Floundering around

As winter approaches, top all-round specimen angler Sidney Kennedy heads to an estuary flounder fishing

 Issue 1 (Jan-Feb 2015)      Sidney Kennedy     Bill Brazier & Sidney Kennedy

Without fail, every autumn and winter I make a few trips flounder fishing. Of course they are available to anglers all year round but when the temperatures drop these flatfish really begin to feed up, ahead of their spawning in early spring. Chasing flounder also gives you a chance of some good sport when the rivers and lakes are too cold or when the open seas are too rough.

Living in Cork as I do, there was only one place that came to mind recently when planning a trip after ‘flatties’ – the well-known Slob Bank in Youghal. A trip to the local tackle shop the day before saw me buy some four and five ounce leads, a few pre-made flounder traces and some materials to make my own just in case I lost any to snags. Most important of all though was that I managed to get a total of two dozen frozen peeler crab. In my experience this is often the best bait for flounders and although live crabs are much better (very hard to get collect or buy in winter), frozen is still better than anything else. Using peeler crab also gives you the chance of a bonus fish, such as bass. Flounder, like most fish also like lugworms but baits rarely last long, especially in estuaries where the crabs normally tear them to pieces.

After constantly checking the weather and tide tables, I made an early start the next day. However, on arriving in Youghal I could see the forecast was wrong as usual, with a strong southerly instead of a light south west. I was worried that this small change could bring in lots of floating weed as the tide was filling the estuary. As I took the gear out of the jeep I could see six anglers set up along the slob bank so I thought the weed conditions must be OK. How wrong I was! After walking over 800m to the mark I could see one of the angler’s rods bent over double and as he was reeling I could see a big ball of weed sliding down his line. I knew then that I only had a few hours of weed-free fishing. This time would be from the last hour of the fill to the last two of the ebb, when the weed would start flowing back downstream, past me and out to sea again. As expected, I didn’t last long in the first spot. There was way too much weed about to fish properly. Yes I could have waited for it to improve but with only a few hours good fishing due to the tides I didn’t want to waste a minute.

With that ‘experiment’ over I quickly decided to head back towards Youghal town and fish alongside the famous waste pipe, only a hundred or so yards from the jeep. With the tide starting to slow and the weed situation improving, at least at this new mark, it was time to start peeling the crab (including their legs and claws) and cast out. When time is limited it is important to have bait peeled and ready to attach to the hook. I fished two rods at fairly short range, hoping to draw the flounder out of their hiding places. One important thing to know about flounder is that they often feed in very shallow water, very close to the shore. Even a depth of a few inches is enough sometimes. Flounder feed over mud and sand, searching for worms and crabs. Like all angling, you usually want to look for a feature that will attract and hold fish, such as a dip in the mud or a rocky, weedy ledge in the margins. Having a look at your chosen mark at low water will give you a lot of clues about the best places to place a bait.

Although flounder are usually small (a 2lb+ fish is fairly big), tackle still needs to be strong to cope with snags and the dreaded floating weed, as well as any unexpected fish you may hook. Normal 13-14ft beachcasters with a rating of 4-8oz are perfect, but those with more sensitive tips are better for spotting bites. Heavier carp or pike rods, of 3-3.5lb test curve, will also do if you don’t have access to more typical sea fishing gear. Reels should be loaded with 15lb mainline with shock/snag leaders of at least 30-40lb. Reel choice, multiplier or fixed spool, is up to you. My rigs, like most people’s, are very simple. I use a two-hook flapper rig , with size 1/0 hooks for my flounder fishing. Long shank hooks, like the classic ‘Aberdeen’ pattern, don’t just present the bait better but they make unhooking flounder a lot easier (see below video). A lot of anglers suggest using beads and sequins on the trace above the hook to attract flounder to the bait. Personally I think this is only an advantage in clear water but if it gives you confidence then use them, it certainly won’t catch you less fish. Lead choice depends on where you are fishing and the tide conditions. Sometimes you will need a 4 or 5oz grip lead to hold position, other times a light 2oz flat lead rolling around is ideal. This knowledge comes with experience.

Sid’s top flounder fishing tips

1. Use a sensitive beachcaster for bite indication

2. When possible, disengage the grips on your leads. This will help you cover more ground (lead rolls around in the flow) and increase your chances of finding and hooking a flounder

3. Peeler crab legs added to lug is deadly when flounder fishing

4. One-up and one-down traces with size 1 to 2/0 de-barbed or barbless hooks are all you need rig-wise

5. Make sure to also carry some bait elastic and scissors for better presentation of the peeler crab and a pair of long-nose pliers to help with unhooking

My change of marks worked straight away, as I soon started to get the typical ‘tap-tap-tap’ bite from a flattie. In fact, in the first fifteen minutes I had landed three flounder, all lovely fish of about a pound. Unlike the first few fish, the next two were deep hooked. This is a very common problem when fishing for flatfish, no matter how early you hit the bite. Even though they are small they can very quickly swallow large baits. Some people say that you should cut the line if a fish is deep hooked or even just kill the fish. That’s OK if you want to eat one or two but usually I want to put my fish back alive. For as long as I can remember I have unhooked most deep-hooked flounder by carefully entering through the gills, much the same as a pike angler might do.

First, lie the flounder down then carefully open up its gill flap until you see the shank of the hook. Then gently go over the top gill raker with a long-nose forceps or pliers and grab the shank of the hook. Be extremely careful not to come into contact with the gill rakers as they are very sensitive and easily damaged, which often leads to a dead fish unable to extract oxygen from the water. Second, with the hook shank grabbed, gently turn it (over the gill rakers) towards you. When the shank is out through the gill try to hold it with your fingers. Last of all, with the shank held with your fingers put the pliers into the flounder’s mouth and grab the bend of the hook. With that done, push the hook back towards the mouth with your fingers as you gently pull with the pliers. I recommend using barbless or de-barbed hooks when fishing for flounder, its helps when unhooking a greedy fish. Most of flounder will survive if you take your time unhooking them, regardless of how deep hooked they are. Hopefully the video at the end of this article will explain this very important technique more clearly. Practice will make perfect.

I continued to catch some cracking flounder as the tide began to ebb, all fighting fit and most over a pound, up to 1lb 12oz. They were feeding well and several times I had a two fish on each rod, which made me think I had hooked a really big one. I’m sure I did hook and lose at least one large fish though, which somehow managed to snag me on a rock I didn’t even know existed in front of me and throw the hook. It may even have been a specimen (>2lb 7oz) but you win some, you lose some. The bites came to both normal peeler crab and leg baits. Another good tip that will save you money is don’t throw away the crab legs. Peeler crabs are not cheap in the shops and the fish don’t seem to care if you use the body or the legs of the crab on the hook. By using the legs (and claws) you can get an extra two or even three baits out of each crab, especially for smaller species like flounder.

It was cold on the day but the fishing was excellent and towards the end of the trip the sun even came out, allowing for some great photographs. The editor even had a sneaky cast or two (!) before the weed drifted back in front of us and he managed to hook a few nice flounder, using the same tactics I had used. With some guidance he was soon easily able to deal with any deep hooked fish using the technique mentioned above. All too soon the floating weed made fishing close in impossible so for the last few minutes we both cast as far as we could, over the weed, into the deeper channel. We soon both had rattles on the rod tips and reeled in two surprises, a three-bearded rockling to Bill and a small yellow eel to me. It was a nice way to finish a hard but very enjoyable days fishing.

Next time you find yourself unsure of where to go on your next trip this winter why not grab some peeler crab and head to the coast for a bit of flounder fishing? With a bit of planning, I guarantee you won’t regret it.

Sidney Kennedy