At the risk of creating some trash talking here, I was wondering if any of you all ever do a little whiting fishing. Granted, I am after the reds and trout like the rest of my preppy fishing buddies, but I was thinking I may try my hand a some whiting one day. I’ve heard they are really good to eat and not that hard to catch.
I hear bottom rigs (2 or 3 drops) with smaller hooks and weight on the bottom…maybe bits of squid or shrimp.
Where do they normally feed? I saw what may have been a whiting fishing tournament a few weeks back in the stono near the stono inlet. Lots of folks anchored up just off of the channel bottom fishing.
Any pointers here? One the days where I am tired of chasing the elusive reds, I may just want to chill and fish for some whiting.
Know it is not the right forum, but catch a bunch in the surf on Folly Beach. Use fresh shrimp and small hooks. I use a fish finder rig w/ a small #4 or #6 long shank hook. Small piece of shrimp and just throw it into the suds.
We caught a nice one at the jetties last Saturday. If we had caught 2 more, he would have joined us for dinner. But as the only keeper we had caught, we let him go.
“I am constantly amazed at the stupidity of the general public.”
~my dad
Equipment:
190cc Sea Pro w/130 Johnson
1- 17 year old
1 - 13 year old
1 - wife (The Warden)
Find sandy or shell and sand bottom and you should be able to find whiting. The closer to the ocean the better. Dewees Inlet is a hot spot at certain times of the year, but I’ve done pretty well in the Folly River also. There are many sand bottom spots in the harbor and they will hold whiting as well. I have not been able to find them up the Cooper where I usually fish, but there is a lot of mud up there and that is probably the reason. You can find them in the surf also, just don’t cast too far out…they will hang in a lot closer than you think. As recommended above, use small hooks and a double dropper rig for the best results. Good luck.
PioneerLouie
Pioneer Venture 175, Johnson 90
Summerville, SC
Like the others said, sandy bottom close to the ocean. Tide doesn’t seem to matter. If you use shrimp, peel them. Try a spot, if you don’t start catching fish in 15 minutes, move to a different depth. Repeat until you find them. Once you do, you’ll have a blast. When my girls were kids, we had hours of fun catching those things. Great eating fish and one of the easiest to fillet.
Have fun!
Peeled FRESH shrimp ON THE BOTTOM w/ dbl drop #2 or #4 hooks.I like 12-25ft on a sand btm like everyone else.Try Dewey’s or Caper’s Inlets on a slack tide near the power poles. The btm is washboard there and always seems to have whiting as long as the water temp is above 70deg.I have entertained numerous kids there over the years catching whiting,sharpnose,bonnets,and rays.
“Modern day Robin Hoodism-Steal from the sucessful and give to the poorly motivated.”
Thanks for the advice! Is it easy to tell from bottom finder if you are on sandy versus mud bottom?
Any input on the stono area? I saw a good many people in the stono near sol legare a few weeks back. And there were several boats out near stono inlet just past the Kiawah beach near that last red marker bottom fishing. Unsure what they were targeting.
Whiting have no teeth.? I just fish for them with a redfish rig, Carolina rig with 2/0 j hook. normally because were shark fishing also. On a whiting trip I’d use drop rigs and 1/0 hooks with peeled shrimp.
I’m a high class redneck.
Fishing is a delusion entirely surrounded by liars in pfgs and buffs.
1/0 is a little big- not that it won’t work, but if you go smaller you will catch more. #1 hooks are about all i use. smaller might even be better as eddie said. peeling shrimp makes a difference. they do have teeth, but they won’t cut your line. 8lb mono in the surf was plenty for me growing up- now i usually put a 15lb mono leader onto my braid mainline.
the boats you saw near the inlet in stono were likely targeting whiting. join the fleet, especially during small tides and around slack low.