The Department of Conservation plans to go ahead with an aerial 1080 drop in the Matukituki Valley next week.
Pre-bait cereal pellets were dropped in the east and west branches of the Matukituki Valley on Wednesday.
Doc senior ranger Annette Grieve said the first stage of the operation went to plan in ideal weather conditions.
It would be at least a week before 1080 pellets would be laid but that would also be weather dependent. Covering about 13,700ha the operation would target predators fuelled by recent forest seeding.
The area included the Aspiring, French Ridge and Liverpool huts and the popular Rob Roy Track. Warning signs alerting people to the drop would be located on the tracks in the area and certain areas would be temporarily off-limits while helicopters operated overhead.
Two previous attempts at an aerial drop, in 2016 and 2015, were cancelled because of unsettled weather and issues with GPS plotting problems.
