# Whitting......sea mullet?? King fish??



## pogeymoe

It has always amused me when someone says,"any kings?Then someone repliesw with,"yep!,we are reeling them in like crazy on shrimp!"

from cape fear south a kingfish is a kingmackerel.A mullet is a jumping fish often used to catch king mackerel.a sea mullet is a whitting


farther north a kingfish is a whitting and a seamullet is a whitting.seamullet??

is there a river mullet or pond mullet?? Always got a kick out of the different names given to fish along our coast.

myrtle beach-----spot tail

north of cape fear---puppy drum


ITS A FRIPPIN WHITTING PEOPLE!!! not a king! not a frippin sea mullet.

next time someone asks me for mullet(for cut bait) to catch WHITTING im going to fillet a whitting and give to them...opps you call it a sea mullet!!hahahahaha


----------



## Rockfish1

ya outta learn to spell it before you get your panties all twisted up about something... it's whiting...


----------



## kyoung490

pogey moe said:


> ITS A FRIPPIN WHITTING PEOPLE!!! not a king! not a frippin sea mullet.


The common name for "whiting/sea mullet" (local names) is gulf, northern and southern kingfish depending on the species... so when someone says they're catching kingfish on shrimp they aren't wrong. 
The confusion begins with the local names for both kingfish and king mackeral.


----------



## Dr. Bubba

kyoung490 said:


> The common name for "whiting/sea mullet" (local names) is gulf, northern and southern kingfish depending on the species... so when someone says they're catching kingfish on shrimp they aren't wrong.
> The confusion begins with the local names for both kingfish and king mackeral.


ding ding ding! We have a winner!

But y'all forgot one name:
Smack Mammy Good


----------



## TreednNC

Dr. Bubba said:


> ding ding ding! We have a winner!
> 
> But y'all forgot one name:
> Smack Mammy Good


You know the only thing that gets the good doctor wound tight without his pills is mentioning sea mullet/whiting/kingfish/virginia mullet.


----------



## ReelinRod

pogey moe said:


> ITS A FRIPPIN WHITTING PEOPLE!!! not a king! not a frippin sea mullet.
> 
> next time someone asks me for mullet(for cut bait) to catch WHITTING im going to fillet a whitting and give to them...opps you call it a sea mullet!!hahahahaha


Uhhhh, there's nothing wrong with calling fish by their correct names.

Pretty funny that you think the rest of the coast is wrong just because you have assigned the actual names of completely different species to a single fish and refuse to call a *Kingfish* by its real name 














.


----------



## Lightload

When in Rome....

When in Florida I talk about Whiting.

When I'm on the OBX, I'm catching Sea Mullet.

When I'm fishing DE or MD, I'm catching Kingfish (mostly Southern but sometimes Northern).

I think it's kind of neat that different regions have different names for the same fish. Ya just gotta know what the locals call them that's all.


----------



## Dr. Bubba

Tweed is right! They're tasty, and the wife likes em even more than me! Figger it out...

But while we're on it, here in the Tidewater area they are refered to as roundheads. I haven't heard the term much outside of here. Anyone know about that?


----------



## mppheel

roundhead at topsail too


----------



## striperswiper

yep i grew up callin them tasty little suckers roundheads. when i moved down to the outerbanks they looked at me funny when i said roundhead. nobody knew what i was talking about. now people in va look at me funny when i say sea mullet. i caught 2.5 lb sea mullet last fall in the surf, i want to get out on ovp and catch another. i talked to some kids down the street and they caught a mess of them out there.


----------



## Rockfish1

mppheel said:


> roundhead at topsail too


not to be confused with the hardhead or jumping mullet...


----------



## kingfisherman23

Another one that I like is the menhaden. In the Northeast they are bunker. In North Carolina they are menhaden. South of the line they are pogies.

People give me all manner of strange looks (except Hoss the German) when I say menhaden or bunker down on CG.

Evan


----------



## chigger bait

kingfisherman23 said:


> Another one that I like is the menhaden. In the Northeast they are bunker. In North Carolina they are menhaden. South of the line they are pogies.
> 
> People give me all manner of strange looks (except Hoss the German) when I say menhaden or bunker down on CG.
> 
> Evan



Ok, now I know what your talking about.

When the blues hit them, it looks like someone poured hot lard in the water.


----------



## limiter

Roundhead for me. Anyone know the history behind that name?


----------



## Wilber

Let's see,

Sea Mullet, Round Head, Virginia Mullet, Whiting

Puppy drum, Drum, Channel Bass, Spot Tail Bass, Red Fish, Red Drum

Speckeled Trout, Specks, Spotted Sea Trout

Gray Trout, Weak Fish, Tide Runners

Spot, Spot, Spot, Spot, Spot

Hey, there's something we all agree on.


----------



## Fireline20

Go to Kroger Grocery, open the Fish Freezer and look at what they have. 

They don't have Kingfish, they don' t have sea mullet, they have Whiting Fillets.

So the commercial name is Whiting and Kroger is not just a local Food Chain they are all over the Eastern Coast


----------



## gilly21

How bout Sea Monkey or Drum/stiper candy, lil samiches, or tasty critters. These all refer to sea mullet as well!


----------



## TreednNC

GAME OVER!
Menticirrhus americanus
Menticirrhus saxatilis
Menticirrhus littoralis

The only "TRUE" names for the sea mullet/whiting/sea monkey/ kingfish/roundhead/samaches/ Dr Bubba purple pill/ mm mmmm good/ drum/striper candy


----------



## TreednNC

SpinMeister99 said:


> Go to Kroger Grocery, open the Fish Freezer and look at what they have.
> 
> They don't have Kingfish, they don' t have sea mullet, they have Whiting Fillets.
> 
> So the commercial name is Whiting and Kroger is not just a local Food Chain they are all over the Eastern Coast


Yes but do you have any idea how many other fish are called whiting?


----------



## spydermn

I guess I go by what the books call them. No matter where I am.


----------



## Fireline20

TreednNC said:


> Yes but do you have any idea how many other fish are called whiting?


Well all I can say is, here in SC you don't eat anything called a Mullet unless of course you are also an eater of Carp


----------



## kinghunter12

ok king mackeral are big have sharp teeth, mullet are small and what i like to use for king bait but there alright to eat some times but make sur they are fried


----------



## Dr. Bubba

TreednNC said:


> GAME OVER!
> Menticirrhus americanus
> Menticirrhus saxatilis
> Menticirrhus littoralis
> 
> The only "TRUE" names for the sea mullet/whiting/sea monkey/ kingfish/roundhead/samaches/ Dr Bubba purple pill/ mm mmmm good/ drum/striper candy


LOL!

Spinmeister, the whiting you see in the store is Merlangius merlangius, it's a North Atlantic species related to cod and hake....scroll down on this link and see:
http://www.samuelsandsonseafood.com/products_fresh.asp?Letter=W


----------



## Fireline20

Dr. Bubba said:


> LOL!
> 
> Spinmeister, the whiting you see in the store is Merlangius merlangius, it's a North Atlantic species related to cod and hake....scroll down on this link and see:
> http://www.samuelsandsonseafood.com/products_fresh.asp?Letter=W


Well thanks for the info,,,,but,,,if you call it Mullet in SC, we will only use it for bait. Hence in SC

Whitings are Whiting
Specs are Summer Trout
SpotTail Bass are small Red Drums
Mullet is bait
Drums are Big Red Drums
Spots are Spots
Blues are Blues
Flounders are Flounders
Pomps are Pompano's
Kings are King Mackerel
Spanish are Spanish Mackerel
Strippers are fresh water fish and are caught year round up to 50 lb

and last but not least in SC
Obama is Toast


----------



## kingfisherman23

SpinMeister99 said:


> Strippers are fresh water fish and are caught year round up to 50 lb


Actually, strippers are what you catch at the Crazy Horse on 17. 

Sorry, couldn't resist. 

Evan


----------



## Fireline20

kingfisherman23 said:


> Actually, strippers are what you catch at the Crazy Horse on 17.
> 
> Sorry, couldn't resist.
> 
> Evan


Can I get a drum roll,,,lol


----------



## BubbaHoTep

Dr. Bubba said:


> LOL!
> 
> Spinmeister, the whiting you see in the store is Merlangius merlangius, it's a North Atlantic species related to cod and hake....scroll down on this link and see:
> http://www.samuelsandsonseafood.com/products_fresh.asp?Letter=W


Someone over on the SC board here awhile back was talking about that kind of whiting and calling them "ling," DrB. I had heard some people refer to cobia as "ling," and I was really confused by all of that at the time, but yeah the guy (can't remember the poster's name) was from up North and explained it pretty much the same way with cod and hake. I'm figuring it's a coldwater fish that one's not likely to hook into down South.



SpinMeister99 said:


> Strippers are fresh water fish and are caught year round up to 50 lb . . . .


Yikes, small stripper there! 

Edit: Just saw your post, Evan. You beat me to the punch!


----------



## drawinout

The names I've heard for whiting hear in VA, are Roundhead, Whiting, Sea Mullet, and Kingfish. Most of the time I refer to them as Roundhead. Fished Jax Beach pier, in Florida, called one a Roundhead and the guys fishing next to me had never heard them called Roundhead before. Seems most of the guys I've met so far down that way just call them whiting.


----------



## Rockfish1

drawinout said:


> Fished Jax Beach pier, in Florida, called one a Roundhead and the guys fishing next to me had never heard them called Roundhead before. Seems most of the guys I've met so far down that way just call them whiting.



most of the guys down there are from up north anyways, so whiting would be the natural thing for them...


----------



## HStew

hmmmm! Anyone know of the local name "fatback", or "ground mullet ". Hint, you don't cook with this kind of fatback,and folks from Fla.to La. say "ground mullet" taste just like whiting aka.sm,Va.m..


----------



## pogeymoe

im not really fussing about it!its just funny to me.round head.....i like that!all the different names for the same fish.....it is cool!we all agree that WHITTING taste great right.sea mullet,roundhead kingfish.!


----------



## Dr. Bubba

Bubba--we see a species of hake, some people call them ling, in Virginia and the Carolinas. I forget which one, but it's generally a cold weather species for us. 
Although we caught a false albacore(little tunny) spittin em up one june out of Oregon Inlet. I've also known folks from Texas that referred to cobia as ling.

And NO pogey moe, they taste terrible. Just give all the ones you catch to me. I'll feed em to my cats....



HStew said:


> hmmmm! Anyone know of the local name "fatback", or "ground mullet ". Hint, you don't cook with this kind of fatback,and folks from Fla.to La. say "ground mullet" taste just like whiting aka.sm,Va.m..


I saw an internet reference to ground mullet = sm/va m/whiting/rh
fatback=menhaden/pogey/bunker


----------



## kyoung490

TreednNC said:


> GAME OVER!
> 
> Menticirrhus americanus
> Menticirrhus saxatilis
> Menticirrhus littoralis





Dr. Bubba said:


> LOL!
> 
> Spinmeister, the whiting you see in the store is Merlangius merlangius, it's a North Atlantic species related to cod and hake.


treed/dr.b breaking out the latin.


----------



## MDubious

Lightload said:


> When in Rome....
> 
> When in Florida I talk about Whiting.
> 
> When I'm on the OBX, I'm catching Sea Mullet.
> 
> When I'm fishing DE or MD, I'm catching Kingfish (mostly Southern but sometimes Northern).
> 
> I think it's kind of neat that different regions have different names for the same fish. Ya just gotta know what the locals call them that's all.


Yup, regional talk is no big deal so why get pissed? Think about it this way...the more you know...


----------



## Kenmefish

I call them good eatn and the heads are my favorite bait for Red Drum and big Stripers.


----------



## HStew

DR. BUBBA -go to head of class! there was a fatback processor plant in Va. (Reedsvelle?) and one in Beaufort N.C. processed for their Oil (cosmetics,paint,meds.etc.)also prime bait for crabpots(oilslick?) Jack Alford(Alford Seafood ,Monkey Junction .n.c.) told me they called them ground mullets way down south because they don't jump ,as in jumping mullet.


----------



## Fireline20

HStew said:


> DR. BUBBA -go to head of class! there was a fatback processor plant in Va. (Reedsvelle?) and one in Beaufort N.C. processed for their Oil (cosmetics,paint,meds.etc.)also prime bait for crabpots(oilslick?) Jack Alford(Alford Seafood ,Monkey Junction .n.c.) told me they called them ground mullets way down south because they don't jump ,as in jumping mullet.


I always heard that those jumping mullets could be caught on a piece of white styrofoam from a cooler with a hook in it...stupid fish


----------



## BubbaHoTep

SpinMeister99 said:


> I always heard that those jumping mullets could be caught on a piece of white styrofoam from a cooler with a hook in it...stupid fish


They're not really smart, but most of the time they can be tricky to catch with hook and line, because they more or less gum around with the bait. I've not heard that about a piece of cooler, but am not surprised. I saw someone catch one on a strip of t-shirt once. If I decide to go hook-and-line for the bigger ones (they are fighters), I'll take a bream buster/crappie pole and use a small dry-fly hook with little breadballs - just enough to cover the barb. To get the bigger ones in inlets/lakes to go into a frenzy, the best thing to do is to boil up some grits, put them in a container and freeze them for a few minutes so they firm up and then toss it out there in chunks. Trust me, crazy as it sounds, that does work. They go WILD. 

I know people who eat the jumping mullet and swear they're good. I use them for cut bait, though.

Dr. B, what you say above makes that other post over on the other board make perfect sense to me now, because as I recall it was someone who posted back in the winter about maybe catching one on a pier down in SC, and I thought he meant a cobia. Thanks, too, because I always thought when something said "whiting filets" it was the kingfish/sea mullet/whiting - what folks down in SC call "whiting." I wouldn't have known otherwise without this thread. 

This thread also actually got me looking into "whitefish," because a lot of the seafood restaurants around here have whitefish. I never really knew there were so many varieties of that fish until I started piddling around.

AJ


----------



## kinghunter12

Right on


----------



## Dr. Bubba

HStew said:


> there was a fatback processor plant in Va. (Reedsvelle?) and one in Beaufort N.C. processed for their Oil (cosmetics,paint,meds.etc.)also prime bait for crabpots(oilslick?) Jack Alford(Alford Seafood ,Monkey Junction .n.c.) told me they called them ground mullets way down south because they don't jump ,as in jumping mullet.


I don't know Jack, but I like his reasoning on ground mullet--makes sense. 
And I didn't know the term until I started participating in this thread. Came up in a google search, and just thought it strange why anyone would call one a ground mullet. That's a new one me--another TX reference.....

cool thread!

and there's still one plant in Reedville churnin fatback....used to be 20. Good indication of how much is out there anymore...guess that's another thread...

By the way, where the hail is Monkey Junction?


----------



## Fireline20

For the record, I just went into a Basspro shop in SC and they had a framed picture of "Fresh Water SC Fish" and Striped Bass was right in the middle. 

And oh by the way the here is the official SC Bird, Dog, Fish and Flower List:


Fish----Striped Bass
Dog----Boykin Spaniel
Bird----Carolina Wren (duh)
Flower--Yellow Jasmine

Now for the un-official SC State lists:
Beer---Bud
Whiskey---anything that is brown and above 80 proof
Car----Ford
Truck---Ford
Sport---Golf if you got the money, fishing if you ain't
Gilligan's Island Honey choice---Mary Ann
Women's Clothing Article---Daisey Dukes
Did I mention trucks---Ford
Official State Boiled Root---Peanuts
Official State Farm Raised Fish---Catfish
Did I mention trucks---Ford
Best thing that ever came out of NC----I-95
Official State Tourist Trap------Pedro Land aka South of the Borderopcorn:


----------



## HStew

Monkey Junction- where college road and 421 meet before Carolina,Kure,and Fort Fisher .I heard a 2 pump gas station owner bought a monkey to get business back in 1920's-30's .When I lived there it was two "ZOOs" there ,Zoobalee (sp.) ,and another one what slips my mind. Jack "ALFORD SEAFOOD" was or is still there last fall when I was down fishing.Anyone been to one of those little coke,gas nabs cig. stores and seen the ? in the cage(spring loaded ball with a squirrel tail that came shootin' out?scared the crap outta me!


----------



## BubbaHoTep

HStew said:


> . . . .nabs . . . .


Not trying to hijack, but the use of that word right there is also to cause some confusion depending on where you are!


----------



## mezz540

eatimus upamus
stinkmus buttimus


nuff said


----------



## mezz540

*Latin proper terms*

Eatimus upimus 
smellius fartimus


nuff said


----------



## Shooter

Ahhh the English verbage,,, only fishermen can make soemthing so sweet so fun.

Not only do we have the Whitting issue but then ya get into the Drum Zone,
Puppy, Yearling, Jouvies,Slots, Red Fish, Bulls, Spot Tails and I am sure there are a dozen more names I aint gotten around to. I have read on a board somewhere just how the different size drum are broken down to what and when to call them by the different names,, the really funny part is to sit and listen to some of the Old Timers get to fussen about when a Drum is called by a different name acording to it's size. 

Or watch Dr Bubba's eyes fly open and his mouth start slobering at the begining of the year when someone tells him they caught a Mullet


----------



## rhetoric

mppheel said:


> roundhead at topsail too


I just came back from Topsail & Surf City and all the local tackle shop & pier guys used sea mullet. Of course I didn't actually talk to anyone that was fishing...just the guys working there. Sea mullet was written on the fishing report boards too.


----------



## master baiter

SM99---you have done got too political...


----------



## HStew

just got back into town. Bubba Ho Tep, nabs =generic for nabisco ,lance, toms,snack crackers .My Dad, a fussy 90 year old calls them ******* road buscuits. Shooter ,jus got back from a trip with my fussy 88 year old father- in -law. Those old-timers really can fuss can't they. Hard to fish when you are fall down laughing-crying!I dropped Ira off 3 hours ago and I'm still cracking up !


----------



## MetroMan

Hey, great thread. It particularly piques my interest. Growing up in New York, we LOVED (and still do) fried whiting. The whiting we grew up on is the deep, cold-water (north atlantic) fish in the family of cod, as posted by Dr. Bubba. It's also the whiting fillet commonly found in grocery stores. 

Bubbahotep mentioned the other poster referring to this fish as "ling". While they look the same, and probably are closely related, they are different. There's a stark difference in taste. I remember we got some because the fish market ran out of whiting...and they looked so similar. Ling tastes good fried, just like the whiting.

Fast forward...

A few years ago, I went to OBX on family vacation for the first time. Went fishing off the Nags Head pier and was pulling up this little brown fish left and right using squid. Having no idea of what they were, I kept throwing them back. After about 5 releases, a guy (ironically sporting a mullet) comes over and asked me what I was catching...as I reeled in another one. "I dunno...these little brown fish." He says "oh...thats sea mullet. Get 5 or 6 of them and you can have yourself a little party...thats good eatin!" So I kept 'em from there on out, and we had a fish fry later that night.

Fast forward (again)

My brother moves down to Florida. We get on the subject of fishing. He says "They say you can catch whiting right here!!!" I'm like "no way..really? whiting is a deep ocean fish". 

It's so funny how the regional jargon varies for the same species of fish. I've heard kingfish mentioned here on the board plenty of times, but never knew you guys were talking about <insert whatever you wanna call it here>

(sorry for the long ass post lol)


----------



## spot tail hunter

Lived on and fished on the beach all my life. You got Virginia mullet and Popeye mullet. Period.......


----------



## HStew

can you catch popeye mullet on spinach? I have caught them on sweet peas.


----------



## plotalot

TreednNC said:


> GAME OVER!
> Menticirrhus americanus
> Menticirrhus saxatilis
> Menticirrhus littoralis
> 
> The only "TRUE" names for the sea mullet/whiting/sea monkey/ kingfish/roundhead/samaches/ Dr Bubba purple pill/ mm mmmm good/ drum/striper candy


Hey scientific names remove all doubt but, I propose using the Spanish common name for these fish "zorro". Isn't that just a cool sounding name for a fish rather than calling it by the same name as a bunch of other fish. I don't care for calling a fish sometimes referred to as a dolphin, mahi mahi. The people who call it that either buy their fish or try to sound chic IMO. Some try to defend calling them mahi because they don't want to have people think of the mammal, I call them dorado.


----------



## drawinout

plotalot said:


> Hey scientific names remove all doubt but, I propose using the Spanish common name for these fish "zorro". Isn't that just a cool sounding name for a fish rather than calling it by the same name as a bunch of other fish. I don't care for calling a fish sometimes referred to as a dolphin, mahi mahi. The people who call it that either buy their fish or try to sound chic IMO. Some try to defend calling them mahi because they don't want to have people think of the mammal, I call them dorado.


I've always known them as dolphin too, but I do sometimes call them Mahi if I'm talking to somebody that doesn't know anything about fishing... Dorado is always good, but I know growing up in NC, the only thing I heard them referred to as were Dolphin..


----------



## Dr. Bubba

LOL!
now wait a minute...y'all gonna hafta start another thread for dolphin.
I mean, I've given up on folks calling it "mahi mahi".... will suffice since it's the Hawaiian name. But shortening it to just mahi is just plain pretensious....;-)


----------



## drawinout

Dr. Bubba said:


> LOL!
> now wait a minute...y'all gonna hafta start another thread for dolphin.
> I mean, I've given up on folks calling it "mahi mahi".... will suffice since it's the Hawaiian name. But shortening it to just mahi is just plain pretensious....;-)


HaHa,,,, my fault Dr. Bubba... Some times I'm just too lazy to put out that last Mahi....lol Back to the roundhead/sea mullet/whiting/kingfish debate!!


----------



## Dr. Bubba

jus givin ya grief....

the popeye vs virgnia and jumpin vs ground seems to make the most sense to me for naming them dern kingfish....


----------



## Fireline20

Ok;

I just found the definitive answer when doing a reply on the 4x4 forum. If you go to the Fort Fisher website http://www.ncparks.gov/Visit/parks/fofi/activities.php and click on fishing, you will see the following:

Fishing: Common ocean catches include bluefish, puppy drum and *Virginia mullet.* Spot and flounder share the estuary with numerous shellfish.

And all along I thought a Virginia Mullet was just a bad red neck hair cut


----------



## Tarheel Angler

*Whiting - Mullet - Kingfish*

I like to call them Virginia Mullet!!


----------



## Dr. Bubba

I would stop short of calling that "definitive". Check out the book: "Peterson's Field Guide to Atlantic Coast Fishes". It contains all of of the latin and "accepted common names" for all the saltwater species we encounter along the US coast, both inshore and offshore. It also has rather good identification tips that help to identify between similar looking species. Particularly sharks, groupers, tunas and even baitfish and minnows. It's a book you'll use over and over.

And that haircut certainly didn't start in VA...


----------

