Dunedin shunned by 'bait; Waitaki teeming

The  whitebait season is gearing up to be a fruitful one if recent hauls are anything to go by, although North Otago appears to be faring better than Dunedin.

Ray McCormick from fish shop Catch, in Green Island, has taken delivery of more than 20kg of whitebait caught in the Waitaki River in recent days, and said much of the country was having similar success.

``All you have to do is go on the New Zealand Whitebaiters group on Facebook - the amount of whitebait that's being caught all around the country is crazy.''

Dunedin fishers were the only ones missing the boom.

``It's getting caught everywhere but here.

``I have a lady that works for me, she and her husband have been going out to Taieri Mouth and sometimes [are] only coming back with 200g, 300g,'' Mr McCormick said.

He noted that while Dunedin whitebait hauls were modest, catches in North Otago were more than making up for this.

A whitebaiter from the Waitaki area said fishing was good at the moment.

It was being blessed with favourable tides and a new moon, but ``honestly it's pretty typical of the last few years''.

The fisherman, who asked not to be named, said he recently caught more than 70kg at a spot near Oamaru.

``Word of mouth around the river is one lady got 120kg worth in an hour yesterday,'' the man said.

 - by Luke Tumaru