The town of Gore, with the natural and unspoilt Hokonui hills as a backdrop and the beautiful Mataura River flowing through the centre, is renowned as the Brown Trout capital of New Zealand. Ideally located at the junction of State Highways 1 & 94, travel west to Queenstown & Fiordland (1½ hrs), south to Invercargill (45mins), north to Dunedin (1hr 45mins) or east to the rugged Catlins coast (1hr).
The Mataura River is famous as one of the best trout fishing rivers in the world, with the highest catch rate and population of brown trout in New Zealand. Rainbow trout can be caught in the lakes and rivers of Southland but it is the quality of Brown trout fishing that gives Southland, and particularly Gore, its deserved world-wide reputation. From October to April experienced anglers from all over the world converge on Gore to pit their skills against this wily fish.