Also known as KGW, King George, South Australian whiting, spotted whiting, Sillaginodes punctatus. Bait, technique, tide windows, and where the bite is on right now.
King George Whiting — The southern table king — seagrass, sand holes and patience pay off. Also called KGW, King George, South Australian whiting, spotted whiting, Sillaginodes punctatus.
King George Whiting is also known as: KGW, King George, South Australian whiting, spotted whiting, Sillaginodes punctatus. The southern table king — seagrass, sand holes and patience pay off.
Regional names can confuse anglers and cause misidentification. The table of common names below covers the most-used alternatives across Australia, New Zealand and the US:
Key to correct identification: check the regulations-authority species sheet for your state or territory before keeping any fish — minimum legal sizes, bag limits and identification guides are published by each fisheries department and are the authoritative source.
Hero spots in our coverage where King George Whiting is in season for June. Click through for the live forecast.
Out of season across our covered spots in June. Check back in July.
Find the edges, not the open ground. KGW patrol the seam where broken seagrass (cabbage and ribbon weed) meets clean white sand — the bare "sand holes" and channels between weed beds are where they grub for worms, pipis and crustaceans. Anchor up-current of a hole, drop a berley pot of crushed pipi and pollard, and let the trail draw a school to you. Fish a light paternoster with long-shank hooks hard on the bottom; the bite is a tap-tap-tap rattle, not a slam, so hold the rod, feed a touch of slack and wait for weight before lifting. Strike too early and you'll pull it. Bigger spotted models often hold deeper, so work edges of channels and the run-out over reefy-sand mixes. A gentle drift past multiple holes locates fish fast; once you find them, anchor and berley to hold the school. Quality lifts at first and last light and on the moving tide.
Best on the run-out and the early run-in around a tide change — moving water over the sand holes and weed edges switches the fish on. Slack water usually kills the bite. Dawn and dusk are prime, and the larger fish often feed better after dark in shallower gulf water.
The bigger, deeper schools tend to fire on the stronger tidal flow around the new and full moon, when more water moves through the gulfs and channels. Brighter full-moon nights can push better fish into the shallows after dark, while gentler neap tides around the quarter moons suit calmer, clear-water sand-hole sessions.
King George Whiting are slow-growing, highly prized southern table fish and they're managed carefully. Minimum legal sizes and bag/boat limits exist and vary by state — South Australia, Victoria, WA and Tasmania each set their own rules, and some areas have spatial or seasonal closures. Always check the current limits with your state fisheries agency before keeping a feed.
Olli-Mikael Vaittinen has fished his whole life. Fifteen years of fly fishing, guiding seasons on Norway's Lakselva — his favourite Atlantic salmon river — and a blue marlin landed in Vava'u, Tonga. Founder of Fishare — the app that puts the data behind the decisions every angler makes on the water.
Fishare tracks your home spots and pings you when the next 3-hour peak window opens. Log catches and blanks to teach the model your local patterns. Free forever for everyone who joins now.
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