Saltwater Fishing Tips: Whiting

Photo: My grandson with a whiting (left) and a spotted seatrout.

Searching for saltwater fishing tips? Don’t overlook the southern kingfish or “kingcroaker,” commonly called “whiting.” These saltwater fish are often overlooked by serious anglers, even though they’re easy to catch and are delicious on the table. Sure, it’s true that whiting don’t achieve the size of reds, and they don’t provide a thrilling battle, but they’re great on the table, and on light tackle, their short runs can be exciting. Also, whiting will often be biting like crazy when other saltwater fish species have lockjaw.

Most of the whiting you catch will probably weigh a half-pound or less, but if you’re lucky, you’ll catch some larger individuals, often called “bull whiting.” These fish can weigh more than a pound, so it’s possible to fillet them. Anyway, what whiting lack in size, they often make up for in number. I’ve fished from piers in Georgia and Florida at night when I’ve hauled in whiting as fast as I could reel them in and re-bait. In fact, I often caught them two at a time, using a double-rigged line. Several times when I was fishing from a pier that had lights that reflected in the water, I’ve seen schools of these saltwater fish congregating around the lights.

Whiting are perfect for beginning saltwater anglers and for kids. Any light rod-and-reel combo will serve as appropriate fishing gear. For bait, try fresh dead shrimp, sand fleas, or cut bait. Don’t put too much bait on your hook. I like to use ½ shrimp when saltwater fishing for whiting. Use enough weight to keep the bait near the bottom, where the whiting are searching for food.

I’ve caught whiting at different depths, so I suggest fishing at different levels until you find the fish. You might want to try the surf zone first – the spot where the waves are breaking and churning up the debris and bits of food on the bottom. If you don’t get any bites, gradually move your bait to deeper water.

Florida places no size limit or bag limit on whiting. When they’re biting, it won’t take long to fill a plastic zip-loc bag with whiting fillets – one from each side of the fish. In my opinion, the fish are best cooked by frying. Just dip the fillets in buttermilk or in an egg wash and coat them in flour, pancake mix, or cornmeal.

Winter Fishing for Convicts

With winter quickly approaching, many anglers have put away their fishing gear and wait for the “spring thaw” to once again put it to good use. If you’re fortunate enough to live in the southeastern U.S., and if you enjoy saltwater fishing, don’t be so quick to stow away your fishing gear! The winter months often provide some great fishing for sheepshead.

Many folks in these parts refer to sheepshead as “convicts” or “convict fish.” This isn’t, of course, just because of the black stripes on the fish that resemble a typical convict’s attire. These fish are bait thieves. They can be extremely difficult to hook, even when you’re angling in water clear enough to see the crafty robbers. Sound like I’m speaking from experience? Sad to say, I am.

The first time I tried to catch sheepshead was on a pier in northern Florida. The water was clear, and I could see the fish moving from piling to piling, feasting on the barnacles that encrusted the wooden posts. Another angler on the pier gave me a fiddler crab to use for bait, and I dropped it right in front of the fish. They gobbled it readily, but I never even felt or saw movement on the line. I repeated the process numerous times, and every time, I got the same results – nada. Zip. Nothing.

I gave up on sheepshead for years and focused on “normal” species like reds, trout, flounder, cobia, and sharks. Then, a few years ago, I found myself back on that same pier, and once again, the convicts were ganging up around the pilings. I was determined to catch some this time. I had some sand fleas that the grandkids had caught, so I used them as bait. I cast my line under the pier and slowly retrieved it. Bingo! I landed my first sheepshead – ever. I continued this technique, with more success. If you’ve been skunked by convicts before, you might want to put these saltwater fishing tips to use.

As for sheepshead bait, I prefer sand fleas. In my opinion, fiddler crabs are too large, and they’re too easily crushed. Sand fleas have less surface area. Barnacles are good, too, but they’re usually harder to get. My ex-father-in-law used to catch sheepshead with bits of shrimp, but I haven’t had any luck with that – probably because other fish, like puppy drum, whiting, and spadefish steal the bait as soon as it hits the water.

Keeping Minows Alive Longer

Whenever we’re enjoying some Florida fishing, we almost always use live bait, usually minnows. And by “minnows,” I mean mud minnows and finger mullet. We catch the mullet with a cast net, and we either catch our own mud minnows with a trap or buy them from a local bait shop. In this post, I’m going to provide you with a few saltwater fishing tips for keeping your minnows alive longer.

A lot of fishermen use the flow-through bait buckets for their minnows. We’ve used them, too, but from our experience, the bait doesn’t stay alive as long as it does with an aerator. We use an insulated 5-gallon bait bucket with an aerator clipped to the side. Our bait bucket has a perforated lid that locks shut. We’ve been able to keep mud minnows alive for close to a week. Check out the following saltwater fishing tips to extend the life of your bait:

1. Use an insulated bucket to prevent your minnows’ overheating.
2. Don’t overcrowd the minnows.
3. Use an aerator, and have several extra batteries on hand. Keep an extra aerator handy, too, in case the first one “dies.”
4. Use as much water as possible in the bucket, and use clear water. Add some “new” salt water periodically.
5. Feed the minnows every day. We use dried bread crumbs for this. Just sprinkle a little food in the bucket at the time.
6. Check the bucket several times a day for any dead minnows and remove them.
7. Check your aerator frequently to make sure it’s working and that the bubbler weight remains on the bottom of the bucket.
8. Keep the bait bucket in the shade as much as possible.
9. When you’re removing minnows from the cast net or trap, handle them as little as possible and get them back in water as quickly as you can.
10. Use a small aquarium dip net to retrieve a minnow from the bucket.

Saltwater Fishing Tips

Whether you’re a newbie to fishing or an experienced angler, you can always benefit from saltwater fishing tips. This is especially true if you’re new to saltwater fishing. In other words, you might have thousands of notches on your freshwater fishing belt, but saltwater fishing is a different ballgame, so to speak. Of course, you’ll use many of the same skills and techniques, but you’ll need some different ones, too.

Why you need saltwater fishing tips

I’ve been fishing for close to fifty years, but I’m always looking for new saltwater fishing tips. This is especially true when I’m fishing a new area. For example, I fished northern Florida for decades, but when I first began fishing in Southwest Florida, I had to learn some new saltwater fishing tips. For one thing, I had to learn about snook, and for another, I had to learn about fishing around mangroves.

The same held true when I first began fishing in the Gulf of Mexico. Because the water there is much clearer than it was in my previous fishing spots, I needed to acquire a few new saltwater fishing tips. It’s a lot tougher to “sneak up” on fish in really clear water! I had always heard this, and it makes perfect sense, but it really hit home the first time I tried to catch bait in the Gulf with a cast net. I’m a fair hand at netting fish, but I became very frustrated. I’d toss the net right over a big school of finger mullet and come up empty. I had to re-learn cast netting for the Gulf.

Where to get saltwater fishing tips

Some older, experienced fishermen are often too “proud” to ask for help. If that’s the case with you, you can always read about saltwater fishing tips online or in print magazines. I’ve learned a lot that way, but I usually prefer getting advice from locals. Strategies can vary even within the same areas, and the locals usually offer the best saltwater fishing tips for the exact location you’re fishing.
I really enjoy pier fishing, and I’ve landed some huge fish from piers. When I fish a new pier for the first time, I quickly make friends with the local fishermen on the pier, and I don’t hesitate to ask them for a couple of saltwater fishing tips. When you’re friendly and honest, most anglers are more than willing to share some advice with you. Be upfront with them. Tell them you’ve done a lot of freshwater fishing, but saltwater fishing is new to you. Or tell them that you’ve done a lot of saltwater fishing in other areas, but that this spot is completely new for you.
Another good place to get a few fishing tips is at local bait shops and at stores that sell fishing equipment. These folks are usually in touch constantly with local anglers, so they know what’s biting, where they’re biting, and which baits the fish are hitting.

My husband is older than I am, and he had been successfully fishing the Outer Banks of North Carolina for many years. When he moved south, however, he had to employ some different saltwater fishing tips. You wouldn’t think that fishing Florida and Georgia are any different than saltwater fishing in North Carolina, but they are. Even the baits used are often different.

Fishing is rarely a one-size-fits-all activity. Strategies, baits, fishing gear, and other saltwater fishing tips vary from place to place and from season to season. Don’t be afraid to ask for help or advice. This doesn’t diminish you as a fisherman! If you fish a lot of different locations, your catalog of what works best where might get a little confusing and difficult to remember correctly. To avoid this, I like to keep a saltwater fishing tips journal.

Easy fishing - Fishing with kids for whiting

Looking for some easy fishing, perfect for fishing with kids, along with some saltwater fishing tips? Don't overlook the Southern kingfish, commonly called "whiting" with saltwater fishing in the South. This is the perfect way to introduce your little ones to saltwater fishing. Why? Because it's super easy fishing that's available practically any time you feel the urge to wet a hook!

Whiting are plentiful on the coasts of Florida and Georgia - just about any time. Winter, spring, summer, or fall, the fish are usually around in good numbers. The tides or the time of day or night don't seem to matter a lot to these fish, either. As with most types of saltwater fishing, you'll likely have better luck around high tide, but we've hauled in numerous whiting at low tide, too. Whiting often bite when most other saltwater fishing species are suffering from lockjaw.

This is easy fishing, perfect for fishing with kids. You won't need complicated or expensive fishing gear to successfully land whiting, either. Light fishing gear, light line without a leader, and a sliding weight just heavy enough to keep your bait on the bottom is what you'll need. Whiting have relatively small mouths, so use a hook that matches - about a size six.

For bait, use fresh shrimp. A piece of shrimp around 3/4 of an inch usually works well. Fish it right on the bottom. If you find that you're missing a lot of fish and they're stealing your bait, try peeling the shrimp first.

Where to cast when saltwater fishing for whiting? They'll bite im=n different spots and at different depths. One of the best places to try is just where the waves are beginning to break. If you don't have any luck there, try fishing in a little deeper water.

Saltwater fishing for whiting is great when fishing with kids, and it's the perfect way to introduce your little ones to saltwater fishing. Fish from shore, from a fishing pier, or wade into the water for some surf fishing. After you cast your line, relax and wait for the tell-tale tap-tap-tap that indicates that a whiting is nibbling on your bait.

Kids won't need a lot of patience for this easy fishing. They can learn quickly that saltwater fishing can be rewarding, too, especially when you clean your catch and serve it up for dinner.

Whiting, a member of the drum family, has a very mild taste. And of all the drums, its flesh is probably the firmest. If you're handy with a fillet knife, you can quickly make two fillets from each whiting.

Don't let the cold weather keep you from saltwater fishing or fishing with kids. Wait for a sunny day and toss your fishing gear in the car. Stop at the bait shop for some shrimp, and enjoy some great saltwater fishing whenever you feel the call!

Florida Fishing: Flats Fishing near Port Richey

I love saltwater fishing, especially Florida fishing. We just returned from some flats fishing in the gulf near Port Richey, and I'll share a couple of fishing tips. If you're in the area, rent a boat and travel the short distance to the mouth of the Cotee River. You'll find a small island, sand bars, and stilt houses. All these areas hold fish.

A couple of saltwater fishing tips: We found the best methods for tarpon fishing and cobia fishing was to drift a live finger mullet ot pinfish. Most folks will tell you to use a pinfish, but we had better luck with the live mullet. The pinfish were a lot easier to obtain, however, as they're everywhere!

The mangroves are another place to target, especially for mangrove snapper, reds, and trout. These fish aren't too picky about baits, either. For hot-weather trout, fish early and late in the day, before the weather heats up.

Flats fishing in this area will reward you with some great scenery, too. The water is crystal clear over the grass beds. don't let the clear water fool you! You'll think you're in two feet of water even though you might be in eight feet. Saltwater fishing in Florida represents some of the best flats fishing anywhere!

To read more about Florida flats fishing, go here:

http://hubpages.com/hub/Fishing-Trips-Near-Port-Richey-Florida

Fishing tips for catching big reds

Most of you seasoned anglers know that to catch a big fish of a certain species, you often have to employ different strategies and tactics than you would for a small fish of the same species. This is certainly true of reds.

Reds, red drum, red bass, spot-tail bass, channel bass - whatever you want to call them - are great fun to catch, but the big ones can be wily. They didn't get that old and that big by being dumb.

This is a great article with saltwater fishing tips for beginners to understand the low-down on big reds. And after you catch your red and fillet it, use my recipe for blackened redfish, found below. Here's the link to the article: http://hubpages.com/hub/how-to-catch-a-big-redfish

Fishing tips: Best flounder baits

I love flounder fishing! In fact, I think it's my favorite angling of all. There's really not a lot of work required in catching one of these flatfish, and they're superb on the table. With a few saltwater fishing tips, you'll be well on your way to dining on some great grub!

What's the best bait for flounder? That largely depends on who you ask. For example, in North Carolina and in the Chesapeake Bay, many flounder fishermen use strips of cut bait to entice their prey. In Georgia and Florida, however, I've never seen this bait used for flounder.

Among my circle of flounder fishermen, we prefer live shrimp, finger mullet, and mud minnows as our choices for natural baits. I've caught the largest flounder - the real doormats - on finger mullet. Of course, these aren't always available. Live shrimp are effective, but they die so quickly that they're sometimes aggravating. Also, smaller fish species will often eat the shrimp. If you have a nice stout finger mullet on, you'll decrease your chances of catching undesired fish.

Mud minnows usually work well, also, but not as well as the mullet. One problem with buying mud minnows is that some of them are really too small to entice a decent sized flounder. Try to pick out larger mud minnows if you have a choice.

For artificials, I've had the best luck with ledhead jigs. I use a red ledhead paired with a pink or white soft grub. Some fishermen tip the hook with a small bit of shrimp, but I don't.

To read more about flounder fishing, go here: http://hubpages.com/hub/fishing-for-flounder

Chumming

We've all had those slow days - times when we couldn't entice a single fish to bite, no matter what delicacy we offered the finned critters. It's almost like the fish are suffering from an extreme case of lockjaw. You might be able to awaken their appetites, however, with chumming! Check out these saltwater fishing tips for chumming.

Chum spreads small bits of blood and bait through the water as it travels on the natural currents. It can reach a lot of fish in a relatively short amount of time. When it does, fish often go into a feeding frenzy when competing with others members of their school, and they throw caution to the wind, making them much more likely to bite your hook.

You can purchase chum or make your own, and you can chum effectively from a boat, a pier, a bridge, or even if the surf.

To learn more about chumming and how to make your own, go here:
http://hubpages.com/hub/Saltwater-Fishing-How-to-Make-and-Use-Chum-Effectively

How to catch sharks

Sharks used to be considered "trash fish" by many serious saltwater fishermen. In the last couple of decades, however, shark fishing has become a big business. People pay big bucks for a charter and guide to take them to where the monsters are, in hopes of tangling with one and landing it.

You don't have to hire a guide or boat to catch big sharks. In fact, you can catch them right from shore or from a pier! Several species of sharks are found all along the Atlantic and gulf coasts, and they're easy to catch.

Get all the tips here: http://hubpages.com/hub/Fishing-Tips-How-to-Catch-Sharks

Pier fishing

Are you heading to Florida this year for a well earned vacation? If so, most coastal Florida towns have public fishing piers. On many of these, the piers pay an annual license fee, so you might not even have to purchase a fishing license to fish legally from a pier.

Piers are great places to fish because most fish species are attracted to structure. If the water's clear enough, you'll actually be able to see fish swimming around the pilings. Some species, like sheepshead, will actually be feeding on barnacles that grow on the pilings.

Want to learn all the details about successful pier fishing? The following article is about North Florida, but the same tactics would work just about anywhere in the Southeast.

Read here to learn more: http://hubpages.com/hub/Saltwater-Fishing-Tips-Pier-Fishing-in-Northern-Florida

free bait for surf fishing

Surf fishing is a great way to pass a few hours at the beach. You can toss out a line and then relax in your lounge chair while waiting for a tug. If you're a serious angler and the water's warm enough, you might prefer to stay in the water.

Surf fishing is totally relaxing, and it's inexpensive! You won't need any fancy equipment - just a rod and reel and some bait! And you can easily catch your own bait for free.

Fishing in the surf can also be very rewarding. There's no telling what you might catch! Anywhere along the Southeastern US coast, you might catch flounder, redfish, black drum, sharks, pompano, seatrout, whiting, Spanish mackerel, bluefish, ladyfish, croaker, or other species.

To learn more, click here:http://hubpages.com/hub/Saltwater-Fishing-Tips-Free-Bait