you can try mangles bay(but it means travelin) cause ive been there and we have caught quite a few and good sizes.....might be worth the drive to keep the missus happy...something to think about ......
he who dies with the most toys wins

Im after some similar help too Shag except I know where they are but they are too picky and I just cant get them too hook up.

If anyones got ideas for a never fail KG rig let me know.

Fresh squid is the go for bait or coral prawns covered in a bit of salt.
the squid though seems to work better.

hey also try the five fathom off the back of garden island on a calm day sit over the reef were there are nice sand holes. drift throught them ussually do alright there get some thumpas. try use a small mulie or blue bait and chick pellets too. seems to do alright i use a gang hook on the bottom for the mulie of the normal patternosta rig. use some green beeds too. i too pick up one big one when im out fishing but if i target them you can get a few just need to move around a bit as in close i find them very nomadic

What rigs are you guys using ? we use light rigs which gets us KG's from 30cm to 55cm my biggest to date, we often land a few of KG's localy, ( Mangles Bay ).

Some thing like this we use, we allso fish on the bank near a drop off

TT

[img_assist|fid=106510|thumb=0|alt=KG Rig|caption= ]

I use a dropper rig, paternoster with light leader and small 4/0 hooks with squid. There certainly is a knack to catching good size king george in deeper water, often you can confuse their bites for wrasse or pickers with bigger hooks on, but I find that they are extremely agressive and rip at the bait. Striking doesn't seem to work as it pulls through their lips unless they have already taken it down. I find that a gentle lift that takes up a little bit of slack that you give them produces a hookup more often than not when fishing over 20m in depth. The weedy/sandy bottom combination is definately the best place to start looking for a regular catch thou.

I use the same rig as Tommy when fishing shallower water and inlets for them.

I use the same rig as you ads. 2 dropper loops sinker on the bottom. small size 3/0 or 4/0 hooks or sometimes if the desire takes me a really small size 10 long shank. They seem to work pretty well Had double hookups down here before...
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You gotta be in it to win it

Thanks Karl but I find that rig tangles in the depth Im fishing, 30m+.

Ive been using the standard paternoster rig too but hookups just seem to be the problem. Tried the lift method as well Adam.

Bought a heap of different hook patterns too try including some small circles hoping they will hook themselves now. When we do hook up they are all normally around the kilo mark so I really want to be able to get a couple regularly.

Found a KG patch just off Mindarie in 30,35 meters.Its small and you have to drift over it constantly either side is no good. We use the standard paternosta as we have landed small dhuies there as well. They still manage to hook themselves on decent baits and hooks. Can't tell you exactly where it is or I,m likly to be the next thing down on a hook!!!!

Tim and Shag, Whilst not familiar with your area I'd say the KG's are present from what you say and you should be able to pick up a few more. I'm not overly sure of the circumstances you are catching your one per trip and I,m in South Aust but the methods are largely the same.

Rig:
Paternoster rig is fine (used the most in SA) however it pays to have your bottom hook not far from the sinker, they mostly take the bottom hook if there are only a few around, different if you come across a school as they are then more aggresive. They are a sometimes finicky fish and are often beaten to the hook by other fish.

Baits:
Squid, cockles (pipis) and we also use Razor fish hearts on the west coast of SA with good results over the others, - ultimately use what is local in your area. I'm sure they will also eat any local worms etc too.

Hooks:
If I am targeting whiting I wouldn't use anthing larger than a no 2 hook and usually a 4 or 6 (i prefer long shank but all hooks work).

I also have caught them off beaches using whole pilchards and ganged 6/0's when fishing for salmon or on deeper drops using single 6/0's when fishing for snapper etc. in these instances they are a bycatch and I wouldn't expect to catch many using these tactics (in fact I have only caught one at a time like yourself in these instances).

Locations:
You will catch a few (as above) on the deeper reef drops (these tend to always be big and I'm pretty sure the big breeders move out to these deeper areas once they have matured) but to specifically target them, fish the broken weed areas fishing the sand and sand/gravel holes. anywhere from 5 feet to whatever depth. If you can see the sand patches, your in with a chance.

Other tips:
They bite better when there is some water movement. No current/tide and still/flat day = bad days whiting fishing.
a squid in the area will put them off the bite, if you see one catch it and get it out the water [there is a local whiting video here in SA with underwater shots and the whitings reaction when a squid comes along is fasinating (i guess you get nervous when your prey is around)]

If there is little water movement they tend to sit there and suck on the bait and are hard to detect and hook, in this case it helps to slowly drag your bait across the bottom/sand as they tend to grab the bait better (before it gets away I guess). You sometimes also pick up a few flathead doing this (then let the missus have the whiting and grab the flattie for yourself - yum)

A little berley helps (crushed coocle shells pellets etc) but be carefull otherwise you just attract the shitties which will beat the whiting to the hook, sometimes no berley is better.

I get the impression the ones your are catching are a bycatch, to catch more you may need to target them specifically possibly with smaller hooks. maybe on the way back from your deeper reef drops, stop over a likely looking sand hole and give it a go. if none after say half an hour or so move a few hundred metres to another sand hole and try again.

Hope that helps - best of luck

Paul

u get alot of smaller kg around penguin island around that sand bar sometimes some bigger ones in the deeper gutters, ther is some current there and not much crap fish.

I use the old double dropper paternoster too, with 4/0 hook on the bottom dropper for KG's and bigger hooks on top dropper for other species.
I put two small red beads above the bottom hook. The reason I use two on 1 hook is as the rig lifs and falls off the bottom when drifting the two beads "clack" together, the old KG's seem to dance to that rythym. Don't get many KG anchored though - drifting with the sea anchor out is the go, using squid strips with a bit dangling off the bottom of the hook as a tail.

Cheers Jason

Cheers for the info guy much appriciated hoping to get out this weekend and try a few tips I always do use the paternoster rig but will try the beads aswell I also use squid .CHEERS SHAG

Hay shag an old guy showed me a rig that he used to use that he and his mates were hooked on. It is a standard paternoster set up with two swinging hooks as close to the sinker as possible with longshanked hooks. This was tyed using dropper loops with one red bead then one green bead followed by 50mm of aluminum foil rapped around the remainder of the dropper loop. I remember fishing with them and me dad using this rig And landing heaps of them drifting over sand patches inbetween weed. They used half a mulie on one and squid strips on the other, Inbeading the long shank into the bait.

Dont know if my boats big enough to carry all this stuff Cheers for the info alfoil hey I give it a shot CHEERS SHAG

hey guys just letting you know that i was speaking to a guy i know about this topic. he took me out yetserday and showed me that king george are in big numbers big size and very close together. with in half an hour the boat had 12 kgs in the esky between four guys and we where heading in. what astounded me was the hole fact he was using his normal jewie rig for this and managed two double headers. very amazing. this was out deep tho and every one was a kilo or above.

Can't beat that for a honey hole.