"

PB whiting abound
  |  First Published: December 2009



My wife, Anna, has a new PB whiting on soft plastics. We went out the other morning flicking plastics around and getting the odd fish here and there but she wasn’t happy with my selection of lure so she chose a Gulp 4” chartreuse minnow and within two casts had a stud 600g whiting in the boat.

The next cast, a smallish flounder came in and then two casts after that, a 1.5kg cuttlefish had grabbed her lure and wasn’t letting go. I was going to keep it but she said it looked too cute and it was released.

My point here is, don’t get stuck on the idea that you should always use the same lure(s) in areas that they are usually successful for you.

I had been throwing my ‘go-to’ lures in a bay where I usually get flathead and for the life of me, I couldn’t get a fish. It wasn’t until my wife changed her lure that I realised what an idiot I was.

Like most people, I have a bag full of soft plastics but I changed to the same lure Anna was using and then the flathead started co-operating and we had a good session for the rest of the morning.

She hasn’t stopped reminding me that it was because of her we had fish in the fridge. It is only a simple thing but one that could result in taking home a feed or stopping at the supermarket or the co-op on the way home.

We are finding that the 4” and 5” Gulp Minnows and Jerk Shads are bringing plenty of whiting undone water around 6m to 10m deep. If you speed up the retrieve and are a bit more aggressive, results will come.

Chris ‘Macca’ showed me how to do it last year and things don’t seem to be any different this season. It also helps that there are truckloads of whiting about at the moment.

If your drift isn’t overly quick or there is not a lot of current flow, a 1/4oz jig head should be fine, otherwise try a 3/8oz to get the lure down quicker.

Colours to try are obviously chartreuse, with bone jack, vader and orange tiger the pick, although the banana prawn is fast becoming my favourite colour for whiting in the deep.

This came about by accident as these lures were used mainly to target flathead but you can go out now with the intention of targeting whiting if you know where they are.

WARM LAKE

The water in the lake seems to have warmed quite a bit to around 22° to 24° in places, which means a lot of fish will be looking for food.

Bait fishing is still popular with most people, but the right lure presented well can bring results. Bloodworms and tube worms, live or fresh prawns will tempt any bream and whiting about the sand flats.

Best spots are the channel to the drop-over and around to Coon Island caravan park sand flats. Whiting and bream will be feeding a lot better around the last of the run-in tide and the first of the run back.

Salts Bay is also going to be worthwhile. If last year is any indication, there will be bream aplenty.

In these shallow areas, the Gulp 2” Sandworms and Shrimp are good on light jig heads tied to light fluorocarbon leaders.

Worm colours such as camo and new penny are good while the top shrimp colour is banana prawn.

Flathead have been hit-and-miss. Try the usual spots such as the channel, Coil Point, Wangi and the Drop-over. If they are a bit scarce, move out to cooler, deeper water, say, 8m to 10m.

Live poddy mullet, strip baits or live prawns will work and if you want to give lures a go, the Gulp 5” and 6” Jerk Shads are good.

Jewfish are still about in good numbers throughout the lake on live or fresh squid. Anchor up near Wangi, the Drop-over, Green Point or the Trench at Valentine.

If shore-based, Blacksmiths breakwall and the adjoining beach are starting to show signs of life.

The odd jewie has been landed and things will start to improve as more fish start to return to the gutters. The odd tailor can be caught, as well as some very nice whiting and bream from the beach.

Kingfish seem to be about in good numbers. Trying feeding out a live squid at Swansea Bridge and hold on; there are a few bigger fish about.

Other places for kingies are out towards Moon Island and down off the rocks at Catherine Hill Bay.

Most of these fish are taking baits but some are falling for good-sized poppers. There should be plenty of squid about in these same areas, so get some quality squid jigs and get fresh bait while you are there.

SHELF BILLFISH

Offshore is starting to fire up with water around the 24°. Bait schools are about and the marlin are in tow.

We should start to see some really good fishing this month for those who head out to the continental shelf. If you can’t get out that far, then The Farm and the FAD are definitely worthwhile to.

There should be plenty mahi mahi at the FAD so those fishing light will have a blast catching them. There should be a few squire about for those who put in the time.

Many people will be on holiday, which means the waterways and boat ramps are going to be chockers and tempers could be tested.

Show a little courtesy when you arrive at the boat ramp. Don’t reverse your boat down to the water and then get it ready; have all preparations done while you are waiting to use the ramp.

The same applies when retrieving your boat. Move away from the ramp and get the boat strapped down there. At this time of year, it is the little things that set people off.

Reads: 2048

Matched Content ... powered by Google




Latest Articles




Fishing Monthly Magazines On Instagram

Digital Editions

Read Digital Editions

Current Magazine - Editorial Content

Western Australia Fishing Monthly
Victoria Fishing Monthly
Queensland Fishing Monthly