Longtime whitebaiter Ivan Jones (75) says the whitebait season has been slow to pick up this year.
''There are no whitebait running at the present moment,'' he said.
''I put it down to bad weather conditions ... because it's been so cold and there's been so much rain, the rivers have been running quite dirty.''
Mr Jones said he knew of an ''old fable that says every third year is a good year''.
''But it's a bit of an old wives' tale, I think.''
Mr Jones thought there was a more scientific explanation - ''I think it depends on the climactic conditions through the winter months''.
He had been whitebaiting for almost 70 years now, ever since his siblings taught him when he was 8 or 9 years old, he said.
''When I started, I never even used to eat it - I didn't like it. I acquired the taste for it later on.''
Even now, though, he ''could still either take it or leave it''.
''I just get a buzz out of catching it - I give most of it away.''
Department of Conservation (Doc) coastal ranger Ciaran Campbell agreed the season was off to ''a bit of a slow start''.
The season on the Taieri was ''pretty consistent with what's happening for the rest of Otago'', he said.
But ''the river's are getting busier, so the season must be ramping up a wee bit''.
''We're obviously hoping for a good season as well.''
Doc has also asked whitebaiters to help monitor the state of the fishery.
Last month, senior Doc ranger for Coastal Otago, Pete Ravenscroft, said whitebaiters were being asked to keep diaries of their catches.
Diary information in previous seasons had been invaluable to the department.
The feedback on catches and time spent on the river showed, despite whitebait numbers declining overall in New Zealand, numbers in Otago might have slightly improved in recent years, he said.
The possible improvement would be due to the relationship between Doc and landowners, and to the work Contact Energy had done to protect spawning sites, particularly on the banks of the Lower Clutha River/Mata-Au, he said.
The work included weed control and fencing spawning sites.
