Forget any light line & small reels - heavy gear all the way. The key to doing well on Whitley is fishing the right mark at the right stage of the tide and this means moving around - no beach buddies & six hour sit downs here!
It's one of the few marks I like to go "leader-less" so 40lb line straight through, as you're fishing generally shallow marks over rocks & weed, so you don't want jammed leader knots & the like. Your line also needs to stand up to a lot of abrasion so I chop off the last few feet of line regularly (as necessary). 2 hook flappers and short-ish chucks are the norm, with crab & lug the best baits. Don't bother with rotten bottoms as you can generally rive your gear out of snags (although some losses can be expected on certain marks) and you'll throw away leads too easily.
Pointless fishing without a good sea running with a northerly generally the best - tides around a metre or so ebb are spot on. The fish can be highly localised so no more than two chucks in the same spot without a bite - and they move with the tide; if you know what you're doing you can follow them along from mark to mark as the tide ebbs & floods. If you like, PM me when you're thinking of visiting & I'll do my best to give you a plan of action for the night & given conditions.
Gary
