Happy New Year anglers and welcome back to our little space here. I've been on holiday and then to a trade show for several days so its good to be back on the Forgotten Coast, yes you guessed it, I was at fishing trade show ! The word of the week this week is Whiting ! This cold weather has turned a lot of other fish off but Whiting (Menticirhus Littoralis) also known as Southern Kingfish, Southern Whiting and Kind Whiting has been hot the last several weeks. I suggest you break out the light tackle and hit the beaches for this fun and delicious little fish. They can range in average of a pound but can go up to about two pounds. Your best bait is Sand Fleas, Shrimp----live or fresh, and Fishbites. These fish tend to run the beaches in small schools so if you catch one bet back in the water quickly. They are great table fair and due to size are best just headed, scaled, and fried mostly whole using your favorite coating or batter. Some quick tips, use what we call double drops or single drops also known as Pompano rigs for these fish, a 2/0 hook is perfect as they have a fairly small mouth. You will fish on the bottom using a pyramid sinker in the surf. And before I close a little trivia, if you like imitation crab meat like sold at the Piggly Wiggly turn the package over, the first ingredient is Whiting ! Until next week Happy Fishing !
Bobby Scarbrough