Whiting

Species Information

Scientific Name:	Menticirrhus americanus
Common Names:	sea mullet, whiting, Virginia mullet, southern kingfish, southern kingcroaker
Environment:	Inshore, Surf
Ideal Temp:	72-86°F (22-30°C)

About Whiting

Menticirrhus americanus, the southern kingfish, southern kingcroaker, the king whiting, the Carolina whiting, or the Sea Mullet, is a species of marine fish in the family Sciaenidae. It lives in shallow coastal waters on the western fringes of the Atlantic Ocean.

The southern kingcroaker can grow to about 50 centimetres (20 in) but a more usual adult length is 30 centimetres (12 in).

The southern kingcroaker is a slender fish, deepest about two fifths of the way along. The upper jaw projects further than the lower and the snout overhangs the mouth. There is a small barbel on the fleshy lower lip. The dorsal fin is divided into two parts. The number of spines and soft rays in the fins is indicative of the species and in M. americanus, the front part of the dorsal fin is broadly triangular and has 10 spines and the other part is long and has 1 spine and 22 to 25 soft rays. The pointed pectoral fins are large and the anal fin has 1 spine and 7 or 8 soft rays. The tail fin has a characteristic slightly concave upper lobe and a rounded lower lobe. The colour of the fish is silvery grey, sometimes with a coppery sheen, and paler grey below. There are sometimes several broad slanting bands of darker colour on the back of the fish.

The southern kingcroaker is a subtropical, demersal fish found in shallow waters in the western Atlantic Ocean. It has a discontinuous range extending from New York southwards to Texas, and from Yucatán southwards to Buenos Aires, Argentina. The northern portion of its range is interrupted its not being found in southern Florida and the southern portion of its range is interrupted by absence from the West Indies. It is found in places where the seabed is sand or mud, often on sandy beaches. The juveniles can tolerate low salinity levels and are often found in estuaries.

The southern kingcroaker feeds on benthic invertebrates. The diet consists mainly of small crustaceans such as shrimps and crabs but amphipods, polychaete worms, molluscs and small fish are also eaten and it also scavenges for detritus and carrion.

Anglers catch kingfish from piers, jetties and boats in the nearshore ocean, usually with two-hook bottom rigs baited with shrimp, mole crabs, bloodworms or squid. Anglers also use jigs or spec rigs to catch kingfish. Kingfish are often caught while fishing for weakfish.

Whiting Fishing

World Record:	1.27 kg (2 lb 13 oz) Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA
# Fish Caught:	2968772 documented in database.
Earliest Record:	1/1/1830 12:00:00 AM and located at 29.36809, -94.84530.
Latest Record:	4/4/2025 2:06:12 AM and located at -31.82141, 115.73853.
Common Techniques:	Bottom Fishing, Jigging
Popular Lure Types:	Bottom Rig, Jigs
Fishing Spots:	860 Whiting fishing spots.

Latest Whiting Fishing Reports and Spots

TW’S DAILY FISHING REPORT - 6/8/2025 4:34:00 PM

Sunday June 8 2025 Fishing Report School’s out for summer (for most) and the fish are biting! It has been a productive few days of fishing and e (View)

TW’S DAILY FISHING REPORT - 6/23/2025 4:48:00 PM

Monday June 23 2025 Fishing Report It couldn’t have been a more perfect weekend to officially start summer! The weather was warm and beautiful a (View)

6/27 - 6/28/2025 3:55:03 PM

Body: Mahi heading to the fish cleaners! Been great reports of mahi catches throughout the whole offshore fleet and seemingly always on those (View)

6/28 - 6/29/2025 4:20:17 PM

Body: Offshore boats are staying in the mahi! Good bites of black fins and some amberjacks! Inshore boats have continued to have good bites of (View)

6/29-6/30 - 6/30/2025 5:05:06 PM

Body: Great couple days on the water for the fleet! Off shore boats are sticking to the rhythm with the mahi!! Nice catches of black fin tuna (View)

6/30-7/1 - 7/1/2025 4:45:11 PM

Body: Breeze picked up and the drum started chewing! Still seeing great catches of mahi offshore. Wind picked up today but didn’t stop the i (View)

6/13-6/16 - 6/17/2025 7:38:22 AM

Body: The weather has been very hit or miss lately but inshore charters are seeing a lot of red drum bluefish and Spanish mackerel along with (View)

Bob’s Bait And Tackle Fishing. - 5/28/2025 10:56:00 AM

Todays Northern OBX fishing report ( 5/28/2025) On the beach today they have been catching Bluefish and Sea Mullet. In the sound the Trout are (View)

TW’S DAILY FISHING REPORT - 5/20/2025 8:04:00 AM

Tuesday May 20 2025 Fishing Report What a stellar weekend we had to get us prepped and ready to go for Memorial Day! The fish sure are biting an (View)

Outer Banks Fishing Report 5/20/25 - 5/20/2025 9:52:58 AM

Todays Northern OBX fishing report ( 5/20/ 2025) From the beaches we have been hearing lots of good size bluefish some puppy and overslept drum (View)