Whiting Land Based Strategies

Whiting can be caught from a range of land locations including beaches, jetties rocks/rock walls.

The tackle required for fishing from a jetty is pretty much the same as fishing from a boat. Your sinker size should be sizable enough to ensure that you can cast out to your desired patch of ground. The hook size can be anywhere between size #4 or #8 depending upon the hook pattern chosen. Whiting are sort after not only because of their great eating capabilities but also their fighting capacity, they can be a lot of fun to catch on a light gear set up, as whiting tend to pull hard. One of the best things about whiting fishing is the constant action, the strong bites and that great feeling of a whiting taking off on the end of your rod, when whiting come on, they come on, and you will often find your esky full in no time.

Knowledge of your fishing locations is important as some beaches will produce whiting whilst others will not. It is always a good tip to ask your local tackle store.  However, there are a few principles that will help you identifying a few good spots. Primarily, any unprotected beaches that are opened to the force of heavy surf on a regular bases will generally not produce whiting. Perhaps the reason for this is that heavy surf will generally create a lot of moving sand not allowing seagrass beds to establish. Although, there can be exception such as beaches that have protection from swell or have an adjacent protective reef. Beaches that have the above mentioned elements may well have weed growth and reef beneath the surface. During the daylight you will be able to spot patches of weed, just look for the light green areas among the much darker surrounds. If possible get up high and try to spot these areas which are casting distance from your chosen spot. Just remember cast into the light green areas. It does go without saying, having some high end gear will help you to get that extra casting distance.

Around about 6kg line is recommended when fishing from the beach for whiting, obviously this a general recommendation as many anglers might prefer lighter or heavier line, but 6kg is the general consensus. In terms of reel, I like to use a 3500 series threadline reel and a two and a half to three meter rod with plenty of whip, this will give you a good opportunity to cast into any honey hole from the beach.  

Because of the elements sourced by the angler in terms of a protective area where seedbeds will grow, the angler will not really face a lot of side drift. As a result of this, you can use more aerodynamic sinkers which are designed for long casting rather than holding bottom, I like the bomb or teardrops shapes with the wire loop in the top. The weight of the sinker used will really depend upon the line used.

The casting and retrieving process from beach fishing is much more rigorous than casting from a boat. As a result of this it is a good tip to use larger baits than you would if fishing from a boat. Understandably, the larger the bait the larger the hook needs to be to ensure that the bait has a better opportunity to stay on the hook.  Hook size for beach fishing for whiting probably starts around size 4 at the lower end of the scale and goes up to size 1. The size 1 is used if you are looking for a by-catch too. Whiting scouring for food a long an ocean beach will tend to grab a bait with a lot more voracity than whiting that inhabit sheltered waters.  The hook pattern used by the angler will vary, but I prefer the circle hook as the fish will hook themselves without any intervention from the angler. A twin dropper Paternoster rig is great for fishing along the beach and has proven to catch many fish. The movement and churning up of sand can make water clarity poor when fishing from the beach, the best tactic to employ when the water is poor is the use of a flasher rig. The flasher rig use material which catches the fish’s eye. Hook in Mouth Tackle have developed a paternoster rig which uses UV material that glows when charged up, with either natural  or artificial light providing maximum attractant, whiting cannot say no to these rigs.

When fishing from the beach you want to use a tough bait like squid, which has more chance of staying on the hook. If you do use squid make sure you get the freshest you can lay your hands on.  Don’t forget to tenderize it before you get it on your hook, to ensure you get all those nice juices flowing. As pipis can be a pretty soft bait try using it in conjunction with squid, this will help the pipi to stay on the hook longer. One of the best baits is the humble sandworm, so if you can catch some fresh sand worm, you’re almost guaranteed to catch a bag of whiting.

Happy Fishing Adventures  

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