Whitebaiting back but guests of honour don't show

Ian Burke can only watch and wait as an early high tide spoils opening day of the season at the Waimakariri River. Picture / Simon Baker

It was slim pickings for many on the first day of the whitebaiting season yesterday, but veteran fisherman Crawford Liddell was not complaining.

For old hands like Mr Liddell, it is more about the experience than the catch.

"I used to go whitebaiting as a 6-year-old. I've always enjoyed it. It's probably the fresh air and the relaxing," the 69-year-old explains as he wades into the mouth of Canterbury's Waimakariri River.

"There's something about the weather at a river mouth. You get all the extremes. It's a lovely day today, but some days you get it like you're at the South Pole."

Mr Liddell uses old-school whitebaiting methods. He keeps his catch alive in a wet sack, rather than storing them in a bucket. This gives a better quality, he says.

He reckons he will come away with a few dozen from the first day of the season. Just enough for a "taste".

"Some days you don't even get a taste. I get enough for myself and then I freeze it. If you eat whitebait by itself, with a bit of milk and butter, it tastes just like fish. It's very rich though. It's like rhubarb, it will go right through you."

Anne Lambe, 57, could not resist the call of the first day of the season, and took time off work to try her luck on the river.

"You know what they say: the worst day's fishing is better than the best day at work," she says.

"It's very pleasant out here in the sun. That's the enjoyable part - getting a bit of fresh air. It's getting out and the camaraderie of people you meet here."

Ms Lambe tries to get down to the river whenever she can during the whitebaiting season, but some are here everyday and camp out overnight to secure prime positions.

"If they go off to the toilet, they are meant to take their nets with them, but not everyone does that."

Meanwhile, a tense meeting was held late yesterday to try to reach a compromise after a controversial ban on vehicles in the estuary of the Ashley River in North Canterbury.

Whitebaiters had threatened to flout the Environment Canterbury ban, which prevented them getting their fishing equipment to the river's edge. The gate keeping cars out of the estuary was broken yesterday as whitebaiters followed through on their promise.

THE RULES

* In all areas, except the West Coast and the Chatham Islands, the whitebaiting season began yesterday and runs until November 30.

* The Chatham Islands season runs from December 1 to the last day of February, while the West Coast season is September 1 to November 14.

* Whitebaiting is permitted only between 5am and 8pm, or between 6am and 9pm during daylight saving.

* A whitebait fisherman cannot use more than one whitebait net at a time, and the net must meet strict size regulations.

* Anyone who breaches Department of Conservation regulations for whitebaiting can be fined up to $5000.

Devilled Whitebait Recipe

Ingredients:

3 tbsp plain flour
2 tsp cayenne pepper
600g whitebait
Salt to taste

Method:

Heat oil for deep-frying.

Coat the whitebait in flour, cayenne pepper and salt. Deep-fry in batches for 2 or 3 minutes. Remove from the oil and drain well on kitchen paper.

Put all cooked whitebait back into the frying basket, reheat oil and plunge the basket back into the hot oil for another couple of minutes until they are golden. Drain and turn out into a serving dish lined thickly with paper napkins. Serve with lemon.

Source: fooddownunder.com