From river mouth to licking lips, briskly battered on the way

By ROSALEEN MacBRAYNE

Edgecumbe man Lloyd Burgess was the first at the Tarawera River mouth to greet the new whitebaiting season at 5am yesterday.

By mid-afternoon, the Eastern Bay of Plenty man went home well pleased with his 100g catch.

It was enough for a whitebait omelette or fritters "for one of us - just as well Mum doesn't like them".

But because her husband usually gets "zilch" on opening day, she had already organised dinner - so the 57-year-old sickness beneficiary put his treat on hold for today.

The haul was the biggest from his favoured spot, where the river was still swollen and dirty from rain.

"The guy upriver from me got five [whitebait]."

But the season stretches until November 30, and there will be plenty more. Mr Burgess, who is also a keen angler, predicts the numbers of tiny silvery-white fish should "perk up" in a few weeks.

At the height of the season he takes home two or three 10-litre bucketsful a day - and a good run can last up to a week. He gives most of the catch away.

Licences are not needed for whitebaiting and there is no limit on fish size and numbers.

But Department of Conservation spokesman Toni Twyford says there are regulations on the method of fishing, net size and specifications, and where and when whitebaiting is allowed.

Officers patrol throughout the season to make sure the rules are obeyed.

Mr Twyford says it is hard to forecast when the whitebait are likely to run "but when they are, the jungle drums start beating".