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
