One of the most exciting developments in estuarine sport fishing in recent times has been the pursuit of sand whiting on surface lures. It’s a really fun way to chase one of our favourite estuarine sport & table fish during the warmer months of the year. Anyone who owns a light threadline outfit can get into this style of fishing. You don’t even really need a boat as long as you have access to some estuarine sand flats to wade, although a boat or kayak provides the distinct advantage of being able to cover more water when searching for fish.
Catching whiting on lures is nothing new. What has changed is that in years gone by lure caught whiting were an incidental catch taken while pursuing other species such as bream or dusky flathead. Nowadays sand whiting are considered a genuine lure fisher’s target species. The impetus for this change was the discovery that sand whiting would consistently take surface lures in the right conditions. Prior to this discovery sand whiting were considered to be primarily a bottom feeder, which is a logical line of thinking considering that they are usually pursued with baits such as marine worms or nippers. However, prawns are also a significant part of the whiting’s diet, which is really the key to the effectiveness of the use of surface lures.
Recommended surface lures for pursuing sand whiting include small cup faced poppers, stick baits and bent minnows. I prefer to use clear or semi-translucent lures as I believe they best replicate a fleeing prawn. As far as size goes small surface poppers around 50mm in length provide excellent results, although I regularly use stick baits up to 75mm in length to pursue whiting. Personal favourites include the Fishcraft Snoop Pop 50 surface popper and Samaki Skipping Prawn 75 stick bait. I’ve also enjoyed good results with the Fishcraft Snoop Dog 55 stick baits. A key to success when pursuing sand whiting with cup faced surface poppers is getting the retrieve right. It’s vital to use a quite fast, consistent retrieve speed and not to stop the popper under any circumstances as this seems to put the whiting off. Stick baits are worked slower with a “walk the dog style” action. Both styles of lure have their advantages, the small surface poppers are great for covering water when searching for whiting with the quicker retrieve speed employed, not to mention that they also cast like bullets. The surface poppers also work well when there is some wind chop as they create a bit more fish attracting commotion than the stick baits. Stick baits work well in calmer conditions when the fish can be quite easily spooked and difficult to entice a bite from. Although at the other end of the spectrum I find the Fishcraft Dr Flex 90 bent minnow to be a special when it’s overcast with a bit of wind chop on the water. My personal favourite Dr Flex colour is Goldy which I think imitates a prawn very well, I find that crashing surface strikes during pauses in the retrieve are a regular event when using these innovative soft plastic bent minnow lures. Bream are a regular by-catch when chasing whiting on surface lures, particularly when using stick baits or bent minnows as well as the occasional dusky flathead.
Rigging up to fish surface lures for sand whiting is surprisingly straight forward. A light threadline combo such as a Samaki Zing Xtreme SZX-762SXL-EF spin rod paired with a Samaki Onyx 2000 spin reel spooled up with Olltolos Finesse Shangrilla PE 0.5 GSP braid is ideally suited to this style of fishing. A high quality spin rod such as those in the Samaki Zing Xtreme range that is designed for long casting performance with light lures that allows you to cover the water are critical to success in this style of fishing. Casting with the wind wherever possible is preferred for maximising casting distance. Specialist surface popper users generally like to employ a short, relatively heavy fluorocarbon leader around 5 to 6kg as they feel the poppers actually track better on the heavier leader material. The surface poppers are worked with a quicker retrieve and the leader is mostly out of the water anyway so the fish aren’t spooked. However, when fishing stick baits which are fished with a slower retrieve I prefer to use a longer, lighter fluorocarbon leader such as 4 to 6lb X-Braid Olltolos Fluorocarbon Leader as I believe the sand whiting do get leader shy in calm, clear conditions. My preferred main line to leader connection is the FG knot, although the triple surgeons knot is much quicker and easier to tie, whilst providing adequate break strength for estuarine luring. A hard connection such as the uni-knot can be used to attach lure to leader, however some anglers may prefer a loop knot such as Lefty’s loop tied with a very small loop to minimise any slack in the system when working lures such as stick baits off the rod tip, but still providing that freedom of movement that only a loop knot can provide. Chemically sharpened hooks such as the wickedly sharp Decoy Y-S25 treble hooks or custom Decoy twin assist hooks that feature on the Samaki Skipping Prawn 75 are a must on lures for this style of fishing.
Chasing sand whiting on surface lures from my Hobie kayak has provided some of my most enjoyable fishing sessions in recent times. When casting try to cover any shallow depressions or gutters on the flats as the fish often hole up in them. Good quality polarised sunglasses such as those in the Samaki sunglasses range are mandatory for this style of fishing, I prefer the Brown Tort Amber lenses available in the Samaki sunglasses range for flats fishing. Drifting or wading the sand flats casting surface lures is challenging, fun fishing and those sand whiting are superb eating. I’d recommend you get out and give it a go.
Words & Images: Mark Williams
