Perth Winter Whiting 2026: Where King George, School & Yellowfin Are Still On

King George whiting are the headliner — sweet, white, prized table fish that grow to 4kg and reward a quiet, considered approach. KGs feed over sand near weed beds in sheltered water and they hold around Perth year-round, with the spring/autumn peak around Cockburn Sound and Shoalwater. Winter fishing is reliable rather than red-hot — you fish the deeper, calmer pockets and the protected bays of Rottnest Island, and you settle in for a slower bite.

Yellowfin whiting are smaller, more abundant, and more willing biters than KGs. They cruise sandy estuary flats and shallow beach gutters and they’re the species you’ll most often catch by accident while targeting something else. They hold through winter but the bite tightens as the water cools.

Western School whiting — usually called sand whiting around Perth — are smaller again, often the first fish a kid catches off a jetty, and excellent eating despite the size. They run through winter on the same flats as yellowfin and through the inner reaches of jetties.

Confirm current numbers with DPIRD before you keep fish. At the time of writing:

• King George whiting: bag 12, minimum size 28cm.
• Yellowfin and Western School (sand) whiting: 30 per species individually, but both count inside the statewide “all other species” mixed bag of 30, so 30 is the practical ceiling across the two. No minimum size. Full detail on the yellowfin whiting size and bag limits.

Each species page carries its own set — King George whiting size and bag limits, yellowfin whiting, western school whiting — which is the quickest way to check one fish rather than read the lot.

KGs sit outside that group entirely, with their own 28cm minimum and bag of 12 — so the 12 KGs is on top of the 30. Get the species ID right before you put one in the chiller — KGs have the distinctive horizontal rows of small dark spots running along the back, the others don’t.

Mangles Bay, Cockburn Sound — the most consistent winter KG mark in metro Perth. Sandy bottom near patchy seagrass beds in protected water. Wade out to the sandy patches and cast into the gutters. Mid-morning on a rising tide on a flat day is the standard winter window. Fresh pipis or tube worms on a small long-shank hook, light line, patience.

Palm Beach Jetty, Rockingham — the standout winter jetty for both KGs and yellowfin whiting. The water is shallow over sand and weed, the jetty structure pulls fish in, and unlike a lot of metro jetties, it actually fishes through winter rather than going to sleep. KGs cruise close to the pylons on a rising tide.

Rockingham Jetty — the sheltered Cockburn Sound stand-in now the jetty at Woodman Point is out of action. That jetty, listed in some spots as Ammo Jetty and in others as Woodman Point Jetty, is the one structure, and it’s closed from mid-2026 until around 2027 for a rebuild. Rockingham fishes the same way — KGs, herring, the odd late squid before the new season starts in August, and whiting through winter that most anglers underrate. Fish the deeper end on the change of tide.

Rottnest Island — if you’re prepared to take the ferry and the bike, the north-side bays around Rotto sit in the lee of the prevailing winter southerly and fish for KGs when the metro shore is wind-blasted. Geordie Bay, Longreach Bay and the inner east coast around Thomson Bay all hold fish on a calm day. The bonus: you’ll usually have the spot to yourself in June.

Point Walter, Swan River and Applecross Jetty — the Swan River runs cooler in winter and the whiting bite slows compared to summer, but yellowfin and school whiting still come through on the sandy flats inside the river. Worth a quiet session on a still afternoon when the metro coast is unworkable. River winter whiting fishing is more about the walk than the haul, in honesty.

Whiting fishing is a rig-and-bait game. There’s no clever lure work, no technique that beats the fundamentals. Get the rig right and let the fish do the rest.

• Rod: 7–9ft light spin, 2–4kg. Sensitive tip — whiting bites are tap-tap-tap, not a hit.
• Reel: 2500–3000 size with 4–6lb braid.
• Leader: 4–6lb fluorocarbon, around a metre.
• Rig: running ball sinker straight to a #4–6 long-shank hook. Use the lightest sinker that holds bottom. Some anglers run a small two-hook paternoster for sand whiting on the flats — both work.
• Bait: fresh pipis (collected from the beach an hour before fishing if you can), tube worms, beach worms, peeled prawn. Frozen bait will catch but fresh always outfishes it for whiting.
• Net: for KGs over a metre of jetty drop. Lifting on light line over a high pylon is how good fish get lost.

Whiting are not a low-light species. They’re sight feeders over sand and they bite better in calm, clear water on a rising tide than they do in the wash. The window most winter sessions hinge on is mid-morning to early afternoon on a flat day with the tide coming in. After a winter front blows through and the swell drops, the second day of the calm is often the standout.

Watch wind especially. A southerly that ruffles Cockburn Sound at 15 knots will shut the KG bite down. The same morning at Mangles Bay in glass-out conditions will produce.

Some June sessions you’ll wake up to a 25-knot southerly and 3m of swell and there’s no point being on the open coast. That’s the day for the Swan River, the Mandurah estuary, or staying home. The whiting won’t be feeding either.

For live wind, swell and tide on the spots in this guide, check BiteCompass before you commit.