When Bryan Roughan goes whitebaiting, he seems to spend an awful lot of time in "the toilet".
The 89-year-old Mosgiel resident agreed his whitebaiting hut looked like a long-drop, but he assured everyone that nothing actually comes out the bottom.
The self-built corrugated iron shed on the back of his trailer was affectionately named "the toilet" by his fellow whitebaiters on the first day he parked it next to the Taieri River, near Henley — and it seems to have stuck.
He said it was just a great place to sit and think and read and look out the window while he waited for the runs (of whitebait).
"Just the normal things you would do in the toilet, yeah."
It was also a great place to store whitebaiting equipment, and shelter when the showers hit the fan.
The whitebaiting season opened yesterday, and Mr Roughan’s shelter was among about a dozen caravans and campervans along the riverside, occupied by hardcore whitebaiters who would be there for the long haul.
Born and raised in Timaru, he has been whitebaiting for about 80 years.
"I used to go out to Smithfield, near Timaru.
"I used to push my bike out there with my gear and whitebait there just past the freezing works.
"That's a few years ago now."
For the past 50 years, he has been whitebaiting on the Taieri River.
"I used to do a lot of dragging down the gorge way, but I got too old for that — it was too much hard work.
"So I started fishing here. Someone gave me this stand here. I've had some good catches over the years, especially dragging.
"I would say my average was about 100kg-150kg for a season.
"My biggest was 200kg. That would be about seven, eight, 10 years ago now.
"The biggest I've had here was 22kg in one lift.
"That was a good lift. But not so much now. They sort of died out a wee bit."
Mr Roughan said he sold most of the whitebait he caught each season, and spent the money on his family or on replacing his whitebaiting equipment.
"There used to be a good market for it. Worth more than gold. It's hard work though."
