Flounder & Whiting.......... They're biting!

Might be extinct on Long Island but there's a different world up north...
Busy - Eastman's Docks Busy - Eastman's Docks
Whiting are not quite "extinct" in our area but most of the fish we have seen as a by-catch lately are too small to eat. However, they do make excellent strip baits for Fluke!

What I find particularly interesting is that for many years we only saw them in the 100' depths south of Montauk on our Fluke trips but for the last 2 years there have been quite a few caught as shallow as 65'.

I also reported last spring on a couple trips in Plum Gut I witnessed the Stripers spitting up small Whiting, something I have never seen in over 60 years fishing the LI Sound. Maybe there is hope for a comeback of this tasty fish in our local waters.

Also makes me question even more the supposed "global warming" claims. Must be some really cold currents near the bottom to keep the Whiting around.
 
Whiting are not quite "extinct" in our area but most of the fish we have seen as a by-catch lately are too small to eat. However, they do make excellent strip baits for Fluke!

What I find particularly interesting is that for many years we only saw them in the 100' depths south of Montauk on our Fluke trips but for the last 2 years there have been quite a few caught as shallow as 65'.

I also reported last spring on a couple trips in Plum Gut I witnessed the Stripers spitting up small Whiting, something I have never seen in over 60 years fishing the LI Sound. Maybe there is hope for a comeback of this tasty fish in our local waters.


Also makes me question even more the supposed "global warming" claims. Must be some really cold currents near the bottom to keep the Whiting around.
Gotta disagree but again, semantics.

As far as using the word "extinct" to describe a species, I usually refer to harvestable numbers. Seeing whiting in the belly of a Bass is an anomoly which has become more common.

That said, I believe there is and has been a good body of ling and whiting South of Block. Just a matter of spending some time finding them.
 
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