KEY POINTS:
Flooding brought a quick end to the whitebait season on all the West Coast rivers today.
The season, disappointing for most whitebaiters, officially finishes at dusk.
"It's raining cats and dogs from Karamea to Haast so there are not going to be any last minute catches," West Coast Whitebaiters' Association president Jim Bushby said.
He said catches had been "patchy" throughout the West Coast.
Some rivers or streams yielded bait while others did not, but those who stuck it out were generally rewarded at some stage of the season.
"If they were there (on the rivers) all season then they did okay, but that's fishing. You have to be there when the fish are about."
Mr Bushby said the best catch of the season was on the Grey River about 10 days ago.
"People on the wharf watched as a continuous stream of bait poured out from under the wharf for about two hours."
Department of Conservation ranger John Green, of Westport, said conditions in the Buller catchment were generally good for fishing but the bait were scarce.
"There were two or three days of flooding but the rivers were not too bad overall."
- NZPA
