freeride76 wrote:

Anyhow, anyone tried eating common herring, the type caught on bait jigs in estuaries?

I tried but they were very boney and fiddly.

Common fare in WA FR. They're about in plague proportions through late autumn early winter, usually around or just after the salmon run.

Not bad grilled or deep fried whole, but as you say the bones are a bit of a nuisance.

Excellent dhuey and snapper bait.

Not sure if they are the same, we have Australia herring in WA that only extend over to across into South Australia and Victoria. Think they are called Tommy Ruff over there. Excellent fish when very fresh either filleted or fried whole. My missus like to butterfly them and sun dried with salt and vinegar and then deep fry.

yeah, little east coast bait fish herring is different to the Tommy ruffs.

indo-dreaming wrote:

zenagain wrote:

This is Shirasu.

Wow those are tiny.

These are the ones my wife cooks.

thats a type of anchovy.

same ones they catch from G-Land fishing village.

Ikan Bilis then

FR, do you mean the type of herring that are real skinny and shed their scales easily when touched? I think they are also known as blueback herring?

yep, those ones Fitzy.

good liveys.

Zen i'd say your mackerel are similar species to our slimy mackerel from the Scombrid family. Mackerel/blue mackerel are eaten all round the world, not just Big in Japan!

Although they all look delicious swimming around in a livey tank, i'd much rather turn a yakka, slakker, slimy, pilly, round herring or blueback herring into a grassy, snapper, spanish, spotty, schoolie or red emperor!

Here's an Aussie take on eating bait:

https://www.fishingmonthly.com.au/Articles/Display/17647-Slimy-Mackerel-….

Another nice flatty.

they are getting bigger, this one in the 60's.

also a solid GT, close to 3kegs I reckon, which gave me a serious workout on 8lb braid.

released.

Thats 2 summer species: GT's and Jacks caught in the last 2 weeks.

I think high SST's and good downstream salinity are the cause.

nice ....

I just saw your post then Andrew. I actually had Aji for dinner last night.

Having said that, coupla Freerides flattie fillets light batter with some Maldon sea salt and a drizzle of cider vinegar and a handful of thick cut chips and I'm in heaven.

been having it for lunch.

few fillets and a salad.

bit of avo and some mayo.

millionaire food for peasants.

That's a good looking specimen FR. Interesting looking rig; the lizards keen on it?

it's just the plastic rigged on a weedless rig.

I'm throwing up current next to a rock wall and bouncing back as close to the wall as I can.

lose a few less rigs when using weedless rigs.

This was a memorable day a while back. We were fishing for Garfish with 2kg line and scented up bread as bait. They obviously weren't fussy that day. Best fun I've ever had.

Nice, cheers.

seaslug wrote:

Are they Ikan Teri or Ikan Bilis ID?

The packet is Ikan teri hence the label :P, i asked my wife the difference she says bilis are slightly bigger.

Haha thought so ID

Holy grail fish for me.
Elbow slapper whiting on a surface lure.
Mid morning, hour before high tide, knee deep water.

It's not that big, nor particularly majestic - to my chip shop eyes at least - so why's it a Holy Grail fish?

Zen - there are few feeds finer than your description above!

Nice one FR - i've never cracked the surface whiting code, but have been enjoying catching them old school with alveys and long fibreglass rods i've built myself. I had fresh whiting for dinner last night - panko crumbed and shallow fried. Forget the egg wash, just use a gluey mix of plain flour and cold water before you roll in panko. Fry til golden brown, texture like sun. Yum!

Nice one Steve. Bassday sugapen certainly do the damage. My daughter found one washed up in the debris on the beach after one of the floods. New pair of trebles, and it's accounted for plenty of whiting and bream off the top. Even caught 2 legal sized flatties on it.

Very nice. Few things taste better than a whiting you've just caught and cleaned.

Nice tings Andrew P! They don't photograph very well, going by the numbers they are slobs!

Stu -Whiting are a prized table fish and were always assumed to be an almost exclusively bottom feeding species. A few years ago there was a bit of a revolution in whiting fishing with the determination that you could catch them in the top of the water column on poppers and other surface lures.

It’s just a new fashion in fishing and a new aspect of the art for fishermen to pursue and master. In parlance you can understand, it’s the fishing equivalent of getting a good tube on a mid length twin after years of conventional wisdom considering it an inappropriate vehicle for hollow and powerful waves.

When the craze first started to unfold I was visiting this town and the local boat mechanic , who I hardly knew , was so enraptured with the new technique that he gave me several brand new lures off his shelves and detailed maps to find the best place to try them out in the local river. That’s not something that happens everyday! He was that stoked out that he was busting a gut to share the buzz with a stranger.

Well done, Freeride.

Couple of horses there Andrew!

Yeah they dont photograph well at all. these were outstanding fish from catches of a dozen fish over 30cm. photos dont do them justice at all! both those fish were under 500grams. have a mate that has caught whiting over 1kg. his lips are tighter than the line when he is winding them in

Stu - to paraphrase - only a fisher knows the feeling!

Geez Andrew, the piccy of your crumbed whiting almost made me weep with home sickness.....
I just pulled out my last slab of yellow fin tuna a local fisho gave me a couple of months ago.......Tasty, but after 10kg's, I'm well and truly ready for some top notch Aussie table fish...

They go alright in fish tacos with a light spice rub too megzee...

(apologies for blurry photo)

Try Fresh whiting fillets bit, of salt and soak in lemon juice and /or white vinegar until the liquid "cooks" the fish (watch for colour turn) - serve with crusty bread.

Pops wrote:

They go alright in fish tacos with a light spice rub too megzee...

(apologies for blurry photo)

Cheers Pops.....might give that a shot tonight....
I've been drillin' the Tahitian recipe Freeride76 gave me......

@Andrew- Beauties mate...

I always forget how to do photos properly...

@Andrew, wow good size!

Sorry pops.....thought you meant the Tuna in Taco's
Photo explains a lot.......Deeelishhhhh
I wanna go home..........

Try Fly fishing for them...they love taking a Fly.

Sorry to disappoint Megzee!
The tuna'd probably go alright too... dunno how to cook tuna though!

For a healthy crumbed whiting (or any white fish) option try this.
1 Rasher streaky bacon and 100g stale bread blitzed in food processor with 1 teaspoon olive oil.
Dust fish with flour, dip in egg then roll in breadcrumbs and bake in oven. No frying in oil!! The bacon fat crisps up the breadcrumbs.

this fish came racing out of shallow water like a Spanish mackerel chasing gar, swiped at the lure missed.

three casts later it did the same again and this time hooked up at my feet.
this is in a foot of gin clear water.

Look how fat it is Stu, it's a slob.

This was a ten minute fishing mission on a trip to Ballina to do some chores.

I'm digging the vernacular:
Slob
Ting
Horses
Poppers
Bassday sugapen

just to clarify: I don't use the dictionary definition of chores.

it does a lot of heavy lifting in my vernacular.

Nice elbow slappers Andrew.

Whiting tempura- cup of flour, teaspoon of salt and importantly ice cold soda water. Make the tempura batter to be used straight away. Dust the fillets in flour and mix the batter with chopsticks leaving it quite lumpy. Dip the fillets in the batter, let the excess drain off a little then into hot oil at 180°C and fry till light golden. Drain on a wire rack not kitchen towel and another little sprinkle of salt. You can tempura veg for a side dish too the same way, just make sure the veg isn't too thick. Or serve with salad and a few chips.

Epic.

Only thing better than whiting done this way is flattie.

I'm drooling Zen.
My grandmother used to do em that way...

Might try it with both Zen.

still got this in the fridge to fillet up.

Now.....there's a lizard FR.....Bloody lovely.....
Now I am a complete home sick sook.....

Andrew P wrote:

A sand whiting over 1Kg that's impressive even down here in Vic where we regularly catch King George whiting in the 40cm range 1Kg fish are super rare maybe a couple max are reported to be caught each year.

SA and even Tassie (north coast) get 1kg+ fish them more regularly though.

Cheers for the recipes guys I will have to try them

Thanks for the recipe Zen you and your wife are welcome at my house anytime! Tempura was incredible. Had a beer with a mate who had recently been to the reef and he swung me a bag of red emperor fillet. It’s no whiting but it’s pretty close. Tempura was better than the panko crumbed in my opinion but the kids smashed that!

Nice Andrew- man, I'm still at my desk and starving. That looks sooooo good. Glad you gave it a go.

Beautiful eating fish Red Emperor. Delicious cooked and chilled too or as sashimi.

Nice , now I'm hungry again.. the Reds are a good chew.
Yeah can't beat the whiting , love them in foil on the campfire , just butter and a squeeze of lemon.

had flathead and whiting last night.

have to say, I prefer the flatty.

too lazy to make a batter, rolled them in seasoned flour and fried 'em up.

squeeze of lemon, bit of mayo.

salad and some wedges.

yum.

Getting good waves and flathead is a novelty.
Normally they only come on when those northerlies blow.