Anyone with whiting on surface lures?

[anthman]

Hi all, I am near the intertidal flats near Sandringham, nsw, and have always only used yabbies there. I've seen tonnes of videos of small bassday sugarpen float 95mm lures used to get whiting on what looks like similar terrain. 

Has anyone had any luck with this style of fishing at these specific flats? What tide level would you go at? What time of the year?

Cheers!

[masterfisho7]

Mate I have used poppers for whiting around sand flats it is great fun low tide walking out I found the best they just smash them

[PaddyT]

Done a bit of it up the north coast and up the back of the Cowan system, damn good fun, had more success with the stickbaits than poppers, just dont stop winding when you get a follow

[Scratchie]

Awesome fun in summer! My best success was at old bar with almost a fish a cast. Sugarpens or 45mm poppers with a trailing white feather did the damage! Mid falling tide was best! 

Cheers scratchie!!! 

[Green Hornet]

I do a lot of this over the summer months, but down the coast from Botany Bay.

Always best on the flats when there's a bit of chop on the surface. Sugarpens go great, but poppers will outfish them when it gets really choppy.

Don't be afraid to wind surprisingly quick if you have to. You're trying to imitate a fleeing prawn and those little buggers can get mobile. On certain days the extra speed really revs the whiting up.

[anthman]

Thanks all, will give it a go!

[anthman]

Hi all, update since my original post.

Have had about 4-5x hr sessions popping a few smallish surface lures I have, have not had any hookups. Have been working the beach flats where I can see yabbie holes and know whiting live in the area.

About half of the sessions were at or near low tide , so not much "shallow" water to work. The other half have been mid to high tide.

I just got my new surface lures in the mail yesterday so will concentrate on using these - 70mm @ 4.5g (see picture). Have rigged these with some home made assist hooks for the tail anchor point.

Should I only be fishing the sand flats at high tide? Any other tips ?

 

[GoingFishing]

On 10/22/2018 at 1:50 PM, Green Hornet said:

I do a lot of this over the summer months, but down the coast from Botany Bay.

Always best on the flats when there's a bit of chop on the surface. Sugarpens go great, but poppers will outfish them when it gets really choppy.

Don't be afraid to wind surprisingly quick if you have to. You're trying to imitate a fleeing prawn and those little buggers can get mobile. On certain days the extra speed really revs the whiting up.

I have found myself suddenly hooked up to a whiting on the retreive very often when fishing shallows for sand whiting so totally agree with you.

[Green Hornet]

1 hour ago, anthman said:

Hi all, update since my original post.

Have had about 4-5x hr sessions popping a few smallish surface lures I have, have not had any hookups. Have been working the beach flats where I can see yabbie holes and know whiting live in the area.

About half of the sessions were at or near low tide , so not much "shallow" water to work. The other half have been mid to high tide.

I just got my new surface lures in the mail yesterday so will concentrate on using these - 70mm @ 4.5g (see picture). Have rigged these with some home made assist hooks for the tail anchor point.

Should I only be fishing the sand flats at high tide? Any other tips ?

 

As long as there's a few inches of water covering the flat there could be whiting there, so try other stages of the tide too. In the real shallow stuff, the slightest depressions or gutters can concentrate the whiting.

Your surface lure is imitating a fleeing prawn, so try around the edges ribbon weed beds where the real prawns hang.

[anthman]

Thanks for the tips. I should add that a seagull tried to have a go at the orange lure in the picture - surely that's a good sign! 

It's hard not just to pump some live yabbies and go bait....

[connico]

1 hour ago, anthman said:

Thanks for the tips. I should add that a seagull tried to have a go at the orange lure in the picture - surely that's a good sign! 

It's hard not just to pump some live yabbies and go bait....

Just keep persisting, once you crack the code you'll be golden! Just got to vary the retrieve until you find something that works for you. Remember you're hunting, make sure you use polarised sunnies so you can see any action below the flats.

Also fan your retrieve and keep moving

Edited November 14, 2018 by connico

[Caple666]

On 11/14/2018 at 7:52 AM, anthman said:

Hi all, update since my original post.

Have had about 4-5x hr sessions popping a few smallish surface lures I have, have not had any hookups. Have been working the beach flats where I can see yabbie holes and know whiting live in the area.

About half of the sessions were at or near low tide , so not much "shallow" water to work. The other half have been mid to high tide.

I just got my new surface lures in the mail yesterday so will concentrate on using these - 70mm @ 4.5g (see picture). Have rigged these with some home made assist hooks for the tail anchor point.

Should I only be fishing the sand flats at high tide? Any other tips ?

 

hey anthman

i do a bit of surface fishing for bream and whiting. here is a few tips for whiting on surface lures that work for me. best tip is use a fast retrieve and dont pause. i like to fish the shallow on the falling tide (the end of yowie bay is a great place). my fav lure choice ix the bass day suga pen 70mm in colour hf-119 which im pretty sure is the middle lure in your pic. i find the clear patterned lures work better then others. i hope this helps your quest. keep at it mate you'll crack the code 👍 

cheers caple

Edited November 14, 2018 by Caple666

[anthman]

58 minutes ago, Caple666 said:

hey anthman

i do a bit of surface fishing for bream and whiting. here is a few tips for whiting on surface lures that work for me. best tip is use a fast retrieve and dont pause. i like to fish the shallow on the falling tide (the end of yowie bay is a great place). my fav lure choice ix the bass day suga pen 70mm in colour hf-119 which im pretty sure is the middle lure in your pic. i find the clear patterned lures work better then others. i hope this helps your quest. keep at it mate you'll crack the code 👍 

cheers caple

Thanks mate, really appreciate the advice, will try a fast retrieve.

The lures in the picture are from China, name like something quick out of Aladdin (pm me if you want the link) - about $5 shipped a piece!

Where do you park to get to the back Yowie bay? I can see the flats on Google maps but unsure about how you actually get there! 

Also, have you fished Sandringham beach flats with any luck on the sugapen?

[Caple666]

5 bucks each 😲 hell yeah pm me the link if ya could.

There is a ramp at yowie bay that i launch from, parking is pretty short tho. i just pm you a screen shot.

nah i haven't at sandringham beach for whiting but i have done a bit of flatty/bream fishing there. i would think that the whiting would be holding in there as well tho.