Whitebait nets set in Wairarapa

SEASON OPENS: Whitebaiters will be hoping for a good catch this year. PHOTO/FILE

Wairarapa whitebaiters will be setting nets today hoping to get a good haul of the tiny, delicate fish.

It's the first day of the official whitebaiting season and the Department of Conservation is warning people to fish responsibly to help sustain the native fish population, which is in decline.

Diane Laing, of Carterton, has been whitebaiting - which is "a bit addictive" - for at least 50 years.

She had seen changes in her time, including more pest fish and more people selling the fish. "We are now catching rudd in the Wairarapa lake. That's made a difference.

"The first ones were very small but now they are three to four inches (7cm to 10cm). That's a worry."

Rudd were introduced illegally in the '60s and were often referred to as the "possums of the waterways".

The Department of Conservation (DoC) encourages people to remove pest fish and plants.

Mrs Laing said it was a good season last year. "If you know where to go, there is still whitebait around. You get a nose for it." Catches often depended on timing, the tides, the mouth of the lake being open and whether there was a southerly. "You need a bit of a fresh, too."

Her largest haul, which she caught with two friends, was 18kg, but the most she'd ever seen was a bath full of whitebait.

"My aunt came in and said, 'I can't bathe the children'. We went to look and the bath was full of whitebait ... There were no freezers back then. That night we were all celebrating at the hotel."

Whitebaiting was a bit like Lotto. "I've had lots of six and seven pounds (1kg to 3kg) ... but often I've been out and got two whitebait. You've got to be in it to win it."

The season ends on November 30 and DoC staff will be patrolling.

Fishing is permitted between 5am and 8pm or between 6am and 9pm when daylight saving starts.

Fishing methods, location and net size are also regulated by the DoC to ensure that enough young fish get upstream to mature and subsequently create new whitebait for the future.