Sand Whiting, Ikan Bolos, Ikan Pasir Pasir, Silver Silago, Swachiam/ Suachiam. This fish comes in many names and has been herded as one of the top baits to use when fishing for stingrays. I personally have not caught a stingray but seeing that SSCC 2016 is just a few days away, I decided to reload my ammo and stock up on the ammunition to be used on game day.

9am and the sun was mildly taunting my skin at West Coast Park. I figured since I was going to video the hunt, I might as well do up an article documenting my methods used to catch those slippery little things. So here goes.

Location

The sand whiting is a group of whitings that live in the sand, hence the name. In order to achieve a fruitful hunt, fish for sand whiting in waters with sandy bottom. In my experience, most beaches should be stocked full of them and it's not always necessary to cast far to locate the whitings. One example where sand whitings would be almost impossible to be caught is places with rocky bottom like at the viewing decks at Labrador Park. Rocks are not big sand. NO.

Tackle

Almost any light setup would suffice for catching of sand whiting. However, with a majority of sand whiting being  rather small in Singapore, I would recommend a more sensitive setup to detect bites more effectively. I am currently using a Majorcraft First Cast UL rod paired with a size 500 Shimano Nasci reel and its terrific for the job (no, I did not buy the rod just to catch sand whiting). Initially, my 4'6" Vivid Light Game Rod was my choice for sand whiting hunting but with the rod being less sensitive, I missed many fast takers and only managed to land whitings that set the hooks on themselves.

Rig

To catch small-mouthed bait fish, the most important aspect is definitely the rig. Use rigs with extremely minute hooks in order to fish effectively. My go-to rig is definitely a 2-hook apollo rig.

For the hook size, I can't recall the actual size which I use but the width of the hook gape should be around 3mm as the whiting mouths are ridiculously small. I'm currently using some cheap 10lbs monofilament line but I'm pretty sure pushing the diameter down to around 4lbs should be no problem as these sand whitings are pretty small usually. The true test is tying knots on those puny hooks and a smaller diameter for your rig line will definitely decrease the probability of slippage of the snell knot.

Bait

Cut prawn meat for bait is definitely one of my favourites but I have read of people who have found success with sea worms too. When baiting your hooks, always expose the tip of the hook so that the chances of snagging in the lips of the whiting increases. Do not use too much bait as these creatures have a knack for ripping bait off hook.

Technique

The idea of whiting hunting is fairly simple. This is my ritual for hunting sand whitings. First, I would bait up my rig and cast far in a certain direction. Next, wait for the rig to hit the bottom where all the whitings are. If after 10 seconds there are no bites, retrieve your line slowly by dragging it along the sandy bed. Keep repeating these procedures until you finally get a bite. Once you know where the whitings are, keep at it and casting in the same direction and distance until the bites become slow then repeat again from the top. Setting the hook on sand whitings requires a nimble touch. When doing the ritual, if there is a series of struggles just jerk your rod in a swift fashion like you would a micro lure to avoid pulling the entire hook out of the fish's mouth.