Fish and Game Otago operations manager Ian Hadland said rangers caught 62 people for angling offences during the fishing season.
The season opened on October 1 last year and closed on April 30.
About a third of those caught were "foreign freedom camper types''.
"They are frustratingly difficult to deal with, due to their regular movements and light contact details. So far we have collected fines from around half of those.''
The 62 offences were 130% more than the 27 offences for the 2014-15 season, he said.
The reason for more foreigners being caught could be a general spike in prohibited behaviour by freedom campers, such as "pinching showers at campgrounds and camping on forbidden lake shores''.
Or it could be more rangers were working in the areas where freedom campers stopped.
The most common offence was fishing without a licence, he said.
"They claim no knowledge of the need to have a licence. We consider that a bit of a stretch, because in America and Europe nearly all freshwater angling requires a licence and in some cases the payment required is many more times what it costs here.''
The maximum penalty for fishing without a licence is $5000.
Typically, court fines cost more than $1000 and the loss of fishing equipment is a common penalty.
More fishers were providing "misleading information'', often telling rangers they had a licence at home, when they did not.
"Some people are very adept at telling lies and it's becoming increasingly more difficult to take people at their word.''
Rangers usually gave people seven days to produce a fishing licence they had left at home but the allowance could change, he said.
"We are tempted to seize the gear immediately now, rather than letting them continue to fish.''
Two Queenstown men, who bought licences online within an hour of being caught, tried to produce the licences as valid.
Consequently, one of the men was fined $700 for providing false information to a ranger.
The other man was convicted and was waiting to be sentenced, he said.
"Fishing without a licence just doesn't pay, and neither does lying about whether you have one. A $20 day licence bought off a smartphone from anywhere there is coverage can save a lot of grief.''
