The most-watched Trout Hunting NZ video is "You won't Believe How Good This River is. Big Trout Everywhere! pt. 2" at roughly 3.76 million views. Gareth's channel splits between remote backcountry rivers and New Zealand's hydro canals, where trout reach genuinely absurd sizes.
Trout Hunting NZ is the biggest channel on this list by a wide margin, and the reason is simple: Gareth fishes two kinds of water that almost nobody else films well. One is genuine New Zealand backcountry, the other is the South Island hydro canal system, where double-digit trout are not a story but a Tuesday. Here are the fifteen most-watched videos, ranked in September 2026.
Who is Gareth from Trout Hunting NZ?
Gareth runs Trout Hunting NZ as a guiding operation and a YouTube channel, working Taupo water and ranging across both islands. The channel's reach — over 104,000 subscribers and several videos past a million views — comes from a mix that pairs remote, hike-in backcountry rivers with the hydro canals of the South Island's Mackenzie Country, where farmed-salmon runoff grows trout to sizes that sound made up until you see them. He films regularly with Alex of Trippin On Trout, so the two channels overlap and cross-reference each other.
Trout Hunting NZ at a glance
- HostGareth
- BasedTaupo and nationwide, New Zealand
- Subscribers104K
- Long-form videos380
- Signature waterBackcountry rivers and South Island hydro canals
- Biggest video3.76 million views
- Best forBig-fish tactics, canal fishing, NZ destination research
What are the most-watched Trout Hunting NZ videos?
These fifteen carry the highest view counts on the channel as of September 2026. Four of them are canal videos and the rest are backcountry river work — a split worth understanding before you plan a New Zealand trip around what you see here, because the two fisheries could not be less alike.
| # | Video | Views | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | You won't Believe How Good This River is. Big Trout Everywhere! pt. 2 | 3,763,029 | 17:22 |
| 2 | Fly Fishing THE BEST Trout River i have ever Seen! | 1,929,424 | 16:09 |
| 3 | Fly Fishing For the BIGGEST TROUT in The World! | 1,716,542 | 17:03 |
| 4 | Fly Fishing at its BEST!! [New Zealand] | 1,267,579 | 11:47 |
| 5 | This River is Incredible, Big Fish Everywhere. | 994,719 | 19:45 |
| 6 | Fly Fishing one of the Best Rivers in the World! (part 1) | 775,887 | 13:57 |
| 7 | Catching Ridiculously Big MEGA TROUT on Fly! [100lbs landed] | 653,671 | 14:31 |
| 8 | INCREDIBLE Fly Fishing on one of the BEST Trout Rivers in the World | 633,293 | 20:41 |
| 9 | 20lb trout caught From Hydro Canal! | 425,367 | 13:29 |
| 10 | Catching Huge Trout in ULTRA clear water! | 409,606 | 15:09 |
| 11 | Catching Mammoth Trout Most Could Only Dream Of From Manmade Canal! | 361,395 | 23:29 |
| 12 | Fishing The BEST Trout water I have ever seen! | 345,273 | 15:50 |
| 13 | Fly Fishing For Big Trout With MOUSE FLIES | 300,741 | 20:36 |
| 14 | Catching the BIGGEST TROUT you've likely ever Seen! [Fishing for GIANTS] | 286,837 | 10:29 |
| 15 | Fishing for MONSTER canal Trout ft. APBASSING | 284,750 | 12:05 |
You won't Believe How Good This River is. Big Trout Everywhere! pt. 2
The channel's biggest video by a distance, and a fair one to lead with: a backcountry river holding good fish in nearly every pool, fished over a full day with a mate. The instructional content is in the pool-by-pool progression — how Gareth moves upstream, which lies he fishes and which he walks past.
What to steal: On a rich backcountry river, move upstream and fish only the best lie in each pool — you will cover more good water.
No. 2 · 1,929,424 viewsFly Fishing THE BEST Trout River i have ever Seen!
A South Island river Gareth rates as the best he has seen, fished across a long day with plenty of quality trout landed. The water is clear enough that most of the takes are visible, which makes it a good study in eat timing and hookset delay.
What to steal: When you can see the eat, pause before setting — a premature hookset pulls the fly out of a big brown's mouth.
No. 3 · 1,716,542 viewsFly Fishing For the BIGGEST TROUT in The World!
The hydro canal fishery at its most extreme, in a system where the average fish size is genuinely among the largest in the world. Roughly 200 pounds of trout landed in a day. It is a completely different discipline from river fishing and worth understanding on its own terms.
What to steal: Canal trout key on eggs and small naturals below the pens — match the drift depth exactly or you get nothing.
No. 4 · 1,267,579 viewsFly Fishing at its BEST!! [New Zealand]
An early video, filmed while scouting a new guiding option with Alex of Trippin On Trout, and still one of the most-watched on the channel. Mixed rainbows and browns, rods bent most of the day, and a good look at how two guides evaluate unfamiliar water.
What to steal: When scouting new water, fish it once quickly and once slowly — you learn more from the second pass.
No. 5 · 994,719 viewsThis River is Incredible, Big Fish Everywhere.
One of Gareth's favorite New Zealand rivers, holding both rainbows and browns, with fish in essentially every pool. A more recent video and better filmed than the older entries, with clearer footage of how the fish are holding.
What to steal: Rainbows sit higher in the water column than browns in the same pool — fish the top of the run first.
No. 6 · 775,887 viewsFly Fishing one of the Best Rivers in the World! (part 1)
Part one of a three-part overnight backcountry camping trip with Alex. The camping logistics get real screen time, which is genuinely useful — New Zealand backcountry fishing is an expedition problem as much as a fishing problem.
What to steal: Pack your fishing day around your camp, not the reverse — the walk in dictates how much water you can actually fish.
No. 7 · 653,671 viewsCatching Ridiculously Big MEGA TROUT on Fly! [100lbs landed]
Day two of the canal trip, with over 100 pounds of trout landed. Watch this one for fighting technique specifically: fish this large on fly tackle break off constantly, and Gareth's rod angles and drag management are the whole story.
What to steal: On a fish over ten pounds, keep the rod low and to the side — a high rod gives the fish leverage, not you.
No. 8 · 633,293 viewsINCREDIBLE Fly Fishing on one of the BEST Trout Rivers in the World
The first North Island trip of a season on a highly productive river with large fish at every turn. Good for anyone who assumes New Zealand's best trout fishing is all South Island — it is not.
What to steal: North Island rivers hold fewer but often larger fish than their reputation suggests — fish them slower.
No. 9 · 425,367 views20lb trout caught From Hydro Canal!
A 20-pound trout from a South Island hydro canal, with a group of local anglers. Egg rolling does most of the damage here rather than fly tackle, which Gareth is upfront about — a useful honesty about how the canal fishery is mostly fished.
What to steal: Understand that most canal fish are caught on bait or eggs — fly tackle there is a deliberate handicap.
No. 10 · 409,606 viewsCatching Huge Trout in ULTRA clear water!
Sight-fishing to big browns and rainbows in genuinely ultra-clear water over a few hours on a local river. Compact, well-shot, and one of the better pure sight-fishing entries on the channel.
What to steal: In ultra-clear water, cast well upstream of the fish and let the fly come to it — never line the trout.
No. 11 · 361,395 viewsCatching Mammoth Trout Most Could Only Dream Of From Manmade Canal!
Day one of a South Island canal trip and Gareth's most productive canal day on film, with six or seven very large fish landed on egg flies and small naturals. The fly selection reasoning is more explicit here than in the other canal videos.
What to steal: Rotate between an egg pattern and a small natural nymph on canals — the fish switch preference through the day.
No. 12 · 345,273 viewsFishing The BEST Trout water I have ever seen!
Deep backcountry access on a quad bike, with plenty of rainbows caught. The access story is the underrated part: New Zealand's best water is often gated behind a vehicle problem rather than a fishing problem.
What to steal: Solve the access before you solve the fishing — the least-walked water holds the least-educated trout.
No. 13 · 300,741 viewsFly Fishing For Big Trout With MOUSE FLIES
Mouse flies fished in broad daylight, which is not how mousing is supposed to work, and it produces anyway. One of the more genuinely surprising videos on the channel and a good argument for testing assumptions about when a technique is allowed to work.
What to steal: Try a mouse pattern in daylight on backcountry water — big trout will eat one well outside the classic night window.
No. 14 · 286,837 viewsCatching the BIGGEST TROUT you've likely ever Seen! [Fishing for GIANTS]
A first day fishing with Alex of Trippin On Trout on what Gareth calls the best river in the world, chasing very large trout. Worth watching alongside Alex's version of the same trip for two angles on identical water.
What to steal: Watch two anglers film the same day — the differences in their approach are the actual lesson.
No. 15 · 284,750 viewsFishing for MONSTER canal Trout ft. APBASSING
Gareth meets American YouTuber Alex Peric and puts him on his first trout on the fly, then into bigger New Zealand fish. The teaching-a-newcomer framing makes this the most beginner-friendly video in the channel's top fifteen.
What to steal: A first trout on the fly is a positioning problem, not a casting problem — get close enough that a short cast works.
Who should watch Trout Hunting NZ?
Watch Trout Hunting NZ for scale and for water you will not see anywhere else. The backcountry videos are the instructional half — reading unfamiliar pools, spotting in broken light, working big fish in fast water. The canal videos are a different sport entirely, closer to targeted stillwater fishing, and they are worth watching for the fish-fighting alone. Just do not confuse the two when you are booking a trip.
Watch this channel if…
- You want to see genuinely large trout landed on camera
- You are researching a New Zealand trip and want both islands covered
- You are curious about the South Island hydro canal fishery
- You want big-fish fighting technique shown at length
- You already watch Trippin On Trout and want the other side of the same trips
Skip it if you want structured instruction. Titles lean hard on superlatives and the teaching is incidental rather than organized — you learn by watching what Gareth does, not by being told. For step-by-step technique, the Jensen channel is the better shelf.
How does this connect to the podcast Tip Library?
The fish in these videos are the ones most anglers never see, and the Fly Fishing Insider Podcast Tip Library has a recurring answer for why: the biggest trout in a river are usually somewhere you are not looking, at a time you are not fishing.
From the Fly Fishing Insider Podcast Tip Library
“Dip a weighted leech at undercuts, or fish after dark - the largest trout in a stretch hold tight under cut banks and log jams during daylight and only move out to feed when the light goes.”
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
- Trippin On Trout: 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
See it yourself
New Zealand's backcountry rivers and the Mackenzie canals are two of the best trout fisheries on earth, and both are bookable. The Fly Fishing Insider Podcast plans New Zealand trips through our Frontiers Travel partnership.
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 Trout Hunting NZ. 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.
