How to Fish for Whiting on the Beach at Saint George Island
by Fred Tosh
300 Ocean Mile Unit L-10
The SGI surf has a fish known as a Whiting resident year round. These fish can be caught in large numbers depending upon water clarity, tide and the situation with the current. The typical catch is a fish 10" to 16" in length, and is excellent eating when filleted and cooked using your favorite method. Whiting is a delicate fish with a mild flavor. Along the SGI beach in front of 300 Ocean Mile, there is a sandbar running parallel to the beach approximately 50-75 feet out. This sandbar creates a trough between itself and the dry beach. Whiting plus multitudes of other fish feed actively in this trough year round. Given the narrow width of the trough, it is not necessary to cast far off the beach to be right in the middle of excellent fishing.
Let's talk about tackle. Fishing tackle for whiting does
not need to be more than a light spinning outfit. In fact, heavier fishing
outfits can mask or hide the often gentle tap tap bite of the whiting.
Monofilament fishing line in the 8-12 lb. test range is perfect. No leader
is necessary, and in fact is detrimental in that it tends to scare the fish away
from the bait. The amount of weight on the line is dependent upon wave and
current action.
Typically, a 2-4 oz. pyramid sinker is sufficient.
Use the lightest sinker in this range that will hold the bait where you throw
it. The pyramid sinker must be attached to the line using a slip swivel.
The slip swivel is available in local SGI bait shops. For whiting, the
hook needs to be on the small side. A number 6 hook should work well.
The last component for rigging the fishing line is something to keep the sinker
about 12-18 inches up the line from the bait. To create this point, cut
your line and tie a swivel in your line to keep your sinker from sliding closer
to the bait.
The
last component is the bait. The mistake most often made is to put far too
much bait on the small hook. A section of shrimp no larger than the first
joint (closest to the fingernail) of your little finger is all that is needed
because a whiting's mouth is quite small. It would be easiest if the
shrimp's shell is removed before placing the small quantity of shrimp on the
small hook. The shrimp can be fresh or frozen. Given this small
quantity of bait, live shrimp is totally unnecessary. Keep the shrimp on
ice to keep it as cool and fresh as possible. The whiting mistakes the
little piece of shrimp for a sand flea and gobbles it down.
Once your fishing rig is ready and your bait is on the hook,
simply toss your line into the offshore trough described above and keep your
line firm by pulling back slightly against the pyramid sinker which is hopefully
buried in the underwater sand. When the whiting discovers the bait and
takes it in his mouth, he attempts to swim off pulling the loose line through
the slip sleeve without feeling the weight of the pyramid sinker but
telegraphing the bite to the fisherman. So, as soon as you feel the bite, set
the hook and reel in the fish out of the surf and onto the beach. You
should not need a net. Put the fish immediately on ice.
When the whiting are feeding actively, I have my highest success
rate holding the fishing pole in my hands keeping the line taught against the
submerged sinker. When I feel the tap tap of the bite, I count to two and
set the hook. When the bite is less frequent, the fisherman may wish to
incorporate a beach rod holder into the picture.
The
best and least expensive way to do this is to simply obtain a four foot length
of 1.25" or 1.50" PVC pipe and push one end about a foot into the wet sand.
Wet sand, even sand that is slightly into the surf, works best to hold the pipe
in place. The pipe should be placed vertically rather than at an angle.
When using the PVC pipe rod holder, simply cast your line and bait into the
surf, insert the butt end of the fishing pole into the PVC pipe, give the reel
handle a couple of turns to take all slack out of the fishing line, back off 3
to 5 steps and watch the tip of your pole for the tail tell tap tap tap of the
bite. When you see the bite, run up, take the pole out of the holder and
retrieve your fish.
Now let's talk about tides and currents. I have caught whiting under all conditions of tides and currents all times of year. I enjoy fishing for whiting the best when there is little or no surf currents allowing me to use a lighter weight sinker and more easily detect the bite. With regard to tide, a rising tide approaching full tide is always preferred. However, I subscribe to the best time being anytime I can fish. If you fish for whiting and don't seem to be getting any bites, just do something else for an hour or two and then return to fishing. Things can change within a few minutes. There have been many times when I was catching whiting one after the other while others around me were having no luck. When asked for advice, I always start by asking them to show me their fishing rig setup and often find a non-preferred sinker and lots of metal, heavy leader hardware and far too large of a hook. I also find them also using whole shrimp which are easily robbed by the little thieves. I show these unlucky anglers my rig and urge them to copy it for instant success.
Now for cleaning your catch. Our preferred method is to filet the fish by running a sharp filet knife down the backbone starting just behind the gills and the pectoral fin and running it along the backbone towards the tail. I stop just before I reach the tail and flip the filet over to cut along the skin on the other side of the filet. Each fish will make two nice sized filets.
I hope this helps and you have many enjoyable hours fishing on the beach at St. George Island. If you have any questions, feel free to email me at fredetosh@gmail.com . Email me your pictures and I will add them to our web site. Happy fishing!
Fred Tosh
For the best stock of fishing supplies and bait in the immediate area, try Fisherman's Choice in Eastpoint. Another good location for tackle is Half Hitch in Port St. Joe.