whats an 'acceptable' size whiting?

ive been getting out on the weekends more often for a fish down in mandurah, freo and woodmans point.  Normally chase herring and whiting.  Now I know a good size sand and yellowfin whiting is +30cm.  and KGs need to be 28cm but a decent size is +35.  But what do you guys consider an accpetable size of the school whiting that seem to be everywhere in terms of keeping for a feed.  Seem to be catching heaps in the 17-18 cm size and get some strange stares for throwing them back.  Seem to be a heaps around so not endangered.  4-5 would make for a semi decent feed with some vegies. 

 So what do you think?  keep em or throw em.


sebsktm's picture

Posts: 154

Date Joined: 13/05/08

never targeted whiting

Wed, 2009-02-25 19:21

but ive seen people keeping them that6 size all the time

they taste bloody lovely tho :)

 

Take a girl fishing and she'll want to try it. Teach a girl to fish and you'll get out fished forever!! 

 

hlokk's picture

Posts: 4290

Date Joined: 04/04/08

 I'd say whatever size you

Wed, 2009-02-25 20:19

I'd say whatever size you can be bothered scaling and filleting them (of course you can cook them whole, but i hate the small bones). About the 18cm size would be minimum, but acceptable for me (thanks Andy for showing me the technique  Laughing). Seem to only get <15cm ones off the beach though

 

--------------

Always interested in someone to go fishing with

Faulkner Family's picture

Posts: 17835

Date Joined: 11/03/08

within reason, some people

Wed, 2009-02-25 20:22

within reason, some people just cut the head off and gut then cook in pan ,some fillet . either way realy its up to the individual as to what they want in a feed , ours are normally 23cm plus

RUSS & SANDY

 

"A family that fishes together stays together"

____________________________________________________________________________

RUSS and SANDY. A family that fishes together stays together

flangies's picture

Posts: 2540

Date Joined: 11/05/08

I dont ever target them or

Wed, 2009-02-25 23:20

I dont ever target them or eat them, and if i get one and its not a baby its a livie! 

_________________________________________________________ 

You couln't wipe that grin fom my face even with a hammer.

Bodie's picture

Posts: 3758

Date Joined: 05/11/07

If you cant fillet

Thu, 2009-02-26 09:02

If you cant fillet them....they go back.

KG's at 30cm are too small, so they go back.... i cant remember the last time i kept one under 40cm let alone 30cm

yellow fin, 25-30cm are good sizes to keep.

Posts: 416

Date Joined: 25/07/05

I found the small ones work

Thu, 2009-02-26 11:57

I found the small ones work well for Tailor baits, but as to eating them 18cm and over would be the accpetable size for me too, your right 4-5 would make for a semi decent feed for one adult, as too a family, you would need heaps so the bigger the better, but most of us throw them back if there small, there's no real point to try and fillet them.

TT ( karl )

Posts: 38

Date Joined: 02/12/08

When I was younger, we used

Thu, 2009-02-26 12:22

When I was younger, we used to catch several around the size you mentioned. We used to head them, gut them and then take them home. We used to fry them until the skin was crispy, and most of the small bones (because they were small fish) went crunchy as well, so they were edible.

The larger whiting have larger bones that do not crisp up, hence we were happy to get several smaller ones. A little bit of lemon, salt and pepper; they were delicious, mashaa'Allaah. Great with salad and was my favourite fish as they were so easy to catch, very very easy to clean and easy to cook. Hardly any preparation.

I did hear that people used a rolling pin on whiting to crush the bones so they would crisp up.

Makes me want to go catch some whiting, actually.

David.

crasny1's picture

Posts: 6985

Date Joined: 16/10/08

Scale and Fillet a few

Thu, 2009-02-26 12:31

And you will soon realize what the correct size is. It comes with some experience because scalling and filleting the little ones is a waste of time as all you get is a tiny piece only good for bait. We call the little ones chippies as they are the size of a (fish and) chip. Better to return them as they are ravenous and will get bigger soon!

Bu the way anyone know if the whiting up in the Pilbarra are sand, school whiting or what because up here there are some semi-kidney slappers.

Neels

Flat seas!!!

____________________________________________________________________________

"I would like to die on Mars. Just not on impact!!" _ Elon Musk

Faulkner Family's picture

Posts: 17835

Date Joined: 11/03/08

i think the whiting you get

Sat, 2009-02-28 17:26

i think the whiting you get up that way are yellow fin , not 100% sure but

RUSS & SANDY

 

"A family that fishes together stays together"

____________________________________________________________________________

RUSS and SANDY. A family that fishes together stays together

Posts: 4

Date Joined: 04/12/08

Thanks for the replies

Thu, 2009-02-26 14:52

Thanks for the replies all.  Might keep a few this weekend (assuming i catchem of course).  Normally I steam fish whole with some soy sause and spring onion and if done right get the meat off easily with no bone.  So might be ok for the smaller whiting. 

iamafunkyboy's picture

Posts: 22

Date Joined: 08/02/09

I have been getting sand

Sat, 2009-02-28 16:32

I have been getting sand whiting down around east freo around 15 - 20cm.  good feed.  just cut the head off clean the crap, cover in flour salt and peper,  in the pan with a little bit of olive oil and bam,  you have yourself a beautiful little feed.

 

good eating fish if you ask me

I need my fix.  Hand me my line, I'm going fishing

fishcrazy's picture

Posts: 1235

Date Joined: 27/01/07

50cm+

Sat, 2009-02-28 17:45

for kgs 50 plus is a good size nice fillets

Faulkner Family's picture

Posts: 17835

Date Joined: 11/03/08

anything over 40 for kgs is

Sat, 2009-02-28 20:13

anything over 40 for kgs is good but your right nice fillets on a 50cm plus

RUSS & SANDY

 

"A family that fishes together stays together"

____________________________________________________________________________

RUSS and SANDY. A family that fishes together stays together

LandyAndy's picture

Posts: 169

Date Joined: 22/02/09

With the 15 to 20cm size,as

Sun, 2009-03-01 17:14

With the 15 to 20cm size,as mentioned fry whole after gutting/scaling.When cooked the fillet will easily remove from the bone.Then have the fillet skin side down,the flesh is easily removed from the skin.

ENJOY!!!!

Andrew

Mulloway360's picture

Posts: 209

Date Joined: 23/12/08

sand 16cm and plus good size

Mon, 2009-03-02 20:29

sand 16cm and plus good size

backlash's picture

Posts: 335

Date Joined: 12/10/10

Larger ones

Tue, 2018-05-22 15:00

 so lately i have been targeting the sand whiting as they’re great fun to catch with the kids - especially when they’re on the chew.  The question i have is how to target the larger 30cm whiting; last weekend we got a whole heap in the smaller range which as above mentioned (I know it s a while ago now but the statement holds) are an effort to fillet to guarantee no bones for the kids. I will say that fresh whiting tastes superb.  And also when they’re on the action for the kids is excellent and they love catching them.
so - to target the larger versions I was thinking of running larger hooks... - what are the collective thoughts on this?
several times i have gone out with a mate fishing for whiting and i have used circle hooks and he used the standard whiting rigs and he was easily out catching me; and i was using the black magic size 1/0 KG circle hooks - go figure....
maybe for the hitting i need to adjust my paternoster rig to a running sinker rig?

Cheers,
Dave

IncognitOh's picture

Posts: 103

Date Joined: 29/04/17

Whiting hooks

Tue, 2018-05-22 23:21

we regularly chase sand whiting. Large whiting are one of the best tasting fish out there imo.

sure dhie, snapper and the rest of them are good but fresh whiting either raw or cooked is damn hard to beat for taste......not very sporting though hahaha

anyway, we use  #2 red circle hooks

 

have found the larger ones are usually out deeper around 30m ish and smaller ones in closer. Occasionally it seems like you have droped your bait in a whiting nursery and all you get is midgets but just move a little and the big ones are usually not far away

backlash's picture

Posts: 335

Date Joined: 12/10/10

Thanks

Thu, 2018-05-24 07:28

 good tips there; as i have been fishing with the kids i have been closer inshore in the 18-20m range; i’ll Head out a little wider next time

Posts: 200

Date Joined: 26/04/11

bait

Tue, 2018-05-22 09:40

School whiting are dhuie and snapper bait no matter the size

davmor's picture

Posts: 248

Date Joined: 29/11/11

 I take a jar with spicey

Wed, 2018-05-23 05:19

 I take a jar with spicey malt vinegar, chilli, garlic & onion. Take the fillets off a whiting, dont worry about removing the pin or rib bones the vinegar softens them. Drop fillets in jar for 20 to 30 minutes, remove and eat. Enjoy with a beer of course. Small ones are kept for tailor bait.

David

Markie's picture

Posts: 2140

Date Joined: 06/08/10

 The smaller the better. Eat

Thu, 2018-05-24 04:03

 The smaller the better. Eat them whole