Fishing World – September 2019

B

read & butter species - along with their
great eating qualities - are often a useful
option for learning the basics of fishing.
And the general perception with these
species is it should be relatively straight forward to
achieve consistent results.
Enter the King George (KG) whiting, and this
perception couldn’t be further from the truth!
When chasing KGs there’s an advanced level of
tactics well beyond the norm that are required for
regular success on these notoriously tricky fish. If
you head out for a session thinking the job is
already done before you’ve started then you’ve
already set yourself up to fail.

RIGGING
Advanced rigging is one such area where
attention to detail is required.
Two dropper paternoster have always been
considered the mainstay for whiting fishing and
whilst I agree with this as a generic option, there
are further variations that can be applied. One
such variation is running the bottom dropper
below the sinker and this is particularly
beneficial when chasing fish on the drift over
typical broken bottom grounds. This rig allows
the bottom bait to drag along the seaf loor where

the whiting can hone in and suck it up with their

vacuum like mouth whilst the top hook will

dangle further above which works great when

fishing over a bit of weed thus reducing the

chance of fouling up. Another option is to use a

running sinker on this same paternoster rig. By

this I mean using an ezy-rig between your top

and bottom hooks as opposed to a fixed loop to

attach your sinker. We’ve found this can be a

critical addition when the bite is tough and the

fish aren’t playing ball as it allows a subtle yet

effective weightless feel when fish tentatively

grab the bait, almost in similar fashion to

free-spooling a bait to a snapper for instance. It is

then more likely that the fish will commit and

the hook can be struck to come up tight to one

of these quality kidney slappers.

Hook direction has taken a little turn over the

years with a notable surge towards circle or wide

gape style hooks over traditional long shanks.

I exclusively use wide gape hooks as they provide a

great compromise between a true circle and

standard long shank. The rate of pulling hooks on

fish seems to be a hell of a lot lower with them and

they also respond well to either striking at fish or

leaving the rod in the holder for the fish to pretty

much hook themselves. Long shanks will still

SPECIES GUIDE: KING GEORGE WHITING

58 fishingworld.com.au | September 2019

suffice but I’ve found they do gut hook a lot more

fish which isn’t particularly great if the fish are

undersize and need to be returned to the water.

BAIT & BERLEY

Anglers that dabble with different bait options will

undoubtedly have the best chance of success. I’m

probably a little lazy on this front and opt for

tenderised squid strips each and every time quite

simply because it works for us and it’s an easily

accessible bait source. But I do find myself

questioning this decision during tough bites and

can’t help but wonder if I had some fresh pipi’s or

pilchard chunks on board maybe I wouldn’t be

standing there fishless for the past 30 minutes. If

you’re limited with time and unable to get regular

sessions in then unlike me ensure you have all bases

covered. Pipi’s work great although they are very

soft and can easily be stolen off the hooks.

They can also be expensive too unless you can

source your own from a local beach. Razorfish,

pilchards, trevally strips and squid are other gun

options but the key lies in using them economically.

Small chunks or strips always work much better

than a big lump not only because it will tempt the

whiting more but it will have a much better chance

of staying on the hook and maximise hook