Relaxing by the Aparima River catching whitebait and knitting beanies

Tuesday, 13 August 2019

Riverton Whitebaiter Lynette Heath is ready for the start of the season this week

The whitebait season starts on Thursday and Lynette Heath will be back on her stand knitting beanies while waiting for a catch.

She caught more than 100kg of whitebait on the Aparima River last year and knitted about the same number of beanies. Most of the beanies have been given to the Riverton Op Shop and her grandchildren.

'I love whitebaiting … I'm an addict,' Heath, of Riverton, said.

'The beanies are easy, you sit there and knit away.'

Lynette Heath checks her whitebait stand on the Aparima River ahead of the season starting on Thursday.

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Apart from when the river floods, Heath fishes everyday during the season, regardless of the weather. In strong winds she has sometimes had to crawl along the stand to bring in her net.

'It can be too windy to stand up [on the stand].'

Lynette Heath, of Riverton, has kept a record of her whitebait catches for at least 16 years.

She and husband Stuart Heath own stands next to each other but Lynette fishes the most with daily trips to the river. Their small caravan was brought out of storage this week and transported to the river bank.

'I love the thrill of lifting the net out of the water and seeing if there's anything in it.'

Her biggest catch was 30kg in 2014 and it required five people to help her move the whitebait from the net into buckets. The net was handled gently to prevent it ripping with the weight.

Heath has been keeping records of all her catches for at least 16 years.

Lynette Heath with some of the knitted beanies she made last year while passing the time on her whitebait stand near Riverton.

During the season - mid August to late November - she spends six to eight hours a day fishing. She and many other Aparima River whitebaiters access their stands by walking across farmland owned by the Halder family.

Five or six years ago a seal came up the river and lingered around the area of Heath's and other stands for a week. The seal did not cause problems from what Heath saw of it but she had to 'shoo' it off her stand when arriving one morning.

'Camper van people walk across the paddock for a nose and some hope you'll give them a feed.'

Heath has been a whitebaiter for 30 to 35 years and, along with Allan Campbell, is an Aparima representative on the Southland Recreational Whitebaiters Association. She said there were 186 stand owners on the Aparima River.

The 660 whitebait stands registered with Environment Southland this year are mostly in Mataura, Aparima and Titiroa areas. The number is similar to other years in recent times.

During the season, whitebaiting is permitted between 5am and 8pm or between 6am and 9pm when daylight saving starts on September 29.

Department of Conservation administers whitebaiting regulations that cover methods of fishing, location of whitebaiting sites, legal fishing times and net size. Illegal whitebaiting carries a maximum fine of $5000 and whitebaiting equipment can be seized.

DOC staff will be patrolling whitebaiting sites and talking to whitebaiters throughout the season to ensure people are complying with the regulations.