the time—and it’s… Read more
ORL Women only luxury fly fishing retreat - April 2021
Last April, our scheduled luxury women’s only fly fishing retreat was cancelled due to Corona virus. The good news is its on again this coming April ! In April 2021 we’re hosting a six night/five day luxury fly fishing retreat exclusively for women anglers. We are the only accredited luxury lodge in New Zealand offering… Read more
Three Murchison Accommodation Experiences At Owen River Lodge
Make no mistake about it, Covid 19 has absolutely changed the way we look at the kiwi holiday in New Zealand. With New Zealand travel restrictions likely to stay in place for at least a few months to come, your traditional holiday park is likely to be booked out and accommodation in Murchison, Nelson and the Tasman region… Read more
Casting For Recovery 2020: how we helped make it work in the Covid year
For the last seven years, we’ve been opening the doors of Owen River Lodge to groups of breast cancer survivors and hosting a weekend of authentic five-star treatment. We run these retreats in partnership with breast cancer charity Casting For Recovery, and work hard to make them a heady mix of fine dining, pampering sessions… Read more
Oct 27 2021
Wow what an experience after 50 years of dreaming about it I finally got to experience a luxury fishing lodge and was not disappointed. Felix and Kylie make fantastic hosts relaxed… Read more
Nov 23 2021
We had the pleasure to attend the first “learn to fly fish” weekend at Owen River Lodge - what a brilliant thing to do. Kylie is a qualified fly casting instructor and has… Read more
Awards & acknowledgements
Owen River Lodge NZ: “Fly fishing at its very best”
Ph: +64 3 523 9075 Address: Owen Valley East Road, Murchison, Nelson, South Island, New Zealand
Email: stay@owenriverlodge.co.nz