As we traveled the South Island of New Zealand we heard about a legendary delicacy called whitebait. It was on the menu when we stopped for dinner at the lovely Royal Theatre Hotel in Kumara, but we were there for the excellent fish and chips, so we didn’t order whitebait. 
Our Lonely Planet guidebook said that the Curleytree Whitebait Company 10 km north of Haas at the Waita River bridge was the place to try whitebait. Following the signs on Hwy 6 we turned down a gravel road along the river, and just past several “bach”es (beach cottages) we saw the Curleytree HQ. 

 
The sign on the door said “toot twice and we’ll be with you in a mo”. Sure enough, two toots later Tony came strolling up and took residence in the shack kitchen jutting out beyond his back door. 

 
Tony told us how during the several month season there are hundreds of people along the river netting the matchstick length, transparent fish. Each fisherman is only allowed one net, but there’s no limit on the amount that can be caught. 

Whitebait are the young of five species of New Zealand native scaleless fish and they can command a hefty tariff, with Tony saying that a 5 gal. bucket can net the netsman several thousand dollars. 

 
Tony dipped into the bucket which held the whitebait-egg mixture and dropped a spoonful on the hot griddle. A fry on one side, a flip to fry the other side, then he slipped the turner underneath and slid the browned patty on a slice of lightly grilled white bread.   

 We had two, one was served traditional, dressed with sea salt, pepper and lemon, the other West Coast style, with a little mint sauce made of mint leaves and oil and flavored salt. Both were delicious, with a mild white fish flavor. I preferred the mint sauce version by a hair. A whitebait purist would probably disagree, stating that less dress is best since you’re paying top dollar for a handful of minnows.