Understanding early life histories of migratory fish in Aotearoa is critical for their conservation. The marine life stage of longfin (Anguilla dieffenbachii) and shortfin (Anguilla australis) eels is poorly understood. Degradation of habitat and the addition of migration barriers are known to impact freshwater life stages. However, the effects of changing environmental conditions at sea on eel recruitment patterns are less understood. Glass eel surveys were done on the Rangitāiki River, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand alongside mana whenua of Ngāti Awa (indigenous people of the area). Glass eels were caught using modified fyke nets between 2019-2021 over a range of environmental conditions (e.g., high/low river flows). This poster shows using statistical models the relationships between temporal patterns in glass eel abundance and environmental conditions. Temporal variation in proportion of longfin and shortfin glass eel catches and phenotypic traits including pigmentation stages and body condition at inward migration are also described. These results will help us to better understand variation in glass eel recruitment and how climate change may impact their recruitment up rivers and streams.