BJSlick

I had a disastrous day last week and could only manage one Yellow Fin Whiting all day. I got the tide and the weather conditions all wrong.
I was fortunate to realise the error and managed to back it up the following day by relocating my fishing to a spot better suited to the tide and weather and finished with a bag of 20 large YFW on surface lures.
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The sandflats of the upper SA Gulfs are a dynamic environment and ecosystem with many a variable factor that affects fishing. It keeps you thinking. Keeps you on your toes! And we don’t always get it right!
One of the most dynamic and important factors on these sandflats are the tides.
And Beware! tides also are, the greatest danger for a novice fishing these areas !
Knowing what the tide will do on any particular day is essential.
Every spot has different characteristics, where the same tide will behave differently.
For a successful fishing trip to these sandflats, you need to consider the tide along with the weather on the day. You then select the most suitable spot for those tides and those conditions.
My recent trip to the upper St.V Gulf clearly illustrated this.
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On Day 1:
It went terribly wrong. The predicted tide was a slow steady run out all day. That did not happen. The spot was a wide sandflat. A small tide across a wide space means a slow steady water flow. That has a lot of fish lingering over the soft nipper beds. Unfortunately an unpredicted drop in air pressure and SW winds far stronger than forecast pushed against the flow and held the water at a standstill.
No flow no fish. I only ended up catching the one fish on Day 1.
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On Day 2:
The tides and weather were very similar to the previous day. Having reconsidered the factors at play. I moved to another spot. The location was narrower, more restricted & channeled sandflat squeezed between a mangrove wall and the weedline.

The tide flow here was quicker moving through this restricted space. And the fish were a lot more responsive. I finished with a bag of 20 quality large Yellow Fin Whiting.

The Sugapen 95 was the most successful lure. And Zipbaits Fakie Dog DS70 took a few.

 
For a successful day of YFW fishing on the sandflats you need to be aware of all the tide and water flow factors.
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GULF SHAPE, TIDE ENTRY, WINDS & TIDAL FLOWS
I do most of my fishing in the Gulf St Vincent. So this post will focus on the tidal influences on the Gulf of St Vincent Sandflats.
The very shape of the St V Gulf affects the tides in the gulf.
The first factor are the openings to the gulfs and their orientations.
To the East of K.I. the Backstairs Passage. A narrow and very restrictive entrance to the gulf. Not much water can flow through that passage. Although the tide that does, races through at a great rate.
On the West side is Investigator Strait. Which is considerably wider and the main entry point for the tide in St V Gulf tide.
If you study the tide times in the gulf, the tide arrives earlier on western side ports. This western orientation of the main gulf opening, has a major impact on tides when a SW wind blows. The SW wind or storm surge forces a lot more water up the gulf than any other wind. That will increase the tide height, considerably far more than the forecast height.
And the opposite also applies. A NE wind will force water out of the gulf, dropping the actual tide to lower than forecast.
 

Air pressure adds a compounding factor. A lower Air pressure draws up more water and a high air pressure will force water out.
Our Afternoon Sea breezes (occasional Gale) also act similar to a SW wind. It forces more water up the gulf and increases the tide height. Particularly in the upper gulfs.
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So if you have ever arrived at a sandflats location expecting the tide to be where you thought it should be … and it is NOT. Reconsider the above factors.
Danger is present, should these conditions come into play whilst you are out a kilometre away from the safe shore. A change in conditions can have the tide come in far faster than you have expected.
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Our gulfs narrow at their northern ends. This amplifies any tide movement. In the constricted space of the upper gulf the tide has no where to go but up. Check the high tide on the same day.  A Pt. Adelaide 2.60 mt tide, will be a 3.90 mt tide at Pt Wakefield. So in the upper gulfs the effect from any of the above variables will be amplified. Stay alert! And factor it into your fishing.

TERRAIN, & STAGE OF TIDE
Narrow areas will increase the height and speed of tide. Wider areas the reverse. This may assist or hinder our fishing depending on the weather and tide on the day.
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It is important to know your spot and its height in regards to the low water mark.
Beware the elevated sand flats. If the tide at a spot, like Bald Hill Beach, arrives 3 hours after low, then you are obviously on the higher ground on an elevated sandflat. When the tide arrives here, it arrives at the fastest period of tide flow. Many fisherman are caught and taken by surprise in these locations.
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Know the “RULE of TWELFTHS” .  How much water comes in and when. How much more will be coming in. The Flow rate of the tide in that hour. So you can decide; do you sit it out there and keep fishing or get out of there quickly.
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THE RULE OF TWELFTHS FOR TIDE MOVEMENTS:
- Based on the most frequent 6 hourly tide cycle experienced.
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If we Start at LOW Tide.
There is no movement. 100% of the water movement is yet to come in.
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1 HOUR after Low Tide:
- 1/12th of the tide moves in this hour.
- 7% of the tide has moved in, during this hour.
- 93% of the water is yet to come
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2 HOURS after Low Tide:
- 2/12th of the tide moves in this hour.
- 25% of the tide has moved in, by the end of this hour.
- 75% of the water is yet to come
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3 HOURS after Low Tide:
- 3/12th of the tide moves in this hour. The first of the fastest 2 hours of movement.
- 50% of the tide has moved in, by the end of this hour.
- 50% of the water is yet to come
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4 HOURS after Low Tide:
- 3/12th of the tide moves in this hour. The second of the fastest 2 hrs of movement.
- 75% of the tide has moved in, by the end of this hour.
- 25% of the water is yet to come
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5 HOURS after Low Tide:
- 2/12th of the tide moves in this hour.
- 93% of the tide has moved in, by the end of this hour.
- 7% of the water is yet to come
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6 HOURS after Low Tide:
- the last 1/12th of the tide moves in this hour.
- 100% of the tide has moved in, at the end of this hour.
- No more water to come in. This is the top of the tide.
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There have been a few occasions, when I have been counting the minutes and calculating the tide, whilst I was stranded out on a bank with water too deep to cross all around me.
Hopefully your sandflats fishing can be much more successful armed with the knowledge of these variables and their effects on your fishing.
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Cheers and Tight lines, Des

I used to do pretty well at Somerton, been a few years since i've fished it but can't see why it would be any different now. If you can get away with fishing near people sometimes that works well as the YFW hang about feeding on what ever there feet dig up while walking about in the water.

Reckon the bit of chop that was there at somerton helped. Bites were reasonably consistent at around 230pm. Yeah we should have had more hookups!

Had no luck at Kingston park though they were there. Then gave somerton beach a go on the far side of the sand bar. Two nice YFW and a couple of undersized flattys. Not a great day but at leas not empty handed and my daughter enjoyed herself.

Yep, sadly I haven't caught any YF, mainly because I haven't targeted them lol - but hopefully early 2020 that will change.
Any of those beaches would be ok and even Kingston Park area - just south of seacliff.  Northern beaches more so for success.
The incoming for sure and hopefully the yippers are ok - they tend to go soft (well softer) before too long - but they are an ideal bait.
I'd go a size 6 hook with running sinker.  Bottom hook > running sinker > hook > swivel.  6lb fluro carbon leader if you have it.
Good luck.

I will start by saying that i have never caught a metro YFW but.........................................
have caught a few at Pt Vincent 🎣
I generally catch & use the nippers same day but I guess if you keep em well they'll be ok.
So, low tide to collect then fish the run in tide almost straight away, running ball sinker, # 4 or # 6 long shank hook.
I walk back in with the tide until the bite stops.
I've seen folk @ Seacliff catching at both low & high tide, the tides aren't bad tomorrow so I'd try Seacliff around the low.
Hope this helps & let us know how you go 😀

Today I collected around 40 nippers from seacliff and tomorrow I want to put them to use off the beach - but when and where?
I haven't done much fishing over the last decade so want to make these count. Where and when would be the best bet?
I see Tennison has been good, I know that Seacliff is popular for YFW, and I have seen people fishing for YFW off Somerton. Where would you go?
I gather best time probably the first 2 hours after low tide?

Noting a few recent posts enquiring after Yellow Fin Whiting, I thought I would put up some general info regarding a species I have obsessed over for a while, along with a part log for this winter so far.Yellow Fin Whiting are available all year round.There are independent resident populations in the St Vincent Gulf, Spencer Gulf and in WA from Albany through to Shark Bay.The is no migration between populations.Yellow Fin Whiting follow the COLD WATER. At various times of the year you will find them in the part of the gulf that have their natural habitat, but were the water is COLDEST. So I track them all year round, up and down the gulf following the water temperature.By the start of April they would have disappeared from the Adelaide beaches and moved north. This catch was at the end of April in a "middle" part of the gulf. Flathead are a nice by catch, but disappear along with the baitfish when the water gets too cold. However Yellow Fin whiting are still found in the cool water shallows. I manage regular catches through May and June. But it is the Bloodworm runs that really concentrate their numbers into the shallows. And it is then that the better size fish are more abundant. This catch was in the middle of the July bloodworm run.Another bag at the end of JulyThis bag in the middle of the August Bloodworm runAnd I recently managed to find a day with light winds! Which resulted in this bag.Now it is not just us recreational fishers that get stuck into the Yellow Fin Whiting in winter. The graph below from a study in 2000 shows the large majority of the professional catch taken in winter months.Cheers Des

An often asked question is "how do i butterfly fillet a gar"well this is how i do it.I use a rounded butter knife sharpened to a nice edge.put the knife right through the fish just below its butt and cut down to the tail.now cut towards the head but don't cut through the ribs,then slice down behind the head too the backbone.now with an angled knife cut through the pin bones but over the top of the ribs but don't cut all the way through the fish and leave the gut intact.It will look like this when done but fold it back into place and turn the fish over.this time start with the downward cut behind the head then with an angled knife again run the knife towards the tail cutting through the pin bones but not the ribs.like this.then pick up the fish and fold the fillet near the head so it is skin on skin and tear the fillet away from the fish,it is important to get it started correctly so you don't end up with any black on the fillet.the end result is a clean fillet without any mess on the board or the fillet.Any errors you make like cutting through the ribs should be corrected before you start to tear the fillet away from the belly or you will get black lining on your fillet.It takes about 35 seconds per fish once you are proficient. cheers brenton