The most-watched Trippin On Trout video is "Fly Fishing TINY STREAM for BIG BROWN Trout" at roughly 324,000 views. Alex films solo New Zealand backcountry trips where a full day often means a handful of spotted fish and one or two genuine chances.
Alex runs Trippin On Trout out of Taupo, on New Zealand's North Island, and the channel's appeal is that it does not hide the grind. Long walks, blown approaches, weather that ruins a plan, and then, occasionally, a brown trout that justifies the whole week. Here are the fifteen most-watched videos on the channel, ranked by view count in September 2026, with what each one teaches.
Who is Alex from Trippin On Trout?
Alex is a fly fishing guide and content creator based in Taupo, in the middle of New Zealand's North Island. Trippin On Trout is largely solo, self-filmed backcountry work — North Island rivers in and around Taupo, plus extended South Island trips — with regular collaborations alongside Gareth of Trout Hunting NZ. The fishing is almost entirely sight-fishing to individual trout in clear water, which makes the channel a useful study in approach and stalking rather than in fly selection.
Trippin On Trout at a glance
- HostAlex
- BasedTaupo, North Island, New Zealand
- Subscribers52.3K
- Long-form videos355
- Signature waterNew Zealand backcountry rivers and small streams
- StyleSolo, self-filmed, sight-fishing
- Best forStalking, approach, honest expectation-setting for NZ trips
What are the most-watched Trippin On Trout videos?
These fifteen videos carry the highest view counts on the channel as of September 2026. Note how tightly they cluster around 2020 and 2021 — that is the stretch when Alex was making extended South Island trips, and it is also where the channel's best instructional material sits.
| # | Video | Views | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fly Fishing TINY STREAM for BIG BROWN Trout [Dry Fly Eats] | 324,224 | 22:00 |
| 2 | I Caught HUGE Trout from ULTRA Clear River | 181,140 | 22:58 |
| 3 | Fly Fishing for the BIGGEST TROUT in the WORLD | 152,596 | 17:12 |
| 4 | My BIGGEST Brown Trout EVER!!! | 148,833 | 21:19 |
| 5 | Maybe My BEST DAYS FISHING EVER..!! | 125,694 | 37:07 |
| 6 | FISHING a BEAUTIFUL River for BIG Trout [CAMP OUT] | 116,604 | 23:04 |
| 7 | FISHING Spectacular NEW ZEALAND River | 111,536 | 31:30 |
| 8 | HUGE Brown Trout SMASHES Streamer in Front of ME!! | 105,494 | 22:09 |
| 9 | Fishing a SMALL Stream For BIG Browns [Dry Fly] | 97,377 | 16:31 |
| 10 | SIGHT FISHING to WILD Rainbow Trout!! | 83,775 | 23:48 |
| 11 | NEW ZEALAND FLY FISHING AT ITS BEST!! | 79,023 | 34:58 |
| 12 | BIG Brown Trout in SMALL Stream!! | 69,951 | 26:25 |
| 13 | HUNTING Trout in the Middle of NOWHERE! [Fly Fishing] | 48,167 | 29:58 |
| 14 | BIG TROUT Eating DRY FLIES!! 4K [NEW ZEALAND] | 44,173 | 30:32 |
| 15 | Fishing REMOTE River For SUPER HARD Brown Trout - Part 2 | 42,642 | 25:06 |
Fly Fishing TINY STREAM for BIG BROWN Trout [Dry Fly Eats]
A summer day on new North Island water, and the channel's breakout video. The stream is small enough that every fish is a stalking problem, and Alex narrates the approach decisions as he makes them — where to enter, when to kneel, which fish to leave alone. The surprise at the end is why it went wide, but the first fifteen minutes are the teaching.
What to steal: On tiny water, decide your entry point before you rig up — the wrong first step costs you the pool.
No. 2 · 181,140 viewsI Caught HUGE Trout from ULTRA Clear River
South Island exploration on a river with big fish that do not come easily. This one is useful precisely because the fishing is hard: you watch refusals, resets and long waits, and you get a realistic sense of the hours-per-fish ratio on unfamiliar clear water.
What to steal: On a new river, spend the first hour walking and looking rather than fishing.
No. 3 · 152,596 viewsFly Fishing for the BIGGEST TROUT in the WORLD
A cold, snowy South Island day where the weather cuts the trip short. Most channels would not post this. It is valuable as a study in fishing badly-timed conditions — low light, cold water, fish that will not move far — and the payoff at the end is genuinely worth waiting for.
What to steal: In cold, low-light conditions, fish slower and closer; trout will not chase far off their lie.
No. 4 · 148,833 viewsMy BIGGEST Brown Trout EVER!!!
An unknown South Island river and the biggest brown Alex had landed at the time. The build-up is the useful part: the fish is spotted early, then worked over multiple approaches rather than rushed, which is exactly what most anglers get wrong on a fish of that size.
What to steal: When you spot a genuinely big fish, back off and watch it feed before you cast.
No. 5 · 125,694 viewsMaybe My BEST DAYS FISHING EVER..!!
An overnight mission into unfamiliar South Island water that turned into two exceptional days. At 37 minutes it is the longest video in the channel's top five, and the most complete look at how a multi-day backcountry trip is actually structured — camp, water covered, fish found.
What to steal: Plan a backcountry day around water you can reach and still walk out of before dark.
No. 6 · 116,604 viewsFISHING a BEAUTIFUL River for BIG Trout [CAMP OUT]
A camp-out trip ahead of a weather system, on water Alex had not fished before. The walk-in is long and the video does not skip it, which is a fair representation of what New Zealand backcountry access costs you in effort before any fishing happens.
What to steal: Budget the walk-out in your day plan — the last pool is rarely worth a headlamp descent.
No. 7 · 111,536 viewsFISHING Spectacular NEW ZEALAND River
A last fishing day with a friend on a spectacular river, under a bad forecast and real pressure to produce. The interesting content here is social: how two anglers share water, take turns, and manage a slump without getting in each other's way.
What to steal: When fishing with a partner in clear water, one spots and one casts — do not both wade in.
No. 8 · 105,494 viewsHUGE Brown Trout SMASHES Streamer in Front of ME!!
A tough second leg of a trip with one remarkable streamer eat that Alex watches happen in front of him. Worth it for the eat, but the more useful part is the earlier stretch where nothing works and the plan gets rebuilt on the fly.
What to steal: When sight-fishing dies, a streamer swung past a known lie can still move a fish you have already spooked once.
No. 9 · 97,377 viewsFishing a SMALL Stream For BIG Browns [Dry Fly]
A recon trip back to a small stream Alex had not fished in years, on the first properly hot day of the season. Wet wading, surface-feeding browns, and a good demonstration of how quickly a warm day changes what trout will eat.
What to steal: The first hot day of the season turns on surface feeding — go looking for it rather than nymphing by habit.
No. 10 · 83,775 viewsSIGHT FISHING to WILD Rainbow Trout!!
Opening day of the backcountry season, a long hike into the hills, and sight-fishing to big rainbows in perfect weather. This is the channel at its most optimistic, and a clean example of how to fish a full day without seeing another angler.
What to steal: On opening day, walk past the first accessible water — everyone else stops there.
No. 11 · 79,023 viewsNEW ZEALAND FLY FISHING AT ITS BEST!!
The 2024 season opener with a partner, heading deep into the backcountry for new water in unseasonably warm conditions. Good for anyone weighing early-season timing: the video shows exactly what warm early-season weather does to fish position.
What to steal: Unseasonably warm early-season weather pushes fish into faster water sooner than the calendar suggests.
No. 12 · 69,951 viewsBIG Brown Trout in SMALL Stream!!
Late in the backcountry season on Alex's favorite water, fishing for one or two more browns before winter closes it. Short on drama, long on craft — the approach work here is as good as anything on the channel.
What to steal: Late-season browns in low water spook from movement above the bank, not from your fly.
No. 13 · 48,167 viewsHUNTING Trout in the Middle of NOWHERE! [Fly Fishing]
A long walk into remote country with a river running full after heavy rain. The high-water tactics are the point: where fish move when a small stream comes up, and why the edges become the whole game.
What to steal: When a small stream is running high, fish the soft edges and the flooded margins, not the middle.
No. 14 · 44,173 viewsBIG TROUT Eating DRY FLIES!! 4K [NEW ZEALAND]
Two days off-grid in a remote valley in a rare weather window, with low water, sun and rainbows eating big terrestrials off the surface. Shot in 4K and the best-looking video on the channel, with genuinely useful terrestrial presentation work.
What to steal: In low, clear summer water, a big terrestrial landed hard can out-fish a delicate presentation.
No. 15 · 42,642 viewsFishing REMOTE River For SUPER HARD Brown Trout - Part 2
Part two of a remote-river trip where both the terrain and the fish get harder. The value is in watching a plan degrade gracefully — Alex keeps adjusting rather than forcing the original approach, which is the whole skill on difficult water.
What to steal: If three approaches to the same fish fail, change water rather than fly — that trout is done.
Who should watch Trippin On Trout?
This is the channel to watch before a New Zealand trip, and the one to watch if you fish clear water anywhere and keep spooking fish you never saw. Alex talks through his approach out loud — where he is standing, why he is waiting, what the fish just did — which is far more useful than a highlight reel. It is also honest about the failure rate, which matters if you are budgeting a once-in-a-lifetime trip around NZ backcountry fishing.
Watch this channel if…
- You are planning a New Zealand trip and want realistic expectations
- You fish clear water and keep spooking trout you never spotted
- You want solo, self-filmed footage rather than a produced crew shoot
- You like a long walk-in and are fine with a two-fish day
- You want to hear the decision-making, not just see the eat
Skip it if you fish stained water, big rivers, or want nymphing and streamer instruction. The tactical range here is deliberately narrow: spot a fish in clear water, get close without being seen, make one cast.
How does this connect to the podcast Tip Library?
Every Trippin On Trout video turns on the same skill — seeing the fish before it sees you. That is also the single most transferable tip in the Fly Fishing Insider Podcast Tip Library from guests who fish clear water, and it has nothing to do with looking for a trout shape.
From the Fly Fishing Insider Podcast Tip Library
“Scan for a color patch before you look for a fish shape - in clear water you almost never see a whole trout first, you see a patch of the wrong color or a shadow that does not belong, and the fish resolves afterward.”
Read the full tip → · Browse all 364 tips in the Tip Library →
Where this sits in the Tip Library
This breakdown is part of the video shelf of the Fly Fishing Insider Podcast Tip Library — the same library that holds 364 tips pulled from 225 podcast episodes. The other three channel breakdowns:
- Jensen Fly Fishing: the 15 most-watched videos, broken down
- Trout Hunting NZ: the 15 most-watched videos, broken down
- Gill Seekers (formerly FishingCircle): the 15 most-watched videos, broken down
- The full Tip Library pillar — 364 tips sorted by region, species, water and topic
New Zealand is a real trip, not just a video
The rivers in these videos are bookable. The Fly Fishing Insider Podcast plans New Zealand trips through our Frontiers Travel partnership, including the guided backcountry work that makes a first NZ trip actually productive.
View counts, publish dates and run times were read directly from YouTube on September 17, 2026 and will drift over time. Videos are embedded through YouTube's standard player; all footage belongs to Trippin On Trout. The Fly Fishing Insider Podcast is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or paid by this channel — we recommend it because our listeners keep asking who to watch.
