Summer whiting (sand and yellowfin)

Summer whiting size and bag limit in QLD

Min 23 cm. 30 in total of sand, goldenline (yellowfin) and northern whiting. No closed season.

Checked 8 Oct 2026 against the Queensland Government pages: size and possession limits and closed seasons.

Limits are possession limits: they count everything you hold, including any at home in the freezer. In yellow (conservation park) zones: max 2 lines and 2 hooks in total per angler. Green zones: no fishing. All QLD fishing rules

When to catch summer whiting in South East Queensland

• P peak season
• S in season
• – off season
• C closed season for at least part of the month

Tide: The making (rising) tide as fish push onto flats and into creek mouths; on beaches the low-tide gutters and the first of the run-in.

Time of day: Early morning and late afternoon into evening; day and night on the bay flats.

Weather: a light onshore breeze helps; rain makes little difference.

Seasons partly come from Coastwatch report mentions, not catch numbers.

Summer whiting by area

Not in our guide for Offshore Sunshine Coast, Offshore Moreton and Offshore Gold Coast.

Around Scarborough and the Redcliffe Peninsula

Our local Redcliffe Peninsula notes come from local fishing columns and reports, and for summer whiting they differ from the South East Queensland picture. Around Scarborough the best months are September to January, with February, March, April and August also worth a try.

Scarborough beaches and the Spit (yellowfin whiting), the eastern foreshore from Woody Point to Scarborough, Margate Beach, the shallows of Deception and Bramble Bays, the Pine River and the Ted Smout Bridge. Hays Inlet only outside the MNP11 green zone.

Tide around Scarborough: Early run-in (first half of the flood) as fish push onto the flats; they are often right at the edge of the shore break, so don't cast too far.

When: Early morning and late afternoon into evening; day and night on the bay flats.

Spots in our local notes: Scarborough Beach, Queens Beach (north ramp), Margate Beach, Clontarf – Pelican Park, Ted Smout Bridge platforms.

Where to catch summer whiting in SEQ

Sand whiting dominate the ocean beaches (Moreton, North Stradbroke, Bribie, Gold Coast, Noosa North Shore), Jumpinpin, Caloundra, the Southport Broadwater and the Nerang River. Yellowfin whiting dominate the western bay: Sandgate, Shorncliffe, Brighton, Hays Inlet (outside the green zone), Deception Bay, Nudgee and the Brisbane River. Also Pumicestone Passage, Noosa River and Maroochy/Mooloolah lower reaches.

Catch Signal forecast areas that rate summer whiting: Noosa River & Noosa Heads, Laguna Bay & Noosa offshore, Maroochy, Mooloolaba & Coolum, Caloundra & northern Pumicestone Passage, Bribie Island & southern Pumicestone Passage, Redcliffe Peninsula & Deception Bay, Bramble Bay, Pine River & Sandgate, Brisbane River, Central bay & Moreton Island west, Wynnum, Manly & Wellington Point, Cleveland, Peel & Straddie west, Victoria Point, Redland Bay & bay islands, Jumpinpin, Jacobs Well & Pimpama, Gold Coast Broadwater, Seaway & Nerang River, Burleigh to Point Danger, Ocean side of Straddie & Moreton.

Spots to try for summer whiting

Picked because the water each spot reaches suits summer whiting (our habitat match), not from catch reports. Each spot links to its place on the area page; tide times are for the place our forecast reads for that spot.

How to catch summer whiting: best baits, lures and rig

Baits

• Live yabbies (best for yellowfin whiting)
• Beach worms on the ocean beaches
• Rock worms, wrigglers and bloodworms in the bay

Lures

• Small surface poppers and stickbaits over shallow flats in summer (local reports mention them but give few details)

Summer whiting rig

6 lb mono, size 4-6 fine-wire worm hook, the lightest sinker that holds bottom; a small running ball sinker to the hook on the beaches.

Good to know about summer whiting

Spawn Sep-Mar near estuary mouths and in the surf zone. Present all year on the beaches and in the Broadwater; the bay flats are best Sep-Jan. White spot rules: saltwater yabbies and marine worms must not leave the Caloundra-NSW border movement area uncooked.

Open in the forecast

See summer whiting in the Catch Signal app: seasons for the area you fish, closed-season warnings and the best days this week.