Thread: Whitebaiting!

Originally Posted by Sarvo

Pissing down here at mo
Yes - it was the Bushman one - from supermarket you said for memory

Chemist or sports shops usually have it.

I got a heap from work so haven't bought any for a while.

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nice to hear they have shown up down there!
not much happening up here haven't got the net wet for the last week or so.....case of white dog from not catching much I guess
rivers are really high up here now so it will be another week before I go for a scoop....hopefully by that stage they are moving around a bit more!

You guys are going to love this...

Seriously though, what do you think?

If you ask me you should have to buy a lisence and there should be a daily catch limit on it, fines should be very large for breaking the rules


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I am neither here nor there on it.
The west coast whitebait are not under any threat in my opinion. If they were, why have there been record catches in the last few years?
Just because the rest of the country has alledgedly fucked their breeding areas will mean we have to follow suit with whatever outcome which sucks.

I only fish for food. If I do get big catches I will sell a bit but not worried either way.

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Manky ^looking bait up there , not fresh run bait thats for sure . Im with R93 on the I don't think its on decline (just going on my personal catches , last 5 yrs have got more bait for less time on river) I sold bait for the first time ever last year & I regret that I did .
Personally I think they ban the sale of it from non registered stands . If you get caught selling make it same penalty as paua or wet fish . Pisses me off that some big Thug gets to stay on the dole then intimidate & bully for his place on the river .

Originally Posted by Munsey

Manky ^looking bait up there , not fresh run bait thats for sure . Im with R93 on the I don't think its on decline (just going on my personal catches , last 5 yrs have got more bait for less time on river) I sold bait for the first time ever last year & I regret that I did .
Personally I think they ban the sale of it from non registered stands . If you get caught selling make it same penalty as paua or wet fish . Pisses me off that some big Thug gets to stay on the doll then intimidate & bully for his place on the river .

Yup. Dole bludgers get the most out of it and usually make the biggest song and dance about their rights.
I also hate when people from away think they own the river or a certain spot.

I dont fish near anyone and if I do, I always go behind unless they are stupid and set in a dumb spot.

I notice a heap more people around this week.
I doubt I will be bothered getting a net wet till after the weekend even tho there is supposed to be a bit around.

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Originally Posted by Smiddy

If you ask me you should have to buy a lisence and there should be a daily catch limit on it, fines should be very large for breaking the rules


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I'm with Smiddy on this, I think it needs to be regulated by a daily weight limit per person & fines imposed for breaking it. It will limit the greed.

I remember about 20 years ago thinking that banning whitebaiting for 5 years would be a good idea and I remember Dad saying to me "bugger that I'll never get to fish for it again".
You know the catches have improved over the last 5 or so years and I have no idea why. Do I think they will be extinct by 2050? no I don't.

The west coast still has great habitat so the whitebait breed well and run well, the east coast has it's ups and downs however a lot of that can be due to the conditions.
Some seasons the weather isn't settled enough, heaps of southerlies and rough seas yet when the conditions come right with northwesters along with the right moon phase they can really go off.

When you hear some of the stories from years ago you can sometimes think they are in decline yet when you compare the number of people whitebaiting today compared to 50 or more years ago you can understand why the few that went out caught so many.
If you added up all the 5 kg catches by the 50 or 100 people on the river today it would add up to the 5 people who caught 40 kg each all those years ago. Like everything the powers that be want to take another recreation off us, they seem hell bent on taking all the fun things out of this world so why not castle another fun activity.

Enjoy it today folks because tomorrow it will be gone

I have only ever caught it myself a few times, I love it fresh trying to jump out of the pan but my work doesnt allow me to be a whitebaiter....so between a rock and a hard place I swap veni or fish for bait,get given the odd bit, and yes have bought some on occasion too........which puts me in a quandary......I dont think people should be able to catch hundreds of kilos even tonnes of it and sell the lot tax free and sit on a benefit the whole year long.
But I do want to be able to buy or barter for bait......
Of the 5 species we have here only some are endangered?

I dont have the answers but my kids love it too and I would like them to still have the od feed at 40 or 80years old



Perhaps a daily catch limit of something reasonable like 10 kilo?....allow the big runs up to breed.?

Originally Posted by Munsey

Manky ^looking bait up there , not fresh run bait thats for sure . Im with R93 on the I don't think its on decline (just going on my personal catches , last 5 yrs have got more bait for less time on river) I sold bait for the first time ever last year & I regret that I did .
Personally I think they ban the sale of it from non registered stands . If you get caught selling make it same penalty as paua or wet fish . Pisses me off that some big Thug gets to stay on the dole then intimidate & bully for his place on the river .

Those bait where fresh until they entered the waimak hence the brown tinge to there heads the avon bait are not as fortunate & get knocked out from brown logs heading down stream let alone all the crap the townies wash down the gutter , ban the sale of bait aside from registered west coast stands , be interesting to see after all the work getting done on farms fencing off creeks etc makes a diff I find it interesting that a lot of negative comments come from the more populated places , perhaps crap catches reflects more on the town pollution

Maybe license the commercial whitebaiters and those that sell it, not they guys that go out just to catch a feed. Theres enough to go around but people get greedy.

Originally Posted by nelpop

Maybe license the commercial whitebaiters and those that sell it, not they guys that go out just to catch a feed. Theres enough to go around but people get greedy.

How does licensing commercial fishers do anything to help the fishery?

Could make them think about whether they want to sell it if the license cost is high enough. The other alternative would be to band the sale of whitebait, just the same as not selling trout. That would then help stop the over fishing and big catch rates. I think it is all about making sure that the fishery is manage to insure future generations have a resource that they can use free of charge.

I caught 3 kg's this morning in the surf, bloody hard work but worth it to have another great feed. I just love the stuff, we had a heap of rain last night but it was a lovely morning with a north to northwest wind blowing. Still not a lot caught really but I'm happy with my catch however I was in the perfect spot