what happened to all the whiting??

 Been out a few times to known, producing spots - from inshore out to the 30's, no fat sand whiting to be seen (none at all), small flatties, yep... 

 

Pro's dragging nets?? Been like this for 12 months or so. 

 

Any ideas?? 


Posts: 5981

Date Joined: 17/06/10

Where are you talking about

Tue, 2015-05-12 20:16

I'm down Falcon and I believe they are doing ok in Comet Bay.

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Date Joined: 07/05/12

The yellowfin were in plague

Tue, 2015-05-12 20:46

The yellowfin were in plague like proportions in Mandurah this summer.

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Officially off the Pies bandwagon

sea-kem's picture

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 Maybe you're just unlucky

Tue, 2015-05-12 21:07

 Maybe you're just unlucky lol.

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Love the West!

Timwoody86's picture

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Date Joined: 05/07/14

I've got a spot

Tue, 2015-05-12 21:22

 I went out last week and got my 30 big whiting in 20 mins. You can't just pull up on the sand and get lucky. You need to keep moving around until you find the school. I really don't want to give u My spot but because I'm a good cont I'll give yA a idea. 28m North west mandurah 

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shut up and fish 

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Date Joined: 18/10/10

Scarborough beach

Tue, 2015-05-12 23:02

heaps of big fat ones of the beach the other night 

Belly Fish's picture

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Date Joined: 09/03/12

I agree

Tue, 2015-05-12 23:07

I have been fishing more or less the same ground for over 25 years and have never had any trouble getting Whiting....34 metres out from Ocean Reef.

That is, until the last 12 months or so. We have really struggled. One time they'll be there, then they won't...everyone in my Club is saying the same, so something has definitely happened to them.

Same as you Messiah, if there are no Whiting around, we get smashed by tiny Flathead

...but don't let Fisheries know, they'll reduce the bag limit to 12!

z00m's picture

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 The whiting are in big

Wed, 2015-05-13 07:24

 The whiting are in big numbers at Hillarys boat ramp in the afternoons.

Other than that, have found them regularly outside the reefs at Hillarys wherever the sand and weed meet. They were even taking mulie baits which I haven't had happen before.

Da pirate's picture

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Date Joined: 03/05/15

Whiting !!

Wed, 2015-05-13 09:26

 Agree with timwoody !!! Gotta move round till you hit a patch of em !! Then hit em hard while your ontop of the school !!! My mates dad used to use PVC capped with holes in it full of mulies weighted heavy attached to a cray float !! Once he hit them he ll send it down !! Found you could keep ontop of em longer than a mark plus the berly got em horny and he usually pick up kgs once the berly took effect !! This was in 30m plus !!!!

Cowboy's picture

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Date Joined: 27/02/15

Whiting!

Wed, 2015-05-13 12:41

Further to this, and agreed, at my usual spots off Cottesloe they are proving to be very elusive. (Those little Flattys are prickly bastards though...)

To my question , the few sand whiting we have caught seem to be exhibiting strange markings or a growth perhaps along their bottom jaw line? Has anyone else notices this? Obviously a picture would be helpful to explain what I'm talking about, and I will endeavour to get one, but its like raised squares with a dark outline right along the bottom of the jaw, from the gills all the way around. It may be nothing, or perhaps a variation in the species, but for whatever reason, and we have caught plenty of sandys over the years, we have never noticed this before.

Any ideas??

grantarctic1's picture

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Date Joined: 03/03/11

Could be

Wed, 2015-05-13 13:56

Could be the way they are feeding, they might be really digging into the sand for worms etc.
I thought it might be a bit early to get them in huge numbers but I don't get out much these days.
One thing I know, when the worms start to spawn and pop out the sand to do their thing, the whiting have a feast and are every ware . As soon as you pull them up they spew out the worms by the hundreds, and have huge fat bellies .

carnarvonite's picture

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Eaten

Wed, 2015-05-13 19:04

You will find that salmon love them and clean them out as they migrate north to spawn then again on their back run.

We used to be amazed how many we would find in their stomachs when cutting them up with a bandsaw for cray bait.

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Date Joined: 25/12/10

was just gonna say this

Wed, 2015-05-13 21:24

was just gonna say this normally i catch a few of the just over mulie size off the beach with no effort to use whole for bait,since salmon have been around they have all gone.

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Date Joined: 23/04/12

We got some nice ones off the

Thu, 2015-05-14 10:03

We got some nice ones off the beaches at floreat and trigg early autumn this year. I prefer to wait for it to warm up and try getting them on the flats. Some of the fish u see there are pretty fat.

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Date Joined: 19/05/13

Well the other week I gave it

Thu, 2015-05-14 20:25

Well the other week I gave it a good go. Anchored, burleyed.. Result:

Flatties, plague proportions, the odd skippy, then bang all my rigs were getting chewed off - those big slimy bastard bolt cutters moved in... 

 

Have had no luck in the Sound, off freo near windmills, down Meelup way or off OR.. Only place I got a few was off Geographe Bay.. But not 'heaps'... 

 

Sea-kem, not sure the last time u had to be lucky to catch whiting on bait chaser rigs!!