Targeting Whiting — Jarvis Wall

A big whiting that fell victim to a big soft plastic

Targeting

Tasmania’s King George Whiting

by Jarvis Wall

The King George Whiting would have to be up there with one of the tastiest table fish with fins, but there is more to them than just that. They’re an excellent sports fish on light tackle and provide an excellent prospect for the shallow water and land based angler when using either lures or bait. Some of the best fun I’ve had fishing has been targeting these aggressive and cunning scrappers with soft plastics on light tackle. I’ll share some of the steps I use to approach them with this method as well as some insights on how I target them with more traditional methods such as bait and burley.

What is a King George Whiting?

A King George Whiting or KGW for short is the largest species in the Whiting clan. It’s a relatively slow growing species with a life span reaching up to 20 years of age. Juveniles are most commonly found in estuaries and bays and the large adults move between the offshore reefs to spawn in the cooler months and the coastal weed beds and reefs in summer to fatten up. Occasionally, they’ll also show up in big river mouths on weed beds. They have the potential to grow to well over 70cm in length but 60cm is regarded as a trophy sized fish.

The traditional method used to catch Whiting is with your standard packet whiting rig and bait. This has become a staple for many Tasmanian anglers and can yield excellent results which in turn provides you and your family or friends with some delicious fillets. For anyone looking at getting themselves into Whiting fishing this is the best way to find yourself some fish as it can be extremely simple and straight forward and is user friendly for the whole family. A good all-round outfit is a 2.1m spin stick rated 5-12kg with a 4000 size spinning reel. You can then load the reel with 10kg braid, which will help detect the bites easily and a 15kg leader. What I like to look for is ribbon weed or eel grass as this is a Whitings favourite home, it provides excellent protection and cover as well as a staple food source in the crustaceans and small fish that also find these aquatic plants home. If you’re fishing from a boat it pays to scout a weed bed first if you’re not familiar with it as you need find the sand holes to fish in. The sand hole positions can be saved on a GPS sounder or Navionics on your phone for later reference. Position your boat at anchor so your An electric motor is a great tool for controlling the boat while looking for whiting.

Siglon PE, is made from EX-PE fibres and offers a tightly woven braid that provides superior abrasion resistance, a very thin diameter and minimal stretch. Available in 8 carrier PE (PEx8) and 4 carrier PE (PEx4).

burley and baits will be out over the weed beds and sand holes. The whiting will lay and wait in the grass and this is why burley is an excellent option as the smell from whatever burley you have will get the Whiting out of the grass and out searching over the sand holes for food. Simple two hook whiting rigs that you can purchase from any good local tackle store fit the bill perfectly. Adjust the sinker size depended on the water depth and current, always try to fish with the lightest you can get away with. Beach fishing at night on the inside of ocean weed beds can be very productive for larger Whiting if you’re looking to stay on dry land to find some. For this application, I run a 9ft long surf rod but quite lightly rated as you don’t need to go overkill on them. A standard patternoster rig with 3/0 or 4/0 circle hooks will do the job just nicely. I love to use fresh squid as bait, it’s a lot tougher than other baits and the Whiting just seem to love it as well, it’s definitely worth taking the extra time and getting a fresh squid or two before you plan on a Whiting session as it will take your catch rates to a new level.

Lure tactics

My personal favourite way to target King George Whiting is with soft plastics, whether it’s in the rivers and bays or out on the ocean weed beds, I love it. There’s a few different techniques I use depending on where I’m targeting them and the general size class of the fish.

While fishing in an estuary or a bay, I’ll stick to deeper weed beds or channel edges and the channels themselves as these are the most productive hotspots I’ve found the whiting hanging out in. If you’re land based just wait until low tide and find a channel with good weed cover. Then cast as far as you can on a 45 degree angle up current so you work your soft plastic back towards you, hopping it off the bottom then re making contact with the bottom as well as the tide swinging it back. When fishing like this I always run a 1/6th ounce jig head and usually have a size #1 or 1/0 hook. To the jig head I’ll rig something like a 4 or 5 inch worm style soft plastic or a 3 inch curly tail grub, natural colours are my preference for this application.

Jarvis Wall working the north west coast in search of KGs. Slightly longer rods can help in these situations so I generally opt for a rod of around 2.3m in length and 2-4kg rating, this allows for longer casts and better line control when contending with the current. 3-4kg braid on a 2000-2500 sized reel and a four kilogram leader is sufficient and I’ve had no problems with them finding any nasties on the bottom with this tackle. If I’m in my boat, I’ll try to set up a drift and got something interested in your offering. use my electric motor to keep me along a weed edge I like to fish slightly heavier out here as the big or weed bed with sand holes and just dissect the entire Whiting have a tendency to run flat out headfirst into area until I find fish. Usually in the rivers or bays the the weed on their first run and absolutely burying Whiting will tend to school so I hit the anchor lock themselves in it which can sometimes break through function and hold the boat stationary and really work your braid or leader. A 3-6kg rated rod of around that that area with my soft plastic. Remember to make sure 2.1m length is just about perfect as it still provides the

Soft Plastics are a great choice when that plastic makes contact with the bottom in between hops. Once again I’m just using a light 2-4kg rod but finesse aspect to feel for those sometimes subtle takes. The style rod also has the backbone to really put the targeting King George whiting in Tasmania. slightly shorter while fishing on the boat, 2.1m in hurt back onto the Whiting if you hook one of the length is just about the perfect all round size. angry 50cm plus fish which would love to dust you up My absolute favourite way to catch KGW is out on in the weeds. I use 6-8kg braided line on a 2500 sized the ocean weed beds, this is where the big and aggressive reel down onto a 6kg fluorocarbon leader which has fish hang out in the warmer months and they provide great abrasive resistance. excellent sport and table fare. Dotted all along the When it comes to choosing a soft plastic or jig head North Coast are oceanic eel grass beds, this is where for this style I think that if you stick with the old saying I spend most of my time chasing Whiting as well as of match the hatch you’ll be on the right track. I’ve a mixture of other species with soft plastics. Pull up found that the KGW can be extremely aggressive and in your boat on one of these grass meadows and use seemingly have a go at any soft plastic fished correctly. your electric motor to cruise along slowly picking it Prawn, crab, fish and even squid imitations work well. to pieces sand hole by sand hole. You have to be pin Natural colours are excellent but don’t discount your point accurate with your casts depending on the size bright options like pink, lime green and orange. Plastics of the sand hole and you’ll really only get a shot at in the 3-5inch size are definitely my go to size, even at the whiting if your soft plastic is in the sand patch. 50cm, a whiting only has a small mouth so it pays to I’ve found that when you drift into the weed you get keep your profiles small as well. I only ever fish with annoying catches, like wrasse and leather jackets which a 1/4 ounce jig head and a size 2/0 or 3/0 hook is can be expensive in the form of destroying your soft ample but try keep the gauge fairly light as you want plastic stash! Aggressive little hops are my favourite to pin the hook as easily as possible but not too light retrieval method, you don’t need to pause the plastic or you’ll straighten one when you go to put the brakes for too long either, just be sure you’re making good on the trophy size fish!contact with the bottom though as this is where the Whiting will hoover the plastic up best. The whole lucky Hopefully some of this information can help you dip factor comes into play here with the potential for get yourself into some King George Whiting, whether crocodile sized Bluespot Flathead, big Silver Trevally, it be with bait or soft plastics and enjoy one of our Goatfish and Pike as well as Australian Salmon which finest table fish and a highly underrated sportsfish! all keep you on your toes as more often than not, you’ve Sand holes in the weed beds are a perfect spot for big whiting.