When do the Whiting really start running on the beach during the fall?
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When do the Whiting really start running on the beach during the fall?
Year round I would suppose, I caught several nice sized ones in late November and even in the colder months.
...yep, about 3 weeks ago ;-)
Seriously, I have been getting some decent sized ones since mid August, but culling through LOTS of by-catch species and smaller whiting/ groundmullet in the process.
They are active in the surf all year, you just have to hunt out an area where they are actively feeding and put up with the incidental catches.
When the water starts to cool in late October and the jacks are gone and the pinfish get less active the schools of larger whiting & ground mullet are easier to pinpoint and fish more effectively.
That is when personal conservation comes into play as they are a non-regulated species.
Still they are extremely prolific (thank You Lord ;-)
I found a little washout on Romar beach that was full of big sow whitings on my search for pompano earlier in the week. When the big girls came through they would do so in schools and I'd catch 3-4 back to back until they moved through and the hardheads moved back in, then the cycle would repeat. They preferred the smaller live fleas as opposed to the prolific prehistoric-sized ones that are covering the beach this time of year. I also think they're here all year but the competition decreases as the water cools off in the shallows.
Is day or night fishing best for whites?