Lefty’s Loop) will enable walk-the-dog style surface lures freedom to move and zig-zag during the retrieve.
If using a paternoster, ensure your bait hangs below the sinker. On light tackle whiting fight hard for their small size. Fishing for Whiting can be as relaxing or as intensely active as you choose. When targeting whiting within an estuary focus on the sand flats during an incoming tide, particularly the upper reaches of the tidal front, and channel edges during the run out tide. Any sloping sandy bottom, especially in 3m-6m, will attract them. If you need weight to hold your position or get over a sure break to a distant gutter, weight and strength is the answer. A leader to 6 pound is ideal. Clear coloured lures seem to be the best most of the time, and is a good match for most prawn and shrimp species. Whiting are found around most of the British Isles during the colder months of the year. Welcome to our Whiting Fishing Home Page. Pre packed burley is available at all good tackle shops and is very convenient, however if you are doing a bit of fishing it is more economical to make your own. Casting lures at Whiting is still not widely practiced but there is an ever increasing band of Whiting anglers spreading the word and preaching about its effectiveness. I thread them on the hook the same way I thread a prawn. The rig, as pictured in the downloadable pdf in the ‘Fast Facts’ column to the right, consists of a running bean sinker on the mainline above the rig, a swivel, one dropper with a long shank hook, and one long shank hook tied with a standard knot to the bottom of the rig. The best Whiting Fishing Rig – Rods and Reels. Knowing when to move comes down to experience but the sooner you get the hang of it the better.
I use 2kg trace most of the time. Sand Whiting can be found as far South as just below the Victoria NSW boarder. You will be using mono or braid with flesh and live baits.
Whether bait fishing from the shore or from a boat the rig you use remains the same, the only thing that differs is the amount of weight you use. Small poppers or walk-the-dog style hard-bodied surface lures.
The summer is probably the best time to target Whiting but they are available all year round. Again, the tip should be sensitive but strong enough to handle the rigors of more powerful casting.
I have recently heard a lot of people say that fishing for whiting at night is the way to go.
A light, 5-8kg bait-casting rod will do nicely for Kking George whiting with 4-8kg mono or braided line. It is also found at the top of Tasmania. Whiting congregate in the summer for spawning, hence the term ‘Summer Whiting’.
Whiting Fishing Tips – How to Catch Whiting “If God told me that I was only allowed to chase three fish species for the rest of my fishing days, Whiting would definitely be in that three.” Whiting truly are for everyone. You may not catch as many fish but the average size is usually better. The last tip is to not use too much burley. The simple answer is nothing.
Unlike the subtle bites of a whiting in deep water, the bites in the surf are quite sharp and aggressive. I like to use both lure styles and each will work differently according to the prevailing conditions. With experience you can pick most bites, but in general watch the line carefully and strike at any decrease in tension. Before heading out check out our fishing reports for Perth and the rest of WA in our Weekly Fishing Forecast. Any sand whiting over 40 cm long is a great fish, and a whiting that weighs a kilo is a bit like a metre flathead.
It does, from a distance, look quite easy, but the many times I’ve tried I can’t repeat their sustained success. You need to keep them interested but you don’t want to over-feed them. Check the links at the bottom of the article for a range of rods, reels lures and assorted tackle, brilliantly priced to get you kitted out for ‘Summer Whiting’. Use mono or braid for casting fishing flesh and live baits or for casting lures. Whiting will take soft plastics, including grubs and fish tails.
A popular rig is a paternoster with two droppers. They use blood worms for bait and Alvey reels on long quite sloppy rods. The target zone would commence at the Victorian NSW boarder, Stretch to Port Phillip, the recommence in on the South Australian coast where King George Whiting can grow beyond 50cm.
2) When surface luring vary your retrieve and figure out what mood they’re in and what’s working best on the day. Again, a long leader is suggested for inviting more bites but not too long as casting will likely be compromised. It’s this action that reveals their prey. Fishing a monofilament mainline can be beneficial as the elasticity reduces the chance of pulled hooks. The key to success is to retrieve quite quickly and make the lure spit water, imitating a fleeing prawn. Avoid striking heavily when a Whiting bite, it’s easy to pull hooks, particularly if you’re fishing with braid.
Their range extends southwards as far as the coast of Portugal and they are also found in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. Why is it??
To catch whiting on surface lures you need a spot where shrimp and prawns are a regular part of a whiting’s diet. When targeting these bottom feeders search for areas that would provide a likely food source such as: Sand patches amongst the weed, sand patches amongst low-lying reef, broken rubbly bottom and sandy channels. Simple is always the first option but a variation might be a paternoster rig for drifting or twin hooks on twin leaders for double hook-ups when casting into schools. Check the links below, stock up on your Whiting kit, bag out, and then feed the family with some of the most amazing tasting fish the ocean has to offer.
Information courtesy of Jason Stevenson, Port Lincoln SA, DPI Fisheries VIC, and Department of Fisheries WA. Bream tend to rattle a bait and are easy to pick. This combo will also be useful for fishing wider rivers, where the drop off is some distance from a gently sloping river bank. The rig consists of a swivel at the top, two droppers with long shank hooks, and a swivel bomb (or similar) sinker at the bottom.
It’s a lot better than casting with light line, only to hear your line snap under the pressure of the cast. Use a 2-4lb braid mainline and join it to a 1.5m, 4-6lb mono leader with a Double-Uni knot or similar. Larger specimens are known as ‘elbow slappers’. Throughout this article I will refer to fishing rods and reels and assorted kit that are perfect for Whiting.
This will give some different grades of flake to your burley making for a larger cloud of burley once it hits the water, keeping the fish interested in the area around your bait for longer. While most fish will be under a pound, you can often find plenty of good-sized fish in the 1 to 2 pound range that are perfect for the dinner table. Fluoro leader to 6 pound is ideal, the hot tip is to get a leader as soft as possible. The undeniable supreme bait is blood worm. It has dedicated lifers who target nothing else. This is also known as Online Behavioural Advertising. Every 15 to 20 minutes one of the rod tips moves, and another fat whiting is pinned, fought and put in the esky.
When targeting Sand whiting you have the option of bait fishing in estuaries, bays and beaches vs surface luring in estuaries and bays. Just because the weather is acting up a little and the wave action is a little more aggressive, doesn’t mean there isn’t good Whiting to be had. I also use a long trace, at least 1m, which allows the bait some movement and catches the whiting's eye. Targeting Sand whiting on surface lures is great sport and can be quite productive. The best baits are squid, sand or blood worms, prawns and whitebait threaded onto a long shank hook. With both lure styles the best retrieve is a fast wind with plenty of rod movement to make the lure spit a few beads of water in front of it. Most people, when they think whiting, think long-shank hooks but the problem is that long-shank hooks use too much bloodworm to fill and hide the hook. Strap on a spin reel to balance, size 1000 to 2500. For outfit 1, spool up with mono to 6 pound if you’re casting flesh and live baits. Be cautious of being too brand loyal. Other nights, while surf fishing was still viable, the better fishing took place closer to New York Harbor, just inside of the Ambrose Tower. If you slow the retrieve down the fish generally veer off and disappear.
The exposed hook point blends in well with the prawn's legs; I haven't met a whiting yet that counts the number of legs on a prawn before it eats it. Use just enough lead to hold the bait in position and in general surf of about half to one metre in height produces the best fishing most of the time.
The rig and hook are the same as in outfit one, however a larger ball sinker is likely required but should only be heavy enough to match conditions and casting requirements.