Des

I love your attention to detail Now you have made it an art-form.

I put this post up in a Facebook group last Autumn ... HAND CAUGHT YELLOW FIN WHITING As the YFW lure fishing season is starting to wane when Autumn progresses. I resort to catching them by hand! At this time of the year YFW are more active in the evening tide and into the night. They have shifted from their major meal of the day being Breakfast to now being Dinner. It is not so much water temperatures. But rather it is all to do with the tide cycles. The YFW behaviour is as strongly driven by the tide cycles as much as it is driven by the water temper

Love ya passion mate

I will put another old post of mine up regards their attraction for the crabs. I have only ever taken one YFW on the Cranka. But I have not given the Crankas much time in the right spots at the right time.

Thanks @bjorn2fish Perhaps we can move this great post to that section as an ongoing reference . Ta.

Bright sunny days with a breeze ... are the Best! The day started that way but then glassed off and progressively deteriorated. The assists did not hinder the lure action. Mind you I did not try it with both trebles. My first session with this lure. I will probably get rid of the other treble as well. With the small bib you can also work it subsurface which also took fish. I mainly used a high rod action and a hopping, skipping surface motion. A bibbed very light weight lure with a long sensitive ultra light rod ... you can get it to do anything.

@bjorn2fish we probably need a Tommy Ruff fish file in the Fish file section.

Great journey @MAH. Thanks for sharing that with us. It has parallels to my journey from YFW bait fisher to lure fisher. I was always encouraged to try lure fishing YFW but my standard response was; "why dig a hole with a tooth pick when you can use a shovel" I did keep revisiting it, as I wanted to find out why luring kept some respected fishos so enthralled. Today I explain it is not "digging a hole" ... but a "delicate archaeological excavation" that requires subtlety of a tooth pick ! It is a satisfying journey discovering all the subtleties and nuances required.

SUNSHINE … ON MY SHOULDERS MAKES ME HAPPY . I had checked the weather ahead for this week. And I could see there was a spell of Sunshine ahead. So I managed to rearrange my week and set off fishing on this Sunny day. It was such an enjoyable day, fishing in the brilliant sunny conditions today. And there were some good results. . Here are a few reasons why sunny days are great for lure fishing Yellow Fin Whiting on the Sandflats. . Simply put, on sunny days you will catch more Yellow Fin Whiting ! There is the extra warmth in the water t

Thanks @Kelvin. Yes I have these reports. The 2020 PIRSA assessment report uses the 2018 catch statistics as their latest available data. And the Australian Fish Stocks Reports have 2019 catch data. https://fish.gov.au/report/341-Yellowfin-Whiting-2020 I thought PIRSA should be able to publish more timely data. As often the horse has bolted before we all realise. A situation with the YFW that I think is happening now. However I can't find data to support my thoughts. The data is not being made readily available to us.

Hi There, Would anyone know if and where one can access current upto date data on the commercial catch in SA My understanding is that all the commercial catch has to be reported to PIRSA. Does the public have access to this info in a more timely - current manner or do we wait on their stock status reports, which often are reoprting on what happened 4 years ago. Any help, info, suggestions or guidance as to where to look would be appreciated. Cheers, Des

The change in the fish behaviour directly correlates to the change in water temperatures you see here:

Hopefully you will get out there soon, Mike. In this water temperature, they are really fired up. So you should look forward to a good session when you do.

If a large morning tide occurs mainly before daylight, there is a higher incidence of Prawns in their guts. Prawns are primarily nocturnal. Although the YFW can access them buried in the sand where they hide during daylight hours and are occasionally disturbed out of hiding. Often by Stingrays. So it is not uncommon to see YFW close to feeding Stingrays. I have only caught one YFW on a Cranka Crab lure. I think I have to use them in the Crab habitat and not on the flats. The Sugapen 95 in Col-MB16 I feel mimics the prawns best. The Ecogear ZX43 blade mimics a disturbed fleeing prawn

ALWAYS !!! I gut my fish before leaving the water. This lot ... Haswell Crabs in the larger ones and Lug Worms in the smaller ones. The big morning tide ( in daylight ) would have given them plenty of access to the Samphire beds holding the Haswell crabs. Lug worms are abundant on the sandflats.

A sustained warm spell has held the Gulf water temperatures at around 22 to 23C for a few weeks now. Since Christmas day the water temperatures in the upper gulfs have remained in the high range. Nice Christmas present !!! This is about a month later than normal. It is the sustained higher temperatures over a prolonged period that changes the dynamics of these gulf ecosystems, along with the behaviour and physiological responses of its participants. Currently the Yellow Fin Whiting have become voracious hunters and predators. When water temperatures are at this level,

I like fishing the Dodge tides for Yellow Fin Whiting. I posted a detailed explanation of the factors in this post: https://www.strikehook.com/index.php?/forums/topic/38765-dodgy-days/ . So to start the New Year with a couple of days of dodge tides was something to look forward to. It was a sunny day. The water temperatures were up there, at around 23C. The small tide was perfect to hold and concentrate the fish for me. I went to work with my trusty Sugapen 95 in the MB16 colour. And there was plenty of interest straight away. Pretty soon the polite en

ONLY A FEW, BUT GOOD FISH An afternoon session today did not realise a lot of fish, but they were all quality. The Zipbaits Fakie Dog DS lure did the damage. A couple of 40cm and a 43.5cm Yellow Fin whiting make the 32 and 35cm fish look insignificant. Cheers, Des

With a very mild Spring and early Summer, Yellow Fin Whiting lure fishing has had a few challenges this season. The weather patterns have not sustained a constant water temperature. It barely heats up when a cold change with a series of cold days would chill off the water. It looks like we may have turned the corner. We have not yet seen a sustained warm spell to put the warmth into the water and hold it there for a prolonged spell. It is the sustained higher water temperatures that has the greatest impact on the ecosystem and the behaviour of the YFW. Yes we have been finding a few

Fished the dodge tide on Saturday. Unfortunately the wind and air pressure conspired to negate what little water movement there was. Rather than accentuate it which is what I was expecting. Nonetheless got 16 from 32 to 40cm. Sunday was a blow out !

Gotta explore this a bit more.

Thanks. Yes I know how the lure gets hit as soon as it lands on the water. When water is deeper & cooler it often is ST. But in shallower warm water its the large YFW that pounce on it straight away. I think I might experiment with a new retrieve style. Skipping the lure out and dropping it back into the water. Need to think which lure size and shape might best suit this action. I feel MMD Splash Prawn might best suit the retrieve. I am also thinking a couple of others that have not had a run for years: Zipbaits Zoea or Ecogear PX45F. Will keep you posted.

Baked Fish in Lemon Cream Sauce Ingredients 200gm fish fillets , 50g butter 1/4 cup cream, heavy / thickened 2 garlic cloves, minced 1 tbsp Dijon mustard 1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice, tsp zest 1 1/2 tbsp shallots, finely chopped Fresh parsley and lemon slices Instructions - Preheat oven to 200°C / 390°F - Place fish in a baking dish - Sprinkle both sides of fish with salt and pepper and a little oil. - Place butter, cream, garlic, mustard, lemon juice, salt and pepper in bowl & microwave. - Microwave for 30 sec, s

I do like experimenting with my cooking. When I tire of the frying I usually go to a bake ( or too many Curries!) A couple of Fish bakes I have concocted: Baked Fish with Cheese, Anchovy and Herb Crust INGREDIENTS Extra virgin olive oil 600g fillets Fish 2 Onions thinly sliced Oregano, Rosemary, Capers Lemon Juice and Zest Garlic, crushed Feta Tomatoes, thinly sliced Breadcrumbs - Wholemeal 5 Anchovies Fennel seeds Thyme, Rosemary, Paprika Butter melted OR Olive oil Parmesan grated - Coat of Oliv

A Couple of easy but tasty shallow fried versions for whiting fillets with some different added flavours. PARMESAN CRUMBED WHITING Mix Garlic salt and Cornflour, dust & coat the fillets. Mix Panko crumbs, fine grated parmesan and Italian herb mix in a bowl. Then spread out on plate. Dip flour coated fillet into beaten egg. Lay fillets on to the parmesan crumb plate. Allow to sit a while to have a good coating adhere. Pan fry till golden brown in Butter/Olive oil mix. FURIKAKE CRUMBED WHITING Baste or marinade fillet in Sesame oil & Miso pa