LAWRENCE GULLERY
Steven Wilkins and Michael White know what it takes to make a good whitebait fritter.
"You just throw the whitebait in with a bit of egg, into a frying pan, and cook it up like an omelette," Michael said.
The two mates were at the Ngaruroro River mouth about 7.30am today
scanning for the best spot for the start of the whitebait season.
The river was dotted with prospective whitebaiters, but Steven and Michael weren't saying where the best spots were.
"No, we can't say, it's a secret! But as long as you're here early enough to get a spot, I suppose that's all that matters," Steven said.
What is so special about whitebait, which lures dozens of men to the river's edge each year?
"You've never tasted one before? It's the taste of the whitebait and the season is only for two to three months of the year, that's why we're here," Steven said. "I don't like the whitebait further upstream, they get too 'gutty', I like to get them in the salt water."
Steven has been whitebaiting for about five years and is the son of Allan Wilkins, the Napier man who died when he fell in a drain last weekend.
This morning he was hoping to catch enough to take home for family and relatives, who had gathered for his father's funeral: "I'm down here every day, before and after work.
They (work mates) all want a taste of whitebait, they're always asking, 'where's the whitebait'."
The season lasts until November 30.
