| I spent many weekends of my youth whitebaiting | | | | best spots on the river - or stream. |
| in the Waikanae River and the Waimea Stream. | | | | Initially - I was not so keen on eating whitebait - |
| The Waimea Stream is like the "beginners guide" | | | | something about all those hundreds of eyes |
| to whitebaiting - with you eventually graduating to | | | | staring at you - from within the Whitebait Fritter. |
| the Waikanae River (bigger catches but much | | | | However, you grow to really love the delicate |
| deeper water!). | | | | flavour. |
| It is a sad state of affairs - that the habitat of | | | | These days whitebait is so expensive that mostly |
| the whitebait has drastically reduced over time - | | | | - it is only used by Lawyers to entertain their |
| and therefore so has the size of catches. | | | | clients at the end of year party. I attended one |
| My first attempts at whitebaiting generally | | | | such when I worked for the Wellington City |
| resulted in half a dozen specimens being caught - | | | | Council. Please picture a group of uncouth Council |
| but once you get a feel for the tides and the | | | | workers (including myself) - scoffing whitebait and |
| conditions you can often catch a lot. | | | | drinking as much as is humanly possible. A truly |
| Whitebaiting in the Waimea stream is generally | | | | blissful occasion. The Lawyers had to release the |
| pretty basic - you place your net in the water - | | | | dogs to get rid of us! |
| and wait for a wave. Then you lift your net and | | | | Having caught whitebait myself - I can tell that - |
| inspect - and so on and so on. In the meantime | | | | there is nothing like eating them - the same day |
| your legs would be snap frozen by the cold surf. | | | | they are caught. |
| In fact once I was so cold I did not even notice | | | | And as for a recipe - just whitebait and whisked |
| the tentacle of a blue bottle wrapped around my | | | | egg - and the tiniest amount of flour. Then a |
| leg. It only served to warm my leg (for several | | | | squeeze of lemon - and some pepper. |
| hours). | | | | Truly amazing. |
| Generally the lesson is - that the old codgers | | | | I wonder if it is possible to farm whitebait? |
| catch the most - and almost certainly have the | | | | |