# targeting Whiting from the beach?



## haeffnkr (May 5, 2013)

Hi,
I did not find any details on rigs/techniques for catching Whiting during my search on this board, so I thought I would ask.

I will be in Destin starting 6/27 and was hoping to catch a bunch of Whiting.

A couple of years ago I caught some using a carolina rig with 1/2 oz weight (depedning on the surf) with a small circle hook and dead shrimp seemed to catch more of them vs sand fleas.
This was on my ultra light rig with 10 pound braid, with a flouro leader.

I fished mainly on the beach side of the first bar.... I caught more fish than the 2nd bar it seemed. 

My quesion is should I use a dropper rig or a carolina rig?
Shrimp the prefered bait vs sand fleas?
First bar usuall best? Washouts better or are they just stacked up along the inside edge all up and down the beach?

thanks in advance Kevin


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## jack2 (Mar 19, 2010)

hey, kevin
it sounds like you got it all right just have to fine tune the technique.
you can catch more whiting (ground mullet) if you use the smallest weight that will hold down in the surf, the smallest hook you have, and a pinch of shrimp about the size of your little finger nail. i used to use an ultralight rig with a bream setup; a fairly large sinker pinched on the line about 6 in from the hook. small circle hooks or if you want to jerk like in bass fishing, use a small j. whiting usually feed where the wave breaks and there is usually a small depression where this happens. if there is much current, you'll have to go to a larger lead. some people that i used to fish with like to toss it out with a heavy weight but i sometimes caught whiting in the half pound range.
you won't find any larger than two pounds. post up some pics when you get back.

jack


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## haeffnkr (May 5, 2013)

jack2 said:


> hey, kevin
> it sounds like you got it all right just have to fine tune the technique.
> you can catch more whiting (ground mullet) if you use the smallest weight that will hold down in the surf, the smallest hook you have, and a pinch of shrimp about the size of your little finger nail...... a fairly large sinker pinched on the line about 6 in from the hook. small circle hooks or if you want to jerk like in bass fishing, use a small j. whiting usually feed where the wave breaks and there is usually a small depression where this happens. if there is much current, you'll have to go to a larger lead. some people that i used to fish with like to toss it out with a heavy weight but i sometimes caught whiting in the half pound range.
> you won't find any larger than two pounds. post up some pics when you get back.
> ...


So...some more questions - 
How small a hook do you use? #2 or #1 or even smaller?

You pinch a weight 6" from the hook? Why so close? wouldnt you want it to be a little longer to have the bait wave around undetected? I guess these are bottom feeders and they want the bait on the bottom so closer the weight, closer to the bottom?

Look for dark water depressions between the first bar and the beach then and focus on those?

thanks for your help
Kevin


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