Poor start to whitebait season

Press, 2 September 1977, Page 3

Poor start to whitebait season

Greymouth reporter Cold, wet weather heralded the start of the whitebait season on the West Coast yesterday. In the fine weather last week, several shoals of whitebait, were seen moving upstream. but the onset of rain vesterday for the official season brought few whitebait into the river. Rough seas at the Grex River mouth and the cold conditions — a temperature of 2.Bdeg early yesterday morning — did not deter a lot of whitebaiters from trying their luck. However, catches were in most cases meagre. In South Westland, arches were also reported o be light, and the fishrmen there are waiting for he levels of slow-flowing ivers to rise. In Buller, the Buller and he Orowaiti Rivers were ined with whitebaiters from he early hours of the mornng. However, there were no eports of major catches in he morning, although many vere waiting for better coniitions on the turning tide n the early afternoon. The season will run for hree months, although the bulk of the whitebait is caught in the first two months up to Labour Day Week-end.