Whitebait season has arrived, and even on Fathers' Day, enthusiasts of the slippery little delicacy were out lining the banks of tidal water courses around the districts. Near the three rivers section of the Kaiapoi River, Doug Gilmour, of Sydenham, had only caught four whitebait in three hours. ‘‘It’s always a lottery,’’ he said. ‘‘It’s my favourite spot on the river, and today is my day off from carpet laying.’’ Mr Gilmore said he had been going to the river for the past 10 years and catches varied. ‘‘Some times they are good, others not so. We’ll see what the other side of high tide is like,’’ he said. Nearby Neil Shanks of Rangiora, hadn’t caught anything in an hour. ‘‘We’ll see,” he said, with the eternal optimism that is evident when talking with the whitebaiters lining the river. ‘‘Yesterday Ihad nothing for quite a while, then caught a pound so I was happy.’’ Mr Shanks says it’s a nice way to spend a morning and if he catches enough for a feed then he is happy. Further along Kath Coster of Redwood, and Karen Berry of Linwood, were on the lookout for the illusive whitebait.
‘‘We have about 40 I guess. It is slim pickings at the moment, but we’ll see what the day holds, said Kath. ‘‘If we can get enough to cook and eat then we will be happy.’’ The pair have been coming to the area for years and where glad to be able to get out and catch the white delicacy in a shortened season this year.
