 Kent Coast Sea Fishing Compendium |
Flounder (Platichthys flesus) |
Identification
The flounder is a typical flatfish with flattened fins that wrap around the oval-shaped body. Its eyes are positioned on the right side of the head (if you imagine the fish swimming upright) but, identification can be quite difficult because
- some have been found with eyes directed towards the left
- flounders have been known to interbreed (hybridise) with plaice giving rise to coloured variations
- there are also flounders which have undersides exactly the same colour as their backs (normally they have white undersides).
The tail of a flounder is quite square at its end and there are bony tubercles around both sides of the body, at the bases of both the elongated dorsal and anal fins.
Flounders are very widely distributed around the coast of Britain. It lives from the shoreline down to depths around 165 feet deep, favouring muddy bottoms but will also live over sandy bottoms.
Flounders are amazingly tolerant of variations in the salt content of water. They can be found living in the sea, they can be found living in estuaries where slat water meets fresh, and they can even be found (and caught) in the freshwater of rivers well away from the sea shore. Flounders can be caught anywhere with flat shallow beaches and scars favoured spots. Although they can be caught at any time, by far the most prolific period for flounder fishing is within the first 3 hours of an incoming tide.
As far as anglers are concerned the flounder is primarily a spring, summer and autumn species as it is at these times of the year when flounders live within casting range. In the depths of winter they migrate into the warmer and deeper water well away from the shoreline. Flounders are at their most abundant from mid spring through until late summer. The onset of warmer weather sees the flounder arrive en masse for a summer feeding frenzy.
Breeding
During spring the adult flounder move into deeper water of between 80-130 feet to spawn. The females lay between 500,000 and two million eggs which float straight to the surface. Given good temperatures these eggs will hatch in less than two weeks.
The lifecycle of a flounder is very similar to that of a plaice - the flounder fry drift with the current and plankton until they reach the shallower shoreline. By the time they reach 1¼in they will have taken on the familiar flounder flatfish shape and the eye will have migrated over to the right side. They then sink to the sea bed to begin their bottom-dwelling existence.
Flounders feed upon much smaller crustaceans and animals than the plaice simply because they do not posses the same shell-crushing teeth. They survive on cockles, sand hoppers, shrimps, worms, molluscs and crab. They feed best at night when they move into the shallower water. During the daytime they often remain buried within the mud or sand.
Flounders are caught at exceptionally short range. A cast of over 30 feet on an incoming tide is often too far. As the tide starts to flood in the flounder will be right up at the waters edge in search of food picked up by the incoming tide, and it is into the first 30 feet of water that you must drop your baited trace.
As with all UK fish species, the flounder finds the peeler crab irresistible, especially when it is in season. One small peeler or half (or even quarter) of a larger crab mounted on a size 1 hook will do the job. However if you can't lay your hands on peeler don't be put off as the flounder will also take most other baits including ragworm, lugworm, mackerel strips, mussels, fish and shellfish baits. Flounder are also attracted by bright and colourful objects so place lots of colourful beads and sequins (bling) just above the hook.
In summary, flounders are amongst the easiest of all sea fish to catch. You will find them on every beach and scar in the country. To catch them just choose a shallow area with an incoming tide. Cast short with a small bait and you will not be disappointed. Using bright coloured attractors just above your hook will increase your catch rates.
Stour Estuary, Pegwell Bay
Tackle and Fishing Methods
There is a big list of baits with which to lure flounders, varying according to the area being fished. Ragworm, soft crab, slipper limpets, lugworm, and pieces of sandeel or sprat are all useful hook-baits.
Observation pays in this kind of fishing. Flounders like to lie in gullies, waiting for food to drift into them. These gullies are often only a few metres from the shore, so it will pay to survey the beach at low water to note them.
While beach fishing do not be in too much of a hurry to strike. Many fish are lost by hurried striking. Flounders are noted for the time they take in mouthing the bait, and it is some time before they take in the lot. Use a single hook and a flowing trace rather than a paternoster with several hooks and a heavy weight. A weight sinks slowly into the sand and becomes buried. A trace will move around with the tide, attracting the fish by its free movement.
Flounders are very inquisitive fish and quick to investigate any disturbance on the sea-bed. In some estuaries anglers attract them by 'mudding' - raking the bottom with a fork. This is the theory behind the wander tackle devised by Mr Percy Wadham, who fished the many Hampshire creeks with great success. It is a light-gear method of taking fish and is easily set up.
At one end of a long nylon trace tie a small swivel for attaching to the main line. A foot away from this fix a plastic boom with a small trace to a No. 4 hook. Add a tiny spiral lead 15 cm (6 ins) along the main trace. Between this and the final hook have a small ball-type lead, stopped by a lead shot. In practice, the lead, moving along the bottom will stir up sand, etc., attracting the fish. It is a particularly good idea to use this method in crab-infested areas.
The 'bounce' idea is another popular method, especially from inshore boats. It was once thought that flatfish were slow-moving fish and one had to leave the bait where it was first cast. This is not the case. With this style one uses a single-hook trace which is retrieved with a series of jerks. The principle is similar to that of wander tackle - to disturb the sea-bed and lure the fish to the disturbance.
A baited spoon is a wonderful way of taking flounders. Often the problem is just what spoon to select. There is a varied assortment on the market and it is important not to buy one too small. A 7.5 cm (3 ins) plated or white enamelled spoon will do nicely.
Some anglers have been disappointed when they first tried spoon fishing because they have presented the tackle in the wrong way. It is essential that only the spoon spins. If the hook goes round as well, the flounder will have no chance to mouth the bait and the fish will be lost. The hook behind the spoon should be baited (ragworm is good), the idea behind the method being that the flounder should think the fluttering spoon is another flatfish following up food, so it decides to investigate and seizes the bait.
Spoon fishing is best done from a boat and accounts for big bags in places such as Poole Harbour, Dorset. It is preferable to operate from a rowing boat with the rod out over the stern. Watch the rod carefully as the tip beats with the revolving of the spoon. When the beat changes to a twitching it is a sign that a flounder is interested. A tightening of the line follows as the fish dives with the bait. See that the tackle does not snag a weed-bed, for a small wisp of weed is enough to upset the smooth operation of the gear.
Another sporting method is fishing with a roving float. This is useful for fishing from piers, harbour walls, and occasionally boats. The bait should be arranged just to trip the bottom and allowed to roam unhindered in the current.
Anointing the worm with pilchard oil can help a great deal. The oil gives off an attractive trail on the sea-bed. Again, hesitate in making the strike. Let the float go well down and don't act on a mere bobbing which only means that the fish is giving the bait a once-over.
"A Treatyse of Fisshynge wyth an Angle" (1496) attributed to Dame Juliana Barnes (Berners) [1]
The flounder is an holsom fysshe and a fre, and a subtyll byter in his maner. For commonly when he souketh his meate he fedeth at the ground, and therfore ye must angle to hym with a ground lyne lyeng, and he hath but one maner of bayte, and that is a red worme, and that moste chefe for all maner of fysshe.
Translation: The flounder is a wholesome fish and a free and subtle biter in his manner. For usually, when he sucks in his food he feeds at the bottom, and therefore you must angle for him with a lying ground-line. And he has but one manner of bait, and that is a red worm, which is the best bait for all kinds of fish.
[1] "The Treatyse of Fysshynge with an Angle" was published as part of the second edition of "The Boke of St. Albans" in 1496 by Wynkyn de Worde, Caxton's apprentice and successor and is widely acknowledged to be the first English book on angling. However, the identity of the author (Dame Juliana Barnes) is uncertain and is based on the hypothesis that (a) only a woman could have given such directions for making a rod, and (b) no man could have been guilty of so "delightful a non sequitur in many of the arguments". The text includes instructions on how to make a rod, line, hooks, instructions for twelve fly patterns and hints about how to catch the common varieties of British fish. The Treatyse stands out among works of the period, not least because it is the first printed book on fly fishing, but also because it champions fishing, putting it on the same plane as hunting, the sport of kings and nobles and, for that reason, the Treatyse must have raised a few eyebrows at the time. The influence of the Treatyse was immense - it was a popular work and was reprinted many times over in the century that followed its first publication.
"The Art of Angling, Rock and Sea Fishing: with the Natural History of River, Pond and Sea Fish" (1740) Richard Brookes at pages 79 & 80
Of The Flounder or Fluke
The Flounder, in Latin Passer fluviatilis, is in shape much like a Plaice, only the body is somewhat longer, and when it is full-grown it is thicker. The colour is of a dirty olive. Sometimes they are beautifully spotted, but I never met with any of these, except far up the river. The scales are exceeding small, and adhere so closely to the skin that there is no perceivable roughness on it. The lateral line is composed of small prickles, from whence arises that roughness which may be felt along it from the head to the tail. The eyes are of the right side, and are of the same colour as the body, only a little more grey. The mouth is small, the tongue narrow, and there is a row of teeth in both jaws.
The Flounder is both a river and a sea-fish; but the former are not so black, and are more soft than the latter. But this difference seems to arise only from the nature of their food.
They are in season all the year, except in June and July, which is their time of spawning, and then they are sick and flabby, and infested with worms which breed in their backs.
The flesh is white, soft, innocent and nourishing; but it is always best when it is most firm. The taste of it is much like that of the Plaice, from which it differs but little in any respect.
It is the nature of all flat fish to lie and feed at the bottom; some indeed are fond of mud, but the Flounder avoids it as much as possible, delighting to lie on sandy or gravelly bottoms, especially on the declivity of a deep hole near a bank.
They may be angled for either with a float or a running-bullet, but I prefer the latter. The bullet should rest at least a foot from the hook, that the bait may be at liberty to be put in motion by the water. If you use a float let it lie flat on the water, and when you perceive it to move along slowly, and soon after become upright, then strike, and you'll be sure of your prey. But always remember that he is some time in sucking the bait into his mouth before he gorges it.
The best baits are red-worms, or very small marsh-worms put on a small hook. You should bait the ground with a handful of small red-worms cut in two pieces. They may be angled for all the day, but early in the morning is the likeliest time.
"The Angler's Guide: being a new, plain, and complete practical treatise on the art of angling for sea, river, and pond fish; deduced from many years' practice, experience, and observation. To which is added, a treatise on trolling" (1825) T. F. Salter, Gent at pages 148 & 149
Chapter XVII
The Fluke, or Flounder, and Smelt
The Flounder is only found in rivers where the tide flows, or those which have connection with the sea as they are properly a sea fish, only leave it to spawn: they are generally considered a very sweet Fish, light and easy of digestion. In the creeks from Blackwall to Bromley, Stratford, and West-Ham, also in the Docks, and the canal at Limehouse, and in the other Docks, &c., on the opposite side of the river, they are taken either with dead-lines or floated, in the same manner as Eels; in fact, when you angle for Eels in this part, you angle for Flounders also, as they will both take the same baits, and at the same season; it also frequently happens that you take both Flounders and Eels, promiscuously, when fishing for Eels with a floated line, on which you may put two or three hooks, about nine inches above each other. - See fishing for Eels with a floated line.
The colour of the Flounder is generally a dark mottled olive: they spawn about March, and are in season until Winter. Those caught in the river Thames are very sweet and firm; and, I think, superior to any that are brought to market from the sea. They delight to lie among sand, gravelly banks, and bottoms: they will likewise thrive in clean gravelly ponds, particularly if a stream runs through it. - Note, when angling for Flounders in rivers near the sea, you will meet with Flounders much larger than those we take near London; therefore, in such case, use a hook of No. 6 or 7, for, in some tide rivers, you may find Flounders weighing from one to two pounds a piece; and they will take a bait during almost every month in the year.
"Prose Halieutics or Ancient and Modern Fish Tattle" (1854) Reverend Charles David Badham M.D. at pages 357 to 360 & 364
Chapter XVI
Gadeans and Pleuronects
Flounder or Fluke
Though the flounder be mentioned complacently by Pope in conjunction with the gudgeon, as what "his Thames affords", and though Thames flesi seem to enjoy a sort of cockney reputation of their own, yet a poorer fish, except plaice (for what is more flat than a flounder ?), it would not be easy to name.
… The best time for taking him is at dawn, when he is on the prowl for a breakfast:
Must start betimes and fish before sunrise.
Flesi have qualities invaluable in the angler's eye, being greedy, playful, and full of pluck. "These fish," writes Franks in his "Northern Memoirs", "are bold as buccaniers, of much more confidence than caution, and so fond of a worm that they will go to the banquet, though they die at the board: they are endowed with great resolution, and struggle stoutly for the victory when hooked; they are also more than ordinarily difficult to deal with by reason of their build, which is altogether flat, as it were a level. The flounder, I must further tell you, delights to dwell among stones; besides, he is a great admirer of deeps and ruinous decays, yet as fond as any fish of moderate streams; and none beyond him, except the perch, that is more solicitous to rifle into ruins, insomuch that a man would fancy him an antiquary, considering he is so affected with reliques."
Ælian mentions a curious mode adopted in some places in his time for taking flat-fish, founded on their well-known peculiarity of keeping close in the sand, like hares in their forms: the plan is extremely simple; a number of fishermen at low water walk over the sand in sabots; as the water comes in, various small pleuronects resort to the footprints, and are easily seen and taken. The modern plan is very different, and adapted for taking turbot of much larger dimensions: the fishermen on our northern coasts go out in parties of three to a cobble, each man carrying his long line, the united ends of which are a league in length, and draw after them fifteen hundred and twenty baited hooks; these lines, as they are to lie across the current, can only be shot twice in twenty-four hours, when the rush of the waters slackens, as the tide is about to change. In place of the small cobble used on our coast (which is but twenty feet long by five feet broad), the Dutch repair to the Dogger Bank in a boat twice the length, and three times as broad, carrying besides six fishermen engaged in the craft, a cook as well, who no doubt has plentiful experience in dressing turbot. Here, as the fishing is continuous, and the bank never fails to furnish supplies, the expedition is generally successful, and the proceeds highly lucrative.
Editor's notes:
- "betimes" means "early".
- Captain Richard Franck (ca 1624 - 1708) was an English author on the subject of fishing. Northern Memoirs, written in 1658, compiled in 1685, and published in 1694, is an example of euphuistic literature the style of which is turgid. Its full title runs "Northern Memoirs, calculated for the Meridian of Scotland. Wherein most or all of the Cities, Citadels, Sea-ports, Castles, Forts, Fortresses, Rivers, and Rivulets are compendiously described. Together with choice Collections of various Discoveries, Remarkable Observations, Theological Notions, Political Axioms, National Intrigues, Polemick Inferences, Contemplations, Speculations, and several curious and industrious Inspections, lineally drawn from. Antiquaries and other noted and intelligible Persons of Honour and Eminency. To which is added the Contemplative and Practical Angler by way of Diversion,' with more of the same character. By Richard Franck, Philanthropus. Plures necat Gula quam Gladius, 1694." The Latin proverb "plures necat gula quam gladius" translates as "the gullet kills more than the sword".
- A "sabot" is a kind of simple shoe, shaped and hollowed out from a single block of wood, traditionally worn by French and Breton peasants.
- A "cobble" is a small, flat bottom fishing boat with a lugsail on a raking mast.
"The Book of Household Management" (1861) Isabella Beeton at page 148
Chapter 8 - Fish Recipes
Fish
The Flounder
This comes under the tribe usually denominated Flat-fish, and is generally held in the smallest estimation of any among them. It is an inhabitant of both the seas and the rivers, while it thrives in ponds. On the English coasts it is very abundant, and the London market consumes it in large quantities. It is considered easy of digestion and the Thames flounder is esteemed a delicate fish.
"Sea Fish & How to Catch Them" (1863) William Barry Lord at pages 63 & 64
Flounders and Plaice
These fish abound in nearly all large tidal rivers, even far beyond the influence of the tide, and in such creeks and estuaries as have rivers discharging themselves into them. Considerable numbers are to be taken with the rod and line, either with or without a float, using tow or three hooks … either mud-worms, common earthworms, or small pieces of fish bait may be used successfully. The bait should drag the ground … Numbers may be taken from the boat by using the chop-sticks, and just keeping your sinker clear of the ground, so as to allow the baits to drag a few inches. Considerable numbers of fresh-water eels are often taken when fishing in this way, as well as numbers of other fish.
"Sea-fishing as a sport" (1865) Lambton J. H. Young at page 124
Chapter III
Fish
The Flounder
Is caught all around our coasts, being one of the most common of flat-fish, where the bottom is composed of soft sand, clay, mud, &c.; they are said to have been seen of four pounds in weight each, but I have never met with such monsters. The flounder feeds on small fish, worms, insects, Crustacea, &c., and spawns in February and March; they abound in the Thames and in most freshwater rivers, where they are taken in tucknets, or by spillers; they make very nice food, being a delicate fish. There is another variety known as the long flounder. I have taken them in quantities when fishing from Southend Pier, baiting with a boiled shrimp; they are frequently caught in pairs, and when fresh are very nice for breakfast.
"The Sea-Fisherman, or Fishing pilotage. Comprising the chief methods of hook and line fishing in the British and other seas, and remarks on nets, boats, and boating" (1865) James Carrall Wilcocks at pages 125 to 127
The Flounder or Fluke (Platessa flesus)
The flounder or fluke frequents large tidal rivers, and although evidently a sea-fish, will wander far into perfectly fresh water, and there live and thrive.
It is very similar in shape to the dab but much inferior in quality, yet in the winter until the beginning of spring it is tolerably firm, and being at this season full of spawn will be found very palatable, if broiled over a clear fire, or nicely fried. (Note. - In cooking flat-fish by either broiling or frying, remove the roes and dress them alone, as they are rarely sufficiently done if left in the fish.)
Use the same tackle as for the dab; for bait I have never found anything equal to the soft crab, which is sufficiently tough, and not so quickly taken off the hook by the green crabs, which abound so much in all our estuaries. This crab, warned by an allwise Providence of its approaching defenceless state from the casting of its shell, seeks shelter and concealment under stones or in holes, until a new one is formed over its naked body, as during this period it is equally an object of pursuit to all the finny race as to its brethren who have not parted with their coats of armour.
Use four or six lines, and act in the same way in casting and arranging the lines as in dab-fishing. To bait the hooks, take a crab, and having cracked the shell and pulled it off, cut the body with a sharp knife into three or four baits, and place a piece on each hook, by putting the hook twice through it; crack the shell of the large and small legs also, and they will form one or two more baits. Whilst fishing for flounders, you will also occasionally take large freshwater eels and bass, which are very fond of the soft crab.
If you reside near any harbour having muddy shores, it will be quite worth while to contrive a number of artificial shelters for the bait-crabs, which is to be effected by procuring a quantity of old earthenware pots, old saucepans, or frying pans, to the number of two or three hundred or more, and placing them on the shore between half tide and low water mark; turn them upside down, leaving a small opening for the crabs to enter, which they will not fail to do; you will thus have a supply of bait always at hand.
Where the water is entirely fresh, or in the upper part of an estuary where the fresh water preponderates, flounders will take earth- worms as freely as eels; but where the water is entirely salt, or the salt preponderates in the mixed water, the soft crab or mud- worm is preferred.
The quantity of eels to be taken with the soft-crab bait in some estuaries is very great: I have heard of as much as a hundred weight in a single day's fishing in Southampton water. Strong flax or hemp snooding is chiefly used for eels in these localities.
In fishing from shore for flounders or eels, use from four to six leger lines of very stout snooding, with a quarter pound lead or stone at the end, and two hooks, No. 13, a foot apart, tied to twisted gut or fine gimp or snooding.
This tackle is also suitable for pout-fishing off a pier or rocks, with the addition of a couple of revolving chopsticks, which may be made of whalebone or brass wire … Whilst angling with the rod and the pater-noster line from piers and quays, you will often take flounders if you bait the bottom hook with a boiled shrimp, which, being carefully peeled, is to be placed on the hook by entering the point at the larger end of the bait and threading it on nearly to the tail. For this bait a No. 3 Limerick or 13 Exeter bend is a good size, and preferable to a Kirby, the lateral curve of which is likely to break the bait. The shrimp cannot be recommended for throw-out lines, for which the rag-worm is better calculated, not falling off the hook.
Flounder Spearing
There are two kinds of spears - the Fork and the Fluking-Pick.
The Fork should be two pronged, 6 inches in length, of square iron, the edges a trifle jagged to prevent the fish falling off, and of the stoutness of a ten penny nail, securely fastened into a light stiff ash pole eight feet in length. To use it, procure a small flat-bottomed boat or one of light draught, and sitting astride across the bow, having first placed a heavy stone in the stem, propel the boat slowly up stream by help of the spear in shallow branches of the river, and carefully scanning the bottom you will frequently discover the fish, by its eyes only protruding above the surface of the sand, when you will find no difficulty in spearing it. You will also take many flounders in the same manner, without a boat, in the drains and water-courses of embanked lands, and even with your hands, for the fish will often seek shelter under your feet if wading; this latter method is termed 'Grabbling'.
Calm and quiet weather, and clear water with a fine sandy bottom, should be chosen for taking flounders with the fork, but for 'Grabbling' or 'Fluking' it is not so important.
It is perhaps needless to advise the reader to avoid a stony or rocky bottom, as it must of course speedily ruin any spear.
In forking flounders, if two hands are in the boat, one should propel the boat at the stern with another fork and spear a flounder when occasion offers, whilst the bowman watches the fish scuttling away ahead, and marking where they stop to bury themselves, signals the steersman by inclining his spear either to the right or left as required.
The Fluking-Pick or Pike
In the narrow parts of harbours and tidal rivers, large numbers of flounders are taken by the Fluking-Pick, by continually striking the bottom therewith, as the boat drifts down the stream; and where the water is sufficiently shallaw, it is the custom to wade instead, in the summer season.
The Fluking-Pick is thus made: A piece of tough ash 2½ feet long and 2 inches square has introduced into it, at distances of 3½ or 4 inches, seven or eight teeth or tines, 5 inches in length, the edges of which have been jagged, and thus form barbs to prevent the fish falling off; a long spill or spike is set in this on the opposite side, and is securely driven into the end of a light fir pole from 10 to 14 feet in length. This is a cheap kind of pick, but a much superior one may be made for a shilling or two extra by substituting iron for the wooden cross head, and setting it edgeways as this passes through the water with far less resistance. (See the woodcut.)
Spearing Flounders by H. MacCallum
The Illustrated London News 11th March 1871
Flounder Fishing at Waterloo Bridge
The Graphic 1880
"The Sea-Fisherman" (1884 - 4th edition) James Carrall Wilcocks at pages 119, 120 & 121
The Flounder or Fluke (Platessa flesus)
The flounder or fluke frequents large tidal rivers, and, although evidently a sea-fish, will wander far into perfectly fresh water, and there live and thrive.
Use the same tackle as for the dab; for bait I have never found anything equal to the soft crab, which is sufficiently tough, and not so quickly taken off the hook by the crabs, which abound so much in all our estuaries … lugs are good bait, but the crabs rob the hooks too quickly … Whilst fishing for flounders, you will also occasionally take large freshwater eels and bass, which are very fond of the soft crab.
… Where the water is entirely fresh, or in the upper part of an estuary where the fresh water preponderates, flounders will take earth-worms as freely as eels; but where the water is entirely salt, or the salt preponderates in the mixed water, the soft crab or mud-worm is preferred.
… Whilst angling with the rod and the pater-noster line from piers and quays, you will often take flounders if you bait the bottom hook with a boiled shrimp, which, being carefully peeled, is to be placed on the hook by entering the point at the larger end of the bait and threading it on nearly to the tail … The shrimp cannot be recommended for throw-out lines, for which the rag- worm or crab is better calculated, not falling off the hook.
"Angling in Salt Water: A Practical Work on Sea Fishing with Rod and Line from the Shore, Piers, Jetties, Rocks and from Boats" (1887) John Bickerdyke at page 99
The Flounder is a flat fish, usually of a small size, which is found mostly in harbours and estuaries, and sometimes pushes its way up into perfectly fresh water. Of late years a number have been placed in the Thames by the Thames Angling Preservation Society, above Teddington, where they appear to do well. Many are taken in the Canterbury Stour, where the water is not even brackish. They may be known from the dab by their smooth backs, and they lack the clear appearance of their little cousin. Leger tackle, with two or more hooks, or the paternoster used for dabs, with a No. 7 hook, is best suited for them; and the best baits are soft crab, lugworms, the tail of the hermit crab, live shrimps, and ragworms. In fresh or brackish water they take earthworms. They are in best condition during the winter and early spring.
Sea-Fishing as a Sport (No 7)
"Spearing Flat Fish"
"Ready", "Struck", "Got Him", "A Commotion Below", "Before Breakfast"
"The Book of the All-Round Angler: a comprehensive treatise on angling in both fresh and salt water" (1888) John Bickerdyke at pages 126 (Division I), 37, 42 & 99 (Division IV)
Chapter XVI: Fish not commonly caught by freshwater anglers
The Flounder is a little flat-fish, which is usually found in the brackish water of estuaries, but sometimes makes its way up rivers into perfectly fresh water. It is easily taken on a leger baited with a lobworm, and, indeed, will take most of the baits used by the bottom fisher. It prefers quiet streams, where the bottom is a sandy mud. Flounders begin life swimming on edge like roach or bream, with an eye on each side of the head; but in a month or two, they flap along the bottom on one side like other flat-fish, and both eyes come on to the upper side.
Chapter III: Baits
Soft crabs are the best known baits for flounders …
Chapter IV: Harbour fishing
The hooks for flounders and dabs need not be large about No. 7 or No. 8 and I have noticed that I have caught most of these fish when my tackle has been fine.
Chapter IX: Some other sea fish
The Flounder is a flat fish, usually of small size, which is found mostly in harbours and estuaries, and sometimes pushes its way up into perfectly fresh water. Of late years a number have been placed in the Thames by the Thames Angling Preservation Society, above Teddington, where they appear to do well. Many are taken in the Canterbury Stour, where the water is not even brackish. They may be known from the dab by their smooth backs, and they lack the clear appearance of their little cousin. Leger tackle, with two or more hooks, is best suited for them, and the best baits are soft crab, ragworms, shrimps, and lugworms. The first-named is to be preferred. In fresh or brackish water they take earthworms. They are in best condition during the winter and early spring.
"Sea Fish" (1898) Frederick George Aflalo at page 23
Natural History
In the flounder, too, we have a fish that, in the light of modern angling perhaps, belongs more strictly to the fresh-water fish, but it is mentioned here for the sake of giving the points in which it differs from the other flat-fish taken in salt water - the presence of rough tubercles along the base of the fin-rays. It is occasionally taken with tumours on the back, which, according to Cunningham, the fishermen believe to be its eggs. It breeds in salt water only. Mr. Wheeley gave some useful hints on catching flounders in the preceding volume of the Angler's Library.
"Practical Letters to Young Sea Fishers" (1898) John Bickerdyke at pages 263 - 265
XXVIII. Flat Fish
Flounders (Pleuronectes flesus) have several local names, such as Butts, black backs, flecks, and lanterns. They are more estuary and river fish than the sand dabs, and seem to favour a muddy bottom quite as much as one of sand. They ascend into fresh water, and in years gone by were frequently caught in the lower Thames. One of my earliest recollections of fishing was for flounders in a mill pool on the Stour. So early, indeed, was it, that my nurse accompanied me.
The scales of flounders are embedded in mucus, and their eel-like smoothness is … one means towards their identification. They are more plentiful in the northern portions of the country than the south. They grow a good deal larger than sand dabs, but the general weight is from ¼ lb to 1lb. The baits for them are lugs, mussels, rag worms, pieces of mackerel, sprat, herring, or pilchard, and tail of hermit crab. One of the best is soft crab … the live shrimp simply caught by the tail is the most killing bait of any.
… for sport there is really nothing better than the paternoster … If, however, the fish are very scarce, and sport is indifferent, then a kind of paternoster-trot may be made by omitting the upper hook link and lengthening the lower one to 5ft or 6ft, and placing on it a hook at every 8in or 10in.
The same instructions already given as regards hooks for sand dabs apply to flounders. For both these fish a common pin may be used instead of a hook. The pin is fastened by the middle to a piece of fine, soft snooding or silk line. To bait it, the point of the pin is inserted in the butt end of a small quill feather, and the head forced down the centre of a piece of lob worm. When the whole of the pin is embedded in the worm the quill is removed, leaving the pin in position. When the unfortunate flounder or dab takes the bait, the pin is pulled across its throat and fixed there. But on the angler pulling hard on the snood the pin bends double and comes away. A somewhat similar gear, called a sprig-tail line, was used years ago by professional flounder fishermen. In the estuary of the Thames thorns are used instead of pins or hooks - probably a very ancient custom.
It is important when fishing for dabs and flounders to use as light a lead as will hold the bottom. With the tackle I have recommended I have seen these fish being hauled up one after another as fast as it was possible to catch them, while men using professional sea fishermen's gear with heavy leads were having hardly any sport whatever.
"An Angler's Year" (1904) Charles S. Patterson at pages 163 to 173
Chapter XI
November
Sea Fishing at Leigh
FOR the late autumn sea angling I purpose describing a near-by resort, easily accessible to the metropolitan angler. This is Leigh, in Essex, a small fishing village at the mouth of the Thames in close proximity to the renowned Southend-on-Sea, whose shrimps and pickled cockles are the delight of the cheap tripper. The little old village is rather further up the estuary of the Thames than even Southend-on-Mud, as some wags describe the Essex watering-place. Here one cannot expect to capture the giant cod of the more southerly fishing stations, but one can always count on some sport amongst the flat fish. Flounders, plaice, and dabs are plentiful, while out in the fairway, by the Swatch Way Buoy, not only dabs but also codling and whiting are to be taken during the winter months. As every Londoner is aware, Leigh is the headquarters of the shrimp trawlers, or bawleys, as they are called. This latter term is evidently only a corruption of the word boiley or boiler, so called because they sort and boil their shrimps on board. On the other hand, the cockle gatherers boil their captures on shore, and along the west side of the village are to be seen their quaint boiling sheds. These are frequently nothing more than a roof built over the hull of an old bawley. The nature of one of these sheds is easily recognised by the gigantic pile of shells which adorn one side, thrown out after picking over and removing the cockles.
The Leigh cockle-gatherer always packs his produce in bulk, and Leigh pickled cockles, are, I believe, a well-known article of trade, particularly beloved of the thousands of trippers to Southend during the season, and most of them boiled and pickled and sent over daily to the Southend vendors. These shells are also not a waste product, but are used for cement making and other industries, while their most valuable application, namely, for crushing and spreading on garden paths is illustrated by the poet in those beautiful lines of our childhood:
Mary, Mary, so contrairy,
How does your garden grow ?
With cockle shells and silver bells,
And pretty maids all in a row.
Leigh and its inhabitants will well repay a visit, even without any attempt being made to fish, for it is a little bit of old England within an hour's hail of the capital. When we come to consider that it is without any definite water supply, save and except its wells - at which each morning one sees the population gathering with pails and frames for their daily supply - and that the inhabitants are mainly amphibious, and live by such pursuits as sand-heaving, lightering, shrimp-trawling, cockle-gathering, and the like, it is only to be expected that the artist, the photographer, and the student of out-of-the-way types of humanity will all find ample employment for hours, and even days.
But it is of the sea-angling that I would specially write. From June to February the fishing at this station is good of its kind, although November, the month when the approach of winter begins to make itself felt, is undoubtedly the best time for flounders. Moreover flounder catching is a very excellent pastime, and from the nature of things is bound to yield more sport than many other forms of sea-rod fishing (such as, for instance, whiting or pout catching), and given a fair tide and wind, a moderate day's sport can always be relied on.
The former consideration at Deal, must here be specially noted, as about three hours before and after low-water it is impossible to get off, owing to the large expanse of mud-banks and the little water that remains in the gut or channel. The most favourable tides are the neaps, as then there is not so much ebb and flow, and hence the distance gone over by the boats in order to cover the fish is not so great. One of the secrets to my mind in success while fishing for these flat-fish, is to get well out to sea with the ebb, and come gradually in on the flood, because these fish especially have a habit of keeping in shallow water, gradually working up the creeks and over the mud banks with the advancing tide, after the shrimps, and dropping down again towards the open as the tide recedes. The question, then, of tide should be settled before any arrangements are made as to the day's fishing. If one finds on inquiry that the Southend times for high and low water are suitable, the same figures can practically be taken for this place.
This reminds me that in my introductory remarks I have not said anything as to how to get at Leigh. Situated in Essex, it is, as I have said, within three miles of Southend, on the Tilbury and Southend line, and is easily reached from either St. Pancras or Fenchurch-street. From the latter station a third-class day return ticket may be had for half-a-crown. Of hotels there are several good, although I can only speak by personal experience on one, "The Ship". I dined there the last time I was down, and the landlord, who is the local agent of B.S.A.S. gives a tariff to the members. There is no difficulty in hiring boatmen, and capable and competent men can be got at a fair charge for boat and bait.
The baits in use at Leigh and Southend are lugworm, ragworm and shrimp, the latter either alive or boiled, and the tackle used varies from the paternoster to a sort of miniature trot line, armed with ten hooks.
For Leigh I am inclined to think that the best rig is with two hooks above the lead and two below. Many anglers use all their hooks below, and state that this is the connect and natural method. This may be so, but nevertheless I use two above and catch quite as many, if not more, above the lead as below. Probably those who catch their fish on hooks, all below the boom, bait mainly with lug. If this be so, I can perfectly understand that the sight of a lugworm struggling against the tide at a height of a foot or so would repel rather than attract any fish. But, on the other hand, what can look more natural than a shrimp struggling to get free from some entanglement a little off the bottom ?
I therefore always bait my two hooks above with shrimp, which, if alive, should be hooked through the tail, and if dead, through the middle of the back. The usual method so frequently advocated of baiting with dead shrimp - to pass the hook through the body so that the head looks up the shank, and the point comes out under the tail - is, to my mind, unscientific, and apt to break up the bait; whereas by the method here shown the bait does not wash off with the tide, but lasts till a fish takes it. (See Fig. 35, B.)
There is little doubt that the live shrimp is more deadly than the boiled, and still less that the shrimp, whether alive or cooked, must be used whole and in no way peeled, the head being the most attractive portion for flounders. That the shrimp is a better bait than the lug may be easily proved by anyone who cares to examine the stomachs of his captures. Of thirty-three fish - twenty-four flounders, five plaice, and four dabs - whose stomachs I cut open one evening, all save two dabs contained shrimp partially digested. Only a few of these were bait shrimp, as the great majority were uncooked, whereas those on the hooks were boiled.
The best size of hook for these baits differs, in my opinion according as one is using lug or shrimp. For the latter, either alive or dead, I prefer No. 4, while for lug I require No. 9, with a specially long shank, a hook sold by Peek and Son as "Mr. Minchin's pattern", after the well-known Deal sea angler. The reason of the long shank will, I think, require no explanation to those who have had to get lug-baited hooks from somewhere about the cardiac region of various flat fish, as, without the long lever of the shank, a hasty vivisection has to be undertaken.
And now a word or two as to the gut, which should be single. Lake Trout quality, above and below the lead. This is quite strong enough, as the average of the fish is not over l lb., and a 2 lb. fish is a great exception, though such are sometimes taken. In working the tackle, arranged and baited as suggested, it should be noted that the depth of water is but very little, hence only a gentle strike must be given, as the rod point is close on the lead, sometimes not more than 7 ft. or 8 ft away. The slightest touch must be struck, however, as otherwise the flat fish gorge down the bait, and may take one or two hooks when swimming up tide, and swallowing those below the ledger hook one by one. On several occasions when I have been out I have caught flounders which had wolfed a lug-baited hook below the boom, and then swam up and took the lowest shrimp above.
The lead used should be the lightest possible, except in the strong tideway of the Ray, as it is essential to get the tide to carry the bait well away from the boat, owing to the shallowness of the water. In flounder fishing the remarks made when speaking of cod in the next chapter apply even more strongly. If it is necessary to employ a light rod and line in order to thoroughly enjoy the capture of heavy fish, how much more is this so when the average is only l lb. apiece ? Therefore a light, limber weapon, certainly not heavier than a light modern pike spinning rod, is to be recommended. My own rod is a light Thames punt rod weighing six ounces.
In using this rig it will be often found that the presence of a fish on the tail hook is not known, save when one gives a slight draw, and this draw also will often cause an otherwise hesitating fish to seize one of the shrimps. The superiority of live shrimps over boiled, I am inclined to think, is threefold, viz., they are lively, darting and kicking; they are the colour the fish is accustomed to find shrimps to be; and, thirdly, they are of the right consistence, and crumple up on a bite taking place, while, at the same time, they last better on the hooks than do the cooked.
Dead and unboiled, I personally have never had any success with them, and think they are certainly useless for the Thames estuary.
During the past year or so the tackle used has still further been lightened, the line has been reduced to a No. 2 silk Nottingham line, and a Nottingham roach rod has been substituted for the pike rod with excellent results.
The reasons for the changes here enumerated are as follows:
In the course of several seasons it has been gradually forced upon one that in clear, shallow water the simplest of fish must be, to a certain extent, scared by any complicated tackle being within sight, and that even the gut used might, with advantage, be lightened. Further, it was found that flounders so frequently took the hook very quietly and thus swam upstream, thus not giving any sensation of a bite until they had pulled the bait off, or had swallowed bait and hook both. By the reduction of the weight the least touch was transmitted to the rod point, and, if a light rod be used, to the hand of the angler. Thus a light lead necessitated a thin line; and a thin line required a light springy rod, which permitted of lighter gut being used on the bottom tackle. The lead used in the run of tide was only enough to keep the baits dribbling along the bottom, so that the least pull would lift it, and thus be transmitted to the rod top. In deepish waters (from 10 ft to 18 ft.) this tackle worked admirably, and even in shallow water was not to be despised when the tide ran strong; in slack water, however, in the shallows, it required to be cast out and gradually worked towards the boat, so that the flounder following the moving bait might be induced to lay hold. Thus worked it certainly killed a fair number of fish, and hooked fish well if they were feeding freely. During last season, however, whether owing to climatic changes, or possibly arising out of the persistent fishing taking place, the flounders off Leigh and Southend, although feeding, seemed to be biting a little shyly.
During the last two visits I have seen three old hooks and portions of tackle taken from the mouths of flounders who have fallen a victim to self or companion's gear. Of course, we all know that sea fish, as a rule, are not shy; but even the boldest of created beings is inclined to learn wisdom by experience, ahd flounders are possibly, under modern conditions, to be considered under the headings of both sea and fresh-water fishes. Be that as it may, the fact remains that during the slacks last winter, in the shallows, more fish have been pricked than hooked with all paternoster and leger tackles. It will be noticed that the phrase "in the shallows" is used. In the writer's opinion, half the sport of flounder fishing arises from the fact that the fish may be taken in shallow water, and, indeed, seem to prefer such water. Thus, at Leigh, in the spring tides the best sport may be had on the flats inshore, from two hours before until two hours after high water, and during the neap tides two hours before to two hours after the low water may be profitably spent at the lower end of the Ray. During all this fishing there is no necessity to at any time fish in a greater depth than 12 ft., and the majority of the time in about 4 ft. to 6 ft.
In such a depth during slack water, float-tackle has been found very killing, especially if used with the live shrimp as bait. The rig out may be briefly described as follows:
- A 10 foot three-piece Nottingham roach rod, the butt and middle joint of whole-cane, and the top of greenheart.
- An easy-running 3¾-inch to 4 inch Nottingham winch, with adjustable check, and holding 50 yards of No. 2 square plait silk line rubbed down with a preparation of King's ceroleum.
- A large Nottingham float which which may, in deep water, be used as a traveller; this should, for reasons which will appear later, carry a good amount of shot, or preferably a small bullet. (Fig. 36.)
- About four feet of trout gut, looped at each end, and with a few shots or a small bullet at the lower end.
- A crystal roach hook on ten inches of fine, undrawn gut, stained brown with permanganate of potash solution.
As has been said, the bait for this tackle is live shrimp, although boiled brown shrimp will often kill as well, especially if the tide is making.
Live shrimps can always be obtained by sending word to the shrimpers to keep some, and members of the British Sea Anglers' Society can get their wants supplied through the Society's agents at Leigh or Southend.
The best method of keeping shrimps alive is undoubtedly the courge, or sand-eel basket, so well described by the late J. C. Wilcocks; of course, this is anchored off, or attached to, the stern of some boat till it is wanted for use. If such an appliance should not be handy, the best receptacle is a wooden bucket in which they are put dry and kept alive by an occasional rinse through with sea water; they live much better in this way than in a bucket of sea water in which the oxygen is quickly exhausted, and which the dead shrimps soon foul. Sea water and a galvanized pail are fatal, as I found out very quickly. The bucket, also, should be placed out of the sun, as even a wintry sun beating down on the top layer of shrimps soon kills them.
And now, having prepared tackle and bait, the next step is to go and fish. Many people who go in for flounder fishing at the mouth of the Thames prefer to work from their own small boats; this is, I am inclined to think, a mistake, as for delicate fishing there is but little room to manipulate rod or landing net in a 14-foot boat. It is much better to make friends with one of the crew of a "bawley" (shrimp-trawler), and get him to allow you to fish off his boat as she lies at her anchorage on the flats, or in the Ray, according to whether the tides are neap or spring. The best plan of any so far to arrange is to time your visit to pick up a "bawley" coming in to her moorings, and, if not previously arranged for, see if they can let you have a pint or two of live shrimps. If they have had a good catch, and are not quite finished boiling, they will be pleased to do so for a few pence. If you don't worry them when they are packing up to get ashore, they will make no objection to your fishing off the trawler, where you get a steady platform and plenty of elbow room, besides which, the washing-down, done by the crew before leaving, ground-baits the vicinity, and certainly attracts the fish.
Entre nous, it may be said here that, before leaving, any mess made by the rodsmen should be cleaned up, and the free use of the mop and pail indulged in, else the privilege may not be renewed at a future date.
It is concluded, then, that the angler has arrived on board, with the rush of the tide slacking off, and the boat lying in about five feet to six feet of water. Now is the ideal time for the live shrimp. The first step is to plumb carefully, so that the bullet or shot may clear the bottom by about nine inches or even ten inches, the length of the hook link. This plumbing is to be frequently done, as the tide is constantly altering. A medium-sized live shrimp is then taken and the roach hook is slipped through the second joint from the tail, literally from side to side. (Fig. 35 A.) This is important, as many recommend the end joint. It is found, however, from practical experience that the tug of the fish often, in the latter method of baiting, results in the loss of the shrimp, minus the tail, while the hook has never been inside the mouth.
If, on the other hand, the shrimp be hooked higher up, or more deeply through the body, the power of free movement is impaired and the bait is not nearly so attractive; in fact, a brown boiled shrimp is a much better bait than a half-dead fresh one, and a wholly-dead unboiled shrimp is, as has been said, useless.
In this fishing the float is dropped gently over the side, and the heavy bullet sinks the bait, which streams out downstream if the current is slight, darting from side to side ; thus it is carried over the flounder, which rises at the bait and drops again, frequently just checking the float. Occasionally, but very occasionally, the fish follows the bait and grabs it, pulling the float right under, like a perch would do. In either case, unless the tide is dead slack, strike, or the bait will be abandoned or pulled off the hook. In most instances, if these directions have been followed, the flounder will be hooked just inside the lip, or in the soft palate, and give splendid sport, darting hither and thither uptide, and giving the light rod and tackle all they can stand. The largest fish the writer has landed this winter by this method weighed l lb. 13 oz. It afforded ten minutes' good sport, and certainly played harder than a 12 1b. cod taken this autumn.
A great advantage of this fishing is that the crab nuisance is practically done away with, although some months ago, at the slack water, I took a crab with live shrimp. He pulled down the float slowly and steadily, but responded to the strike with a feeble shuffle.
That the float-fishing method of catching flounders is not new the writer is well aware, although up till three years ago hardly an angler at the Thames mouth had ever heard of such a thing. That it is deadly many now know, as several anglers have killed large bags by this method. On one occasion in 1899 the writer and a friend took over seven dozen sizable fish; and many others which would have been gladly retained as specimens by the "sportsmen" of Southend Pier were returned to their native element.
This season, four of us (two novices) with paternoster ledger and float tackle took thirteen dozen, one dozen over l½ lb. each.
And now a last word as to boating. In my opinion this place is unsafe for persons not knowing the peculiarities to go out unaccompanied, as the tide is frequently just awash on the flats, and sufficient depth is only obtainable in the gut, the only marks for which are single branches of trees stuck in the mudbank every hundred yards or so. If caught in the dusk with a rapidly-falling tide, unpleasantness or even danger would be bound to accrue. I asked one of the men, when we were returning one night, how he knew where we were. He said by the splash of the oar in the water, and that he kept near the steep bank so that if his oar went into deeper water he could tell the difference in the sound it made when striking the water.
Surely, while this is the case, and experts can only find their way with difficulty, amateurs should be very careful and take no risks. The moral is to take Leigh boatmen; they are good and trustworthy.
In conclusion, any angler intending to try Leigh, who has never been before, should write and tell one of the boatmen to prepare for him, mentioning what sort of bait he wants; or he should send word to Mr. Holmwood, the proprietor of the Ship Hotel, asking him to arrange. This is specially needful if the angler wishes to stay all night or for a day or two, as the accommodation is limited. Plenty of good bait both lug and shrimps, can be got, but notice must be given a day or two beforehand.
"Practical Sea-Fishing" (1905) P. L. Haslope at page 86
This fish much resembles the dab, but is slenderer in form, especially towards the tail … The same tackle can be used as for dab-fishing, and the best baits are soft crab, lugs, or mud-worms. The flounder has a particular liking for fresh water, and is found plentifully in estuaries or in brackish pools connecting with the sea. In the latter place, while fishing for grey mullet, I have taken a good number of them, my tackle consisting of a single gut cast, light float, and a No 8 "Pennell" hook baited with rag-worms. Allow the bait to remain close to or rest upon the bottom … When fried, flounders are excellent eating.
"Sea Fishing" (1911) Charles Owen Minchin at pages 122 to 137
Chapter IX
Plaice, Dabs and Flounders
These three fishes are very closely allied. The first is the largest and by far the most important commercially; the second is the smallest, the most numerous and the best flavoured; and the third is the one that gives the best sport to the amateur fisherman …
… Flounders, however, are not are very safe eating at any time unless they have been cleaned and bled immediately after capture; and they are also liable to a nasty-looking skin disease which does not tend to make them look appetising. Water-suchet, [3] a sort of cold sandwich between slices of bread and butter, is the proper way to serve flounder at table, and the plat derives most of its interest from the cold punch with which it is de rigueur to wash it down.
The flounder is mature at the length of 8 in to 9 in and it has been known to reach 18 in in length, but fish of 2 lbs weight are unusual. The three species have slightly different tastes as to diet; while very young they all three feed, as do most young fish, on little crustaceans, and as they grow older the plaice exhibit a decided preference for bivalve shellfish, the dabs for worms, and the flounders, at least while young and inshore, for shrimps (though they also feed largely on molluscs), and consequently they are to be found on different kinds of sea-bottom; plaice and dabs on smooth sands and mud, and flounders in the shallow rays and swashes among the banks in the estuaries or just outside.
… Flounders abound in almost every muddy estuary, but are largest and most plentiful in the Solway and the Thames, and as these last waters are familiar it will be convenient to give some hints as to the proper way to fish for flounders in the Thames Estuary; and here I must admit my indebtedness to Dr. C. S. Patterson, a skilful, all-round fisherman, who was, I think, the first person to practise and describe the correct method of flounder-fishing at Leigh-on-Thames.
Leigh, as everybody knows, is situated on the left bank of the Thames just below Canvey Island. The forshore at low water consists of extensive and somewhat odoriferous mudbanks with a few channels among them where the smacks used for shrimp-trawling lie between tides. The flounders which come out of the backwaters behind Canvey and from the muddy Essex streams wander over the flats at high water and betake themselves to the rays and swashes when the water falls. The best time for fishing is from two or three hours before to two or three hours after high water; and the best place is either from a small boat moored in "the Ray" or from the deck of one of the smacks. One may use either a Tony Boom, as described above, or a combination of paternoster and trace (all of single gut), with two hooks above and two below the lead. As only a very slight sinker is needed, on account of the shallowness of the water, a thin line can be used … The hooks should be small and long-shanked, and the lead no heavier than just sufficient to hold bottom.
A yet more sporting method, and one which is equally killing, is to use float-tackle. The float should be a "slider" sufficiently large to carry a small bullet, and the stop on the line should be so placed as to keep this lead a very little clear of the ground in order that the hooks and trace may travel freely with the tide. One hook above the lead and two trailing below it will make the trace complete, and a light Thames roach-rod will do very nicely.
Flounders will often take lugworm-bait very freely; another day they will turn up their noses at it and want cockles or small mussels; at other times, but not often, a bit of whitebait tempts their appetities; but one bait they rarely refuse, and that is a live shrimp. The shrimp should be impaled very gently ("using him as though you loved him", as that cruel old coxcomb [4] Izaak Walton said of his frog) below the second joint from the tail. He can then swim freely and make dashes through the water, which is a great temptation to the fish. If live shrimps cannot be obtained, then boiled brown shrimps may be used, they are not so good as the live ones, but flounders take them fairly well. Raw dead shrimps are of no use whatever except as ground-bait. The dead shrimp should be hooked, in and out, through the hump on the back.
It is most important that flounders, if meant to be eaten, should be cleaned as soon as they have been caught. The easiest way is to make a circular cut and take the whole piece out; moreover, this kills the fish, though its muscles may work violently afterwards. Some people have a notion that flounders should be bled by gashing across the tail, which is quite a mistake as the bleeding is only half done in that fashion, and the nasty, poisonous microbes from the digestive tract are drained into and through the body and not removed outright, as by the proper method.
[3] Editor's note: in the days of whitebait feasts in Greenwich and along the Thames, a soup called water-souchet, made with the larger fish such as flounder caught in the whitebait nets, formed part of the meal. Made with cheap species like flounder and whiting, water-souchet is a white-fish British version of a soupe de poisson. Isabella Beeton's version:
"Water Souchy. 352. Perch, tench, soles, eels, and flounders are considered the best fish for this dish. For the souchy, put some water into a stewpan with a bunch of chopped parsley, some roots, and sufficient salt to make it brackish. Let these simmer for 1 hour, and then stew the fish in this water. When they are done, take them out to drain, have ready some finely-chopped parsley, and a few roots cut into slices of about one inch thick and an inch in length. Put the fish in a tureen or deep dish, strain the liquor over them, and add the minced parsley and roots. Serve with brown bread and butter."
[4] Editor's note: a "coxcomb" is a vain and conceited man; a dandy.
"Modern Sea Angling" (1921) Francis Dyke Holcombe at page 215
But the angler who wants really to enjoy catching flounders may be advised to have nothing to do with bottom fishing, but to confine himself to float tackle. The fish … is a lively and active one on the hook, and it is a shame to angle for him with anything but light tackle.
… One writer in describing this fishing says that the best time is from two or three hours before to two or three hours after high water; but as a matter of fact the exact contrary is more often the case, the best time generally being the two hours on either side of dead low water. A live shrimp will generally be found the best bait (ground baiting with the dead ones); and the shrimp should be hooked through the tail, just like a prawn. If the angler cannot come by any live shrimps he had better rely on lugworm, which is the next best bait; although mussel, soft crab, cockle and small strips of whitebait will catch flounders at times. November is generally the best month for this fishing, and by Christmas it is usually pretty well over.
"Modern Sea Fishing" (1937) Eric Cooper at pages 211 & 212
The Flatfish
A method of flounder-fishing which has recently created a great deal of interest is that evolved by Mr J P Garrad, the well-known writer under the nom de plume of "Sea Angler". This style is generally becoming known to-day as the "baited-spoon" method.
Spinner have of course been used in the sea for a very long time, but the spoon of the fresh-water fishermen has only been given serious consideration during the last few years and since these experiments were begun. The spoons which have been found in practice to give the best results are about 3 inches long and fitted with a single hook, not a triangle. It is important to see that the spoon which is used is one that does not cause the hook itself to revolve. When either triangle or revolving hook were used, or when the spoon was worked without the addition of a bait, little success was met with. For bait, lugworm has been found the most satisfactory. The theory behind this baited-spoon method of fishing is that the flounder mistakes the spoon for another flounder, and, swimming after it, sees and takes the bait. Eels, bass and many other fish have been caught on this tackle, but the size of spoon used varies considerably with the species fished for. The spoon may be worked either from a moving boat, rowed with the current - an important point - or from an anchored boat if there is sufficient tide to revolve the spoon. The originator of this method cautions the angler against striking the fish when the first touch is felt. The flounder following the spoon nibble at the bait; when they take it into their mouths they dive for the bottom and hook themselves.
"Sea Angling Modern Methods and Tackle" (1952) Alan Young at pages 77 - 82 & 100
Flounders and Flounder Fishing
Flounders are not an important fish commercially, for their flesh is much inferior to that of plaice or dabs, but they are highly regarded by anglers for the spirited way in which they fight. A flounder cannot make a long fast dash for freedom like other sporting fish, but it can and does fight in a series of dives which, on light tackle, have to be treated with caution.
Flounders, like other flat fish, emerge from the eggs as normally shaped fish, but as they grow the whole of the cranium turns until both eyes are on one side, while the body becomes laterally flattened. Thus, when a flatfish lies on the bottom the white underpart is one side of the fish and the coloured upper part is the other … If a flounder be held on edge by the dorsal fin, coloured side towards one, the tail is on the left and the eyes are on the right. Plaice, soles and dabs also have their eyes on the right. Turbot and brill, held in a similar way, have eyes on the left and tail on the right.
Flounders are … to be found in some areas on sand, but their favourite habitat is muddy estuaries and creeks, which they ascend with the tide in search of food. This food can be almost anything alive - the whole gamut of the smaller shelled creatures, ragworms, lugworms and any other living organisms which the returning tide uncovers. Anglers fish successfully with any of the recognized baits, but there is no need to go further than ragworms if these are available.
Although flounders can be caught almost anywhere around our coasts except where the bottom is rocky, the best place for them is the type of harbour or inlet which, at low tide, is a featureless mass of mud … A boat is necessary to fish these large mudflats, but there are many projections [1] which make flounder fishing simple, while hundreds of these fish are accounted for yearly by shore fishermen. Flounders offer sport right into the brackish waters of estuaries, and even into the fresh water beyond, for they are remarkably adaptable in this respect.
Bottom Fishing
Bottom fishing, either by paternoster, ledger, or a combination of both, accounts for the majority of flounders caught by anglers, and if the current is slight and the water comparatively shallow so that light weights can be employed, it is a sporting method of fishing. When weights of more than 2oz have to be used, the corresponding increase in the strength of tackle reduces the sporting value of the fishing …
They appear to hunt their food more by sight than scent and baits on normal ledger tackle, or on the bottom hook of a paternoster, may well be hidden from their sight. Crabs are often a nuisance on flounder grounds and, for this reason, with these tackles I fix a piece of cork sufficient to give buoyancy to hook and bait, 8in from the hook. This raises the hooks out of reach of crabs and into the view of flounders.
Flounders are deliberate takers and a slow count of four should be allowed between bite and strike.
The Baited Spoon
Mr. J. P. Garrard, who writes under the pen-name of "Seangler", has evolved a method of flounder fishing which has become very popular in recent years. This is done with a baited spoon … The hook should be a single long-shanked no. 2 or 3. It must not turn with the spoon …
The whole point of this tackle is that the hook must be baited. The spoon arouses the interest of a flounder, but a flounder is not a predatory fish and it does not attempt to swallow the spoon, which is what happens in most forms of spinning. Having come to investigate the spoon, a flounder finds the bait and swallows it. The hook must, therefore, hang clear of the spoon.
Anglers have had success with most of the accepted baits. In recent years I have used nothing but ragworm or king rag, as these have proved consistently successful.
… Since the theory of baited spoon fishing is that flounders see the spoon from some distance off and come to investigate it, the light-reflecting nature of the spoon and the depth at which it is fished must depend on visibility, and this is controlled by the condition of the water. In coloured water a bright spoon should be fished close to the bottom. In clear water a bright spoon can be fished higher in the water, but on really brilliant days a spoon painted with a matt colour (red is popular) can be fished at any depth with success …
In baited spoon fishing it is not necessary to strike. A flounder first mouths and then swallows the bait and hooks itself as it dives to the bottom.
Other fish besides flounder are frequently taken on the baited spoon, including good bass, but I have had an afternoon spoiled by a shoal of school bass which hooked themselves one after another.
From projections over mud and from the banks of creeks which provide firm standing ground, the baited spoon can be cast uptide and slowly recovered.
Wander Tackle
A Hampshire angler, Mr. P. Wadham, invented wander tackle for flounder fishing. It is the finest of all methods since it accounts for large numbers of fish and enables them to exercise their fighting qualities to the full.
The tackle is illustrated in Fig. 38. It is used with the light rod.
The hooks are baited with ragworm, lugworm or crab, and the tackle is cast out from an anchored boat or from a flat shore across a muddy creek or estuary on an incoming tide. It is essential that the water should be comparatively shallow and that the bed should be clear of obstructions. The weights and hooks sink to the bottom and the line is slowly reeled in. The weights stir up the mud and attract the attention of feeding flounders. If crabs prove a nuisance the rate of recovery can be slightly increased. When a touch is felt, recovery should be halted, and a strike made after a pause of four or five seconds.
This method cannot be practised with light tackle if the angler is perched high up on a pier, or on the bank of a deep creek, for the upward pull of the line lifts the weights off the mud. It can be used in these circumstances with the medium rod, a 12lb b.s. line and a 2oz spiral lead if the line is recovered very slowly, but the comparatively heavy weights reduce the sporting element, and the only advantage of this tackle over paternostering or ledgering is that the baits cover more ground and are on the move.
Flounders do not feed to any great extent at night and, though they are sometimes caught on bottom baits during the hours of darkness, the baited spoon and wander tackle methods are successful only in daylight.
Other Fish
Flatfish
A generalization about flatfish, however, can be inserted here. Intensive inshore trawling for flatfish, particularly plaice and soles, has resulted in a serious reduction in their numbers, so much so that areas once teeming with these fish are now no longer worth fishing. The trawls cannot be operated where rocks are numerous and it may pay the angler to study the coastline or the chart. Flatfish do not care for rocky ground but there are many comparatively large patches of sand lying between rocks which would prevent trawling. Such areas may well prove profitable to the angler.
[1] Author's Note: To avoid constant repetition of the words "piers, groynes, breakwaters, jetties" etc., the word "projection" has been used to cover everything which juts into the sea from which a man can fish, except rocks and other natural features.
"Sea Fishing with the Experts" (1956) Jack Thorndike at pages 89 to 92
Flatfish (Hugh Stoker)
The flounder, otherwise known as the fluke, is a flatfish of particular interest to the British sea angler … Like (the dab and plaice) the flounder normally has its eyes on the right; although it is worth noting that "reversed" specimens, with their eyes to the left, are by no means uncommon. The flounder may be distinguished from the dab by its smooth back … In colour, the upper side of the flounder varies from a sort of dirty grey to a dark sooty brown. There may also be light patches, and faint pinkish-coloured spots somewhat resembling those of the plaice, but these usually disappear soon after the fish has died.
… The flounder is, in fact, troubled by a variety of ailments. Large pus-filled swellings disfigure the flesh of many fish, and in numerous districts practically every fish that is caught will be found to have parasites adhering to the body, especially in the region of the pectoral fins.
Like all flatfish, the flounder is a bottom feeder, and on reaching maturity its diet consists mainly of worms, small fish, shellfish, and - in certain localities - starfish. It will be noted that, in feeding fairly extensively upon fish, the flounder differs from the dab and the plaice, and this is a fact which the angler should bear in mind.
Leger tackle, carrying two or three hooks, is widely used by both shore and boat fishermen. The flounder, however, is fairly active when searching for food, and for this reason the writer favours a paternoster-trot for tight-line fishing, with one hook hanging free just above the sea bed. When local conditions permit, it is a good plan to keep the lead on the move so that it stirs up a little puff of mud or sand, which arouses the curiosity of the fish. This method also helps to keep the bait out of the clutches of hungry shore crabs.
Alternatively, many pier and jetty fishermen favour light float tackle, using as little lead as tidal conditions will allow.
To make sure of catching a flounder when it bites, the strike should be delayed for a moment or two in order to give the fish a chance to get the bait well down. It will be found that small, long-shanked hooks are best - say about ¼ inch across the bend.
The most popular baits are lugworm, live shrimp, ragworm, hermit crab and soft crab. In addition, freshly caught whitebait have been found most effective. In fresh water the flounder will also take the ordinary garden lobworm.
For the boat angler there is another method of flounder fishing which should certainly be given a trial. Commonly referred to as "baited-spooning", it necessitates the use of a revolving plated spoon, fitted with a single long-shanked hook. This is baited - usually, but not necessarily, with lugworm - and drawn slowly through the water with oars or sail. This system can bring excellent results, but it is essential to observe several important points. It is advisable, for instance, that the boat should be sailed or rowed with the tide. Also, although the spoon should revolve freely, the baited hook must not do so. It is worth stressing as well that the type of spoon fitted with a triangle of hooks is virtually useless so far as this sort of fishing is concerned.
"The Complete Sea Angler" (1957) Richard Arnold at page 158
The Flounder
DESCRIPTION. Similar to the dab but with brownish or greenish, or even greyish backs. Some specimens have dull orange spots which disappear after the fish has been taken from the water. The back of the fish is smooth and covered with mucus.
DISTRIBUTION. The only flat-fish which enters fresh water. The majority of flounders are taken in brackish water and specimens are often taken well up rivers when anglers are bottom fishing for freshwater species …
Unlike the smelt, the flounder enters fresh water in search of food, and not for spawning, consequently the common or garden earthworm may be used when flounder fishing in estuarial or brackish waters. Other, more orthodox sea angling baits are, however, recommended for choice.
SEASON. Best for the table during June/July, though in good condition during the winter and very early spring …
ANGLING METHODS. Paternoster, leger, and float tackle are successful methods. Soft crab, lugworms, ragworms, shrimps, and the tail ends of hermit crabs are well proven baits. In addition, the flounder is widely sought after using the specialized methods of "Wander" tackle, and the "baited spoon" technique, both of which were evolved to come to better terms with this fish.
To enjoy flounder fishing, tackle should be as light as possible. The use of light tackle means that the fish are given a sporting chance and enabled to put up a spirited fight: denying, therefore, the common charge that they come in like logs, a libellous charge only brought about by the use of heavy tackle against a small fish.
Though most flounders caught may run under the 1lb mark, nevertheless flounders of over 2lb are not uncommon and the record stands at almost 5lb. Consequently, common sense must be used in the choice of light lines. Personally, I use a line with a breaking strain of 4 to 5lb when fishing for flounders off the shore. From the boat I would increase the line strength to about 8lb.
For float fishing, use a free running float, a slider for preference. The trace, which should be from 5 to 6ft in length, and attached to the line by a swivel, should be nylon … of about the same breaking strain as the line. A single hook, from size 1 to 4, is sufficient. Any of the recommended baits may be used and the hook should be suspended about a foot from the sea bed. This defeats the marauding crab, which is all too common when fishing over flat-fish ground. When using a paternoster for flat-fish I use two booms only, with the lower hook at least 9in from the sea bed, for the same reason.
Flounders give an unmistakable signal when taking on the float tackle - first of all the float trembles for a second or so, giving the angler plenty of time to get into action ready for the strike. This is followed by a sudden rapid dive of the float - strike the moment the float is under the surface and the flounder should be yours.
"Wander" tackle is simple to use and extremely effective … It consists of a hook, about size 4, baited with lugworm, soft crab, or a bunch of small white ragworms, attached to a nylon trace about 4ft long, which is attached to the line by a small swivel. The breaking strain of the trace should be 4 to 5lb. About 1ft to 18in below the swivel is a spiral lead, weighing about half an ounce; about 9in to 1ft above the hook, there is a small anti-kink lead. To use: cast the tackle and allow to sink to the sea bed and then gradually recover the line. The main lead stirs up the mud or sand on the bottom and attracts the feeding flounders which see the bait and the rest is up to the angler. The rate of recovery is very slow, otherwise the whole purpose of the tackle would be defeated, consequently crabs can be a nuisance. Crabs may be circumvented, however, by attaching a piece of cork to the trace about 9in above the hook and dispensing with the anti-kink lead. This raises the baited hook from the sea bed.
The baited spoon … Flounders respond nobly to a moving bait, far better than the common or garden bottom fishing lures. The hook should be baited with ragworm or king rag for preference, although other common baits will be effective. Personally I prefer lugworm after rag … The flashing lure attracts the flounder into making an investigation; and discovering the bait, it usually succumbs to temptation. The usual mechanics of spinning apply. The slower the lure travels, the deeper it is fished.
When using the baited spoon, or Wander tackle, it is not necessary to strike - the flounder really attacks the bait, swallows it and turns to swim away, or dive, thereby hooking itself.
"Sea Angling with the Baited Spoon" (1960) "Seangler" John Garrad at pages 50 to 52 & 139 to 148
5. Interlude for Writing, Correspondence and Visitors
… One of my visitors was the late Mr. Percy Wadham, the then well-known angler and angling writer, and founder of the tackle firm in the Isle of Wight, now Wadhams Specialities Ltd. His visit led to some fishing expeditions and a long correspondence. He was also a flounder fan, who had experimented and developed a different type of tackle for catching them, the Wander Tackle. After his first visit when we tried both tackles he became enthusiastic over the spoons, especially with the way in which they took flounders on an ebb tide. His letters and suggestions did much to put this method on a practical footing.
A few days after our first outing, I received from him a 3" spoon, all ready for fishing, made in white celluloid, which I still have in my collection. This spoon worked quite well, but being celluloid, it had a tendency to float, and needed extra weight to keep it down at the required depth. On reporting this, he immediately made and sent another. This time in a light metal, coated with white Cellire, a kind of liquid celluloid. This spoon was as effective as the plated, and soon became one of our standard spoons.
Trials of these white spoons added some useful data. Being white, they apparently did not require so much light to make them show up in the water, as did the polished metal or plated. They took fish later in the evening, on dull days, and when the water was inclined to be thick or dark. Incidentally this idea of dipping spoons in white cellire gave me the idea of trying other colours, the results being summarised in Chapter 8. With the use of these white spoons, bass catches increased, a matter treated more fully in Chapter 10.
It was Mr. Wadham who first suggested that flounders might keep to regular tracks, or "low-ways" as he called them. This seemed to him to be the case in some of the Isle of Wight estuaries that he had fished. As a check on this creek, I prepared a rough chart and then as nearly as possible, plotted on the position in which each fish was taken. As I added the positions of catches made during the following five years, they began to show a continuous line; a track that ran round the outside of each bend, continuing at the down current end for some little distance on to the mudbank. Then diagonally across the channel again to the outer side of the following bend. The width of this track varied. On a sharp bend the track was narrow. On a long, comparatively straight stretch of channel that followed one bend, fish were taken over a track as wide as two hundred yards; but it concentrated to follow the outside of the next bend.
At first I believed that the fish were simply following the deep water, usually found on the outside of a bend. The chart however, began to show fish taken in the shallower water on the mudbank at the down current end, but not in a similar position at the up current end. It was this fact that later led me to conclude that the fish were feeding along the line where the current ran strongest. If the current in a river bend is studied, it will be seen to strike the bank about the middle, or a little above, the middle of the bend, entering in almost a straight line from the channel above. When the bank deflects this current, it is not immediately turned back into the channel; but, depending on its strength, it continues for a varying distance on to and over the shallows at the down current end, before it swings back to the channel. This would account for fish being found in shallower water below a bend.
This has been confirmed during later years when it was found that bites got less and less, the farther you got away from the main run of the current. Before making the chart, in the days when we used to troll by zigzagging backwards and forwards across almost the whole width of this creek, I had found that bites were much more plentiful in a bend, and also on the shallows below, than they were over the point opposite, although the water here was often deeper than just below the bend. Mr. Wadham's idea of "low-ways" which led to this chart being made, explained this point. Incidentally, when the chart was completed it saved a lot of time, a point I stressed earlier. As most of these experiments were made with the trolled spoon, one had only to follow the plotted track to find fish. This saved many of the blank spells that were a feature of earlier days when we just zigzagged rather aim-lessly all over the creek in the hope of finding fish.
Another useful idea was due to Mr. Wadham. Used to casting the Wander tackle he started casting the baited spoon. With the usual lead on the line above the two swivel trace he found the weight liable to get in front of the spoon and so cause a tangle. He overcame this by a slight alteration in the spoon mounting. Fitting a strip of wire, in place of the second swivel from the hook. On this wire, lead wire could be wound, so bringing all the weight at the extreme end of the tackle. Later this type of mounting was found very useful when drifting, or sinking and drawing a baited spoon.
Another instance of a small detail that made a difference to the fishing, was found by him. Making up one of these spoons he thought the lead wire looked rather rough against the white spoon, so he painted the lead with red cellire. Fishing with his son who used this spoon with the painted lead, they found that it killed three fish to one on a spoon with unpainted lead.
It is pleasant to remember his kindly help, and the thrill of opening his long letters, wondering what idea he would next suggest for trial, or what report he would make on something he had tried …
Appendix I
The Flounder (Platichthys flesus)
Some notes on the principal victim of these experiments
Identification. … I have taken scores of flounders with spots, as orange or as red, as those on any plaice. These spots are, therefore, of no use for identification purpose. Check identification with the fingers. Rub the tips over the back of the fish. If the back is smooth all over it is a plaice. If rough, like sandpaper, it is a dab. If prickles of any kind can be felt, it is a flounder.
Edibility. One problem is that of the eating qualities of the flounder. Most of the old works on fishing describe the flounder, if not entirely inedible, as being "as tasty as boiled flannel!." Against this is the fact that, to my knowledge, flounders caught in this district for many years have not only been eaten, but have been always found to be quite tasty fish. There has been a considerable amount of correspondence in fishing periodicals this last few years. From this has emerged the information the information that flounders from our south coasts are both edible and tasty. Fish from our northern shores being reported as not only tasteless, but in some cases quite inedible. Lack of reports from our east and west coasts has prevented it being established whereabouts is the dividing line between the two sorts. It may be that there are two races, if not two species of flounders that may account for this difference in edibility. In this connection, anglers could help by checking the prickles and other characteristics of the fish they catch.
"The Sea Angler Afloat and Ashore" (1965) Desmond Brennan at pages 45, 46 & 238 - 241
The Fishes of the Sea
The Flounder (Platichthys flesus)
Similar in shape to the plaice; eyes on right side, lateral line slightly curved near head, biggish mouth, strong conical teeth, mouth extends farther back on blind side; patch of rough tubercles on head behind the eyes and also rough tubercles extending along the base of both the anal and dorsal fins; strong sharp spine in front of anal fin. Colour varies from the very dark brown to greenish grey, sometimes with plaice-like spots; underside a distinctive opaque marble white … It frequents muddy and sandy bottoms, has a liking for brackish water and is found in creeks, estuaries, harbours, and will even ascend considerable distances into freshwater (mostly young fish). It feeds on crustaceans (crabs, shrimps), worms (lugworm, white ragworm) and fish (sandeels, herring fry, sprats).
A smaller fish than the plaice, it averages ½ to 2 lb in weight. An inshore species, it spawns in the open sea from February to May. It begins to return inshore towards the end of April, remaining inshore until winter, when it begins to gradually migrate into deeper water for spawning. It will take peeler or soft crab, lugworm, ragworm, or fish bait fished leger or paternoster fashion and will also take a baited spoon.
The Flatfishes
The Flounder
… Flounder fishing is usually best near high and low water and the middle reaches of the tide are not very productive. At low water flounders will be found in very shallow water on beaches and in estuaries and channels. When walking through the shallows at times in no more than 2 or 3 inches of water you will often disturb them and send them scuttling away in a puff of sand or mud. This is the best time to fish for them in channels for at low water they are concentrated there, while later on the tide they can spread out over the sand and mudflats and will be thinner over the ground. They feed freely through the day and can be taken on either paternoster or leger tackle, and it is best to use long shank hooks no bigger than size 1. It is surprising just how big a hook a flounder can get its small mouth around for I have taken them while bass fishing using a large peeler crab on a size 4/0 hook.
Indeed where they are plentiful they can be a perfect nuisance to anglers fishing for bass, attacking and stripping the baits off the hooks before the bass can see them. The familiar "tug-tug" as the flounder plucks at the bait and backs away with it can be very frustrating to the bass angler, as hooking a flounder on a large hook is difficult and usually results in loss of bait and frayed tempers. The only thing to do at times is to change to smaller hooks and fish for flounders. Most anglers recommend leger tackle, but I find an ordinary paternoster quite satisfactory provided that the fish is given a little slack line when the first "tug-tug" is felt and the strike is made when the line straightens out again.
At low water it is a mistake to make long casts, for the flounders are right in the shallows. On surf beaches, however, it will be necessary to get out beyond the breakers as they prefer quiet water. On some beaches where the surf starts breaking a long way out and a "table of water" (flounder surf) is created, the flounders will be found quite close in, as on this type of beach the depth remains constant over a large area and the undertow is not too strong. Flounders swim with the tide, moving in over the newly covered ground to feed. They do not, however, move in as quickly as bass and mullet, preferring a greater depth of water once the tide has started to flood, and it is half tide before the fishing improves again. Longer casts are necessary than at low water and fishing is usually good from half tide to an hour after high water but they take best on the top of the tide.
I prefer to do my flounder fishing in estuaries, because I can use much lighter tackle than on a beach. Flounders cannot put up even a token resistance against surfcasting tackle and if they are to be enjoyed at all very light tackle must be used. In estuaries and channels I find a spinning rod, freshwater type fixed-spool reel and a 1 oz Arsley (Arlesey) Bomb quite adequate and the same tackle does me for boat fishing. Actually boat fishing for flounders can be excellent fun for, with a reasonable depth of water over them, they can put up a fair fight against light tackle. When taken from the shore their very shape is a handicap and allows them to be pulled through the water with little resistance.
Boat fishing for flounders is mainly estuary and channel fishing at low water, whilst the sand and mudflats can be fished when the tide is in. I prefer to fish them on a slow drift with the tackle described above. The flounder shows an amazing amount of curiosity and will follow a moving object on the bottom or anything bright or fluttering. It is for this reason that a baited spoon is so effective for flounder fishing. The spoon (it can be either a wobbling or a spinning spoon) is baited with lugworm or ragworm and it should be retrieved either just fast enough to make the spoon work or else in a series of jerks or twitches which causes the spoon to rise from the bottom and then flutter back down again. It must, of course, be fished close to the bottom.
The action of the spoon arouses the curiosity of the flounder which will swim over to investigate and will then see the bait and turn its attention to it. When the fish tugs at the bait, keep on retrieving until the weight of the fish is felt and then strike smartly. Flounders will in fact take an unbaited spoon and I have caught them on large bass spoons which I was fishing slowly near the bottom. They seem to prefer a wobbling to a revolving type spoon, though the bar type baited spoon is very effective. The same principle of arousing the flounder's curiosity is behind another type of rig used by anglers. It consists of a three hook trace, two hooks fished above the lead and a third on a flowing trace attached just above the lead. The upper hooks are rigged paternoster fashion on two white plastic booms and the flowing trace hook link is about 12 to 16 inches long. The lead is dragged slowly across the bottom sending up a little cloud of sand or mud attracting the fish over to investigate and the purpose of the white booms is also to attract. It is not unusual where flounders are very plentiful to get two and occasionally three fish at a time on this type of tackle.
… I have always found clear water and calm conditions best for flounder fishing. They do not like rough seas or dirty water and after a blow do not take well until the sea is settled again.
"Sea Angling" (1965) Derek Fletcher at pages 98 to 103
Chapter 12: Flat-Fish Family
A surprising change has taken place in the technique of flounder-fishing during recent years. No longer does the successful angler cast his baited paternoster out, fit the rod to a beach tripod, and wait for a tell-tale bell to ring. True, many fish are still taken this way, but now the accent is on light tackle and keeping the bait on the move. This method is becoming a firm favourite with both boat and pier anglers.
… Their diet is a varied one, and fish have been taken with lug and ragworm, limpets, small pieces of herring and shrimps. Whilst in one area they will feed hungrily on limpet, on another coast only lugworm will produce fish.
… the best bottom flounder-fishing comes during frosty weather in a calm sea but a strong east wind puts them off the feed. My best 'bags' have been after dark, although they can be caught at all times of the day …
The most sporting method of taking flounders is with the baited spoon, the originator of this method being Mr. J. P. Garrad. Anglers owe a great deal to this gentleman, for his patience and his extensive experiments which began soon after the first world war.
An 8ft freshwater spinning-rod, with either a small light Nottingham-type or multiplier reel and 8lb b.s. line will give the maximum of sport. A two-part 6ft trace, linked by swivels, with a large loop at one end enables the type of spoon to be changed without untying. At the head of the trace there should be a ¾oz Jardine lead. There are several spoons on the market, but it is important not to get one too small. A 3in white enamelled or plated spoon is sufficient with a single long-shanked hook. The hook, of course, has to be baited and any of the baits mentioned will take fish. It has been found that white spoons are most suitable for dusk work and cloudy days … red-coloured spoons … are best reserved for clear water and sunny weather.
The principle behind the baited spoon is that the flounder, watching the wobbling spoon passing overhead, mistakes it for another flounder pursuing food and, overcome by hunger or curiosity, it swims up to investigate and soon seizes the tempting baited hook. Although most spoon-fishing is done froma boat, the technique can be mastered from groyne, shore or pier. Cast out, slowly recovering the line at a sufficient speed to keep the spoon revolving. Avoid weed-covered sea-beds and fish with the current.
Although I have already stated that my best flounder-fishing was in frosty weather, for successful spoon-fishing choose calm, mild weather. Cold weather tends to make the flounders slow to rise, and one will have just as much sport with other methods … Flounders keep to the deep water of the creeks at low tide, moving up with the flood tide to feed.
One important point is to make sure that only the spoon spins. A revolving hook will immediately put a flounder off, as it sucks or mouths the bait for a few seconds before taking it. It is not necessary to strike as the fish, when fully satisfied that nothing is amiss, will hook itself as it dives with the bait.
Although it was thought until quite recently that fish could only be taken trolling with the current, there are indications that just as many fish can be caught spoon-baiting against it. However, it is easier to control the depth of the spoon with the tide, and the beginner will do well to keep to this method until he has thoroughly mastered the technique.
Wander-tackle, or roving-tackle as it is known on some coasts, acounts for many flounder catches. This is also a sporting method of taking them, although not yet so widely followed as the spoon-bait method. Mr. P. Wadham, the Hampshire angler who devised the method, prefected it in the many small creeks that he fished. The name, of course, immediately conveys to the reader just what it does - wanders over the sea-bed.
This is a far better method than the old three-boomed brass paternoster and allows the use of light tackle with two baited hooks. At one end of a 6ft nylon trace is a tiny swivel attachment for connection to the main 8lb b.s. line. A foot away from this attach a small plastic boom from which floats a 6in trace to a No. 4 hook. Six inches along the trace there should be added a ¼oz spiral lead. Between this and the final No. 4 hook, about 8in away, put a very small ball weight stopped by lead shot pinched on the nylon.
The idea, and a very good one in practice, is that the lead moving over the bottom stirs up small clouds of muddy sand which attracts the fish. A large area is covered and the bait is sure to pass some feeding fish. It is essential to keep it moving just that much quicker than the hungry crab, but not too quick to be out of range of the average flounder.
This method can be used from a boat, or low groynes, but is not satisfactory from piers or other high places. The upward line recovery tends to pull the baits and weights off the bottom, upsetting the whole system. Heavier weights and lines can be used to get over this but they spoil the sport. Clear and calm water make ideal conditions, especially at dusk. The addition of pilchard oil to any of the baits leaves an attractive trail along the bottom.
Another method of catching flounders is with a roving float. This is almost a copy of the 'wander' technique except that a light nylon trace is used and a spiral weight with small float. The size of the latter two must depend on the state of the tide and conditions of the sea. The baited hook is allowed to roam unchecked with the current, with the bait just trailing the bottom. The early morning, with calm seas, a cold nip in the air, is a useful time to use this tackle.
"Popular Sea Fishing" (1968) Peter Wheat (editor) at pages 75 to 81
Fishing for Flounder, Sole, Dab and Pouting (Derek Fletcher)
Flounder
… Flounders are often variable in colour, according to the locality in which they are caught and the sea-bed they most frequent. Nature has given them the ability to change their colouring to suit their surroundings, and this, with the aid of sand which they flap over themselves, is a good protection from their enemies, as well as a camouflage when they seek natural food.
Generally the upper side is dark brown and the underside white, but mottled coloured specimens are likely from sea-beds which are strewn with various coloured shells, such as razorfish, mussels and slipper limpets. From the thick, dark harbour mud one may take black coloured flounders, and occasionally you might come across one that has a slight reddish or orange hue because it has frequented seaweed of similar colouring for a period of time.
This variation sometimes causes identity mistakes when weighing in at fishing festivals, a problem easily avoided by a simple stroke-test. Run your finger lightly over the back of the fish from head to tail. The flounder will feel smooth except for the occasional rough patch near the shoulder. In comparison the dab will feel rough overall. Another identification aid is that a flounder's lateral line is slightly curved at the shoulder, and there are also tiny tubercles at the base of the fins. The head is fairly large, with a matching mouth, and the body quite plump.
The flounder has an interesting life history. When the fish is young its eyes will be found in the normal position, one on each side of the head. Later, as it makes growth, it tends to swim on its side, and then the 'under' eye moves over to set beside the other. At this stage it is ready to start its 'second' life, flapping about on the bottom, although it can rise quite quickly when it desires to do so.
Flounders are caught on many baits, but quite often there is a preference shown for regional ones. Along a coast where there is plenty of slipper limpet washed up on the shore a taste may be acquired for this as bait. In another area razorfish might be the best bait, or alternatively ragworm or lugworrn. If you are fishing in a new area it is essential to find out this local bait information in advance. They will also take sand-eels, peeled shrimps, peeler crab, cockles, mussels, and sometimes even garden worms when normal baits are in short supply.
When fishing for them it should be remembered that they are inquisitive fish. Any disturbance on the bottom which might cause alarm to other fish will help to draw flounders to the area. Many a time, when fishing has been poor, especially in estuaries, I have scraped the bottom with a rod-rest or net handle; this has been sufficient to create an attraction.
Although the old-style brass paternoster with three hooks is still used, even in these enlightened days, the trend is towards lighter tackle, and the modern angler will have better results using tackle which is not associated with ironmongery! 'Wander tackle' is a sporting way of taking flounders, and many large catches are made by this method which was originated by Percy Wadham. As the name suggests, the tackle works by being kept on the move, or wandering. It has many advantages over paternostering and can be worked from many stations. The best conditions for using the tackle occur during reasonably calm weather when a gentle surf is slowly moving in.
Wander, or roving tackle, as it is sometimes known, is not difficult to set up. At one end of a 6 foot trace attach a small swivel for line attachment. One foot away from this fix a plastic boom with a short trace to a No. 4 hook. Add a small spiral lead, about ¼ oz, 6 inches along the main trace. Between this and the final hook, arrange a small ball type lead stopped by a split shot.
In practice, the lead stirring up the bottom as the tackle is slowly reeled in creates an interest to the flounder. More ground is covered, and the movement will also prevent hungry crabs taking the bait. Recovery speed should not be too fast; slow down if no bites are felt after a trial cast or two. This tackle can be used from the shore, from boats and low breakwaters, but it is not much use from high spots such as piers. The disadvantage of the last is that the upward line recovery will pull the gear off the bottom and away from the fish.
Another method is with a roving float, very useful around piers, over gullies, and in estuaries where there are known mud holes. All that is required is a 4 foot light nylon trace, a spiral weight and a float. The state of the tide and sea conditions will govern the size of the latter two. The bait should be arranged to trail the bottom, and allowed to roam at will with the current. Often this proves best on an early morning tide, and is ideal if you can pin-point a gully at low water. In either of the methods, do not be in too much of a hurry to strike, for flounders often mouth the bait before taking. If a strike is too hurried, especially with worm bait, it might well be pulled from the fish's mouth without hooking.
More sea anglers are realizing the advantages of the baited spoon method of taking flounders, and it is certainly a way of interesting them when they seem reluctant to go for ordinary baits. Very often I have caught fish during boat matches when other competitors have been fishless - providing enough room was available for smooth operation. Some anglers, if they are unsuccessful, give up after only a day's trial, which is a mistake for this is a method needing plenty of experiment before it's mastered. Often the angler is at fault through presenting the tackle wrongly - usually because he allows the hook to spin round with the spoon. Flounders are suspicious if this happens because there is insufficient chance of examining and mouthing the bait.
Ragworm is mainly used to bait the spoon, although other offerings can be successful. I have caught them with lugworm and sand-eels, and sometimes a red rubber band on the hook is sufficient lure. Other anglers have reported success with strips of bacon rind or herring, and also lobworm. Even thin strips of squid will take in some localities. The reason why a flatfish moves after a fluttering spoon is that it believes it to be another flounder chasing food. Anxious not to be left out, the flounder swims up to investigate, and eventually takes the bait.
Spooning is at its best practised from a boat but there is no reason why it cannot be employed from certain shore marks, in favourable conditions. The ideal way is worked by two anglers in a boat taking turns at rowing and fishing. Have your light rod resting on the stern, constantly watching it. As the boat slowly moves along, the rod tip will beat in rhythm with the revolving spoon, only changing in pattern when a fish shows interest. As the flounder mouths the lure, the tip of the rod will start twitching. Finally, as the satisfied fish dives with the bait, hooking itself, the line quickly tightens up.
Spoon fishing sometimes becomes difficult when there is a lot of weed on the move, especially the thin wispy strands. Once this snags the spoon, and it quickly does, the smooth rhythm is hampered.
There are several spoons marketed, but generally a white one is best, although I know of many catches made on the blue and silver type. A 3 inch size is recommended - smaller ones will take other flatfish such as plaice, but for some unknown reason flounders are not lured in numbers when using small spoons.
Brackish creeks and harbours are ideal spots for trying the flounder spoon, and I have also been successful when working the lure along lengthy groynes where gullies have been located. Care, however, must be taken to avoid snagging rocks and thick concentrations of weed. One can also fish spoons from piers if the bottom deck is not too far above the water level, and angling is not restricted to the top promenade only.
One can also fish from the beach using a single trace to a No. 4 hook. The added attraction of a small red glass bead threaded on the nylon, just above the ragworm baited hook, often provides useful catches. It is weighted by a 1 oz Jardine lead and together with a fixed spool reel for easy casting, the tackle is kept slowly on the move. By keeping it moving one is able to cover more ground, and the bait does not sink into the sand.
As bait for other fish, small flounders are occasionally used for tope fishing, and will also lure conger at times.
It is interesting to note that flounders appear to have a homing instinct, travelling miles to get back to their home waters. Marine biologists have discovered this as a result of tagging, and once I carried out my own small experiment with the permission of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. I mention that permission was obtained as, obviously, the Ministry does not want individual anglers all over the country carrying out experiments. A number of flounders were netted for me in Poole Harbour, Dorset, by a professional fisherman. They were tagged and released from a Hampshire beach a few miles away in connection with a fishing festival, the idea being that they had a 'price on their heads' if caught on competition day. None were, but eventually they were all recaptured back in Poole Harbour. Not only did they make their way back to the harbour but were caught in the same stretch of water from which they were originally taken. I made it known there was a reward for these fish, and anglers who hooked them helped by returning the numbered tags. Strangely all these fish were lured by Poole ragworm, which also indicates that local baits are usually best.
"Pelham Manual for Sea Anglers" (1969) Derek Fletcher at pages 14, 49, 60 & 117
Artificial Lures
Another productive lure is the flounder spoon and there are several types on the market. The white three inch ones are usually best, and the single long-shanked hook on the spoon is baited, generally with ragworm.
Mostly they are trolled behind boats, but the method can be mastered from low groynes and bottom decks of piers. It is a very effective method of catching flounders, particularly in harbours. When the vibrating spoon passes over an area of flatfish, the flounder believes it is another fish chasing food. Anxious not to miss the menu it flaps up to investigate and takes the trailing bait.
The rod should be laid across the stern of a slowly moving boat, with the tip watched constantly. Normally the revolving spoon causes the rod tip to beat, but an interested flounder will start it twitching. The line then tightens up and the rod bends as the flattie dives to the bottom, bait in its mouth.
… A comparative new spoon for flatfish in this country is the Rauto, a lure originally designed for Scandinavian waters, but proving its worth around the British coast.
Flounder
Another method is by wander tackle and, as the name suggests, it is light gear that wanders over the bottom. It is set up as follows: at one end of a 6ft long nylon trace is a small swivel attachment which is connected to the main line of 8lb breaking strain. About a foot away from this should be attached a small plastic boom from which is run a six inch trace with a size 4 hook. A ¼oz spiral lead should be added six inches along the trace and between this and the final hook, about 8 inches away, add a small ball type weight which should be kept in position by split shot pinched on the nylon.
This method, devised by a Hampshire angler, Mr. P. Wadham, works very well when the tackle is kept on the move. As the lead passes over the bottom it uncovers small clouds of sand which the flounder feels must mean food. One can cover a large area of seabed in this manner, and by keeping the reel moving slowly it gives the fish a chance to grab the bait.
It can be worked almost anywhere, except from very high stations such as the top decks of piers. Here the upward recovery of the line will pull the bait and tackle off the bottom, spoiling the advantage of the method.
From the lower decks of piers sometimes the roving float technique is rewarding. The baited hook is allowed to trip just over the bottom, roaming unhindered with the tidal movement. Calm seas is the best time to fish this method, and often the early morning tides yield the best catches.
Inch Casting
Description given to a type of shore casting when the bait is kept moving inch by inch back to the beach. It helps to attract fish in disturbing the seabed by movement. Sometimes called interest casting.
Tomato Bait
It is not suggested that this can be used regularly with any success but it is surprising the number of fish that have been lured by small pieces on the hook. Usually it has been used as a joke, merely taken from anglers' sandwiches. The species that has fallen more than any other is the sole, usually near a freshwater outlet, with a small piece of tomato kept on the move on a flowing trace. Flounders come second on the list.
"Modern Sea Angling" (1970) Richard Arnold at page 143
Natural Baits
Fish Baits
Flounders Very small specimens of these, usually about 1½ inches across, are a capital bait for bass and codling. They are usually found in shrimp nets and easily obtainable. One should not use immature fish as bait if it can possibly be helped, but they are a legitimate bait and, in any case, the numbers so used by anglers are so infinitesimal when compared with normal casualties these small fish experience that they have no effect on their numbers. They should be used whole.
The Daily Express, Friday 15 November 1974 at page 13
Fishing by Clive Gammon
Make a spot check to tell a plaice from a flounder
The rumour was that the estuary was paved with big plaice - "beautiful fat fellows," said my old friend Patsy. "Two and three pounds weight".
This was down in the South-West of Ireland earlier this week And with the surf fishing knocked on the head by severe gales, it was welcome news.
But I had my doubts. Patsy is a good salmon fisherman, but he is a little vague when it comes to marine species. And you don't often find big plaice in small estuaries such as this one in Co. Kerry.
Detail
There was only one way to find out. I headed off with a can of lugworm and caught a couple of good flatfish which, as Patsy had said, were over the 2 lb. Mark.
"Didn't I tell you ?" said my friend triumphantly when I displayed them on the way home. "Wrong on one little detail only," I told him. "These aren't plaice. They are quite definitely flounders."
Said Patsy: "But look at the orange spots on its back, man !"
Like a lot of people, he firmly believed that any flat fish with orange spots had to be a plaice. But not so. Flounders have them sometimes, though they are duller in colour, not the really bright orange of the spots on a plaice. The one sure test is to run a finger along the lateral line on the dark side of the fish, towards the head. You'll find that it is quite rough on a true flounder.
Winter flounders are running well now and it pays to use special tactics if you want to catch the better specimens.
One is to tie a hook-less spoon into the trace, attach four or five inches of nylon line below it ending in a No. 1 hook which you bait with lugworm. When you have cast move your lead every few minutes. The spoon will flash and attract flounders.
A spoon bait attractor is also useful when you are out after whiting, the target fish in the Daily Express-Guinness Sea Angling Competition for November.
"Estuary Fishing" (1974) Frank Holiday at pages 93, 94 & 95
Chapter Seven
The Flatfishes
The Flounder
Of all the flatfishes the most characteristic of estuaries is the flounder. Flounders delight in shallow water over mud or sandy mud and there are few places the species does not penetrate including all the pills and gutters reached by the tide. Moreover, they are as much at home in freshwater as in salt and have been observed over 40 miles from the sea. No one would seriously claim that the flounder was a sporting fish. Even so, flounders provide sport and food for thousands and many a sea contest has been won by the angler's skill in obtaining quantities of the fat flats to boost his score at the weigh-in.
The flounder has a thicker body and a larger head than its near-relative, the plaice. It also seems to suffer more from disease than plaice do - perhaps because of its freshwater visits. Normally, the eyes of flounders are found on the right side of the head although in some districts reversed examples occur …
Flounders move in from the sea in spring. At this time they are out of condition and hardy worth catching. By May, as the inshore water begins to warm, they are improving in condition daily and are beginning to establish a pattern of moving in with the tide which they will maintain for the rest of the summer. In the autumn the reverse process takes place and … good flounder catches are made from the open shore in October and November as the fish abandon the estuaries and move out towards their spawning-grounds in the sea.
… Many flounders are caught by anglers surf-casting for bass especially when a rolling leger is used. I have heard it said that flounders do not like a rough sea but this has not been my experience and one of our best bags - consisting of fish on or over the 2 lb mark - was taken from a moderate surf in late September … It was noticed that fish in these conditions were feeding close to the shore, often in no more than a couple of feet of water. If spiked leads had been used in anchoring our tackles far out in the surf the baits would not have rolled round and picked up the flounders. These tactics have paid off on so many occasions that we now use them as standard routine when we want flounders.
It is always worth casting an eye on how professionals deal with particular fish. Large quantities of flounders are taken from various estuaries by the use of chicken-wire nets. The coil of wire is unrolled parallel with the water about two-thirds of the way down the beach. The wire is then supported in an upright position on stakes with a coil or scroll formed at each end facing up the beach. Wire about 4 feet deep is used for these flounder-traps. After the tide has flooded the traps it starts to turn and this is the signal for flounders to work their way back towards the centre-channel. On encountering the trap they make their way along it only to end up in the scroll or curl at the end where they are soon stranded. The netters collect their haul as soon as the tide clears the net before the gulls get to work. Several dozen fish can be taken from one trap on a favourable tide.
There are at least two ways of catching flounders with a rod. One is the crawling leger and the other is the baited spoon. A crawling leger means exactly what the name suggests. The bait is inched over the muddy sand, the movement and the displaced sand bringing the flounders in to investigate. When fishing from a boat on the drift you can obtain a similar effect by trailing the lead on the bottom. A boat normally drifts much too fast to work this trick and you have to slow it up by using either a killick or a sea anchor. I prefer a free-sliding lead of 2-3 ounces for this game with as wide a variety of bait as possible. You could start off, for instance, with small rag draped with a bit of mussel and move on to small lug, cockle or whatever is available if results are not forthcoming. From more open beaches some of my best catches of decent flounder fell to large pieces of razorfish.
In the south-east flounders start their return from deeper water in early spring. In the Stour estuary in Kent, for example, good catches start to build up around March. Flowing three-hook leger traces are widely used with small (No. 4) hooks on 6-8 lb snoods. Weed is often a problem at this and other estuary locations. Lug is a popular bait on the Stour. Many locals believe that neap tides are the best for flounders and that the best time to start fishing is about an hour after low water, just as the tide starts to lift. On the Stour, as with many other estuaries, there is always the chance of an additional bonus in the form of a spring codling or even a few school bass.
It was John P. Garrad who drew the attention of the angling public to flounder fishing with a baited spoon (in his book Sea Angling with a Baited Spoon, Jenkins, 1960). After years of experiment he found that spoons about 3 inches long are best for flounders. Indeed, he states: "As the result of thirty years' experiments I can stress that if you want flounders in numbers, nothing smaller than a 3-inch spoon will get them." Flounders swim and feed with the current and they will not breast the current in order to chase the angler's baited spoon. The spoon must be trolled slowly with the current - and this means timing the speed of the boat to a nicety so that the spoon doesn't fall to the bottom and become snagged.
Baited spoons can be bought or home-made. Mine are home-made from the blades of tablespoons, the handles being cut off and a hole drilled in the narrow end to take a stainless steel split-ring to which a swivel is attached. Two further swivels joined by another split-ring are clipped into the split-ring on the spoon. A bit of strong nylon is tied to the lower swivel of the chain and to it is tied a long-shanked size 2 hook. Some of the plastic spoons on sale are rather light although the trace carrying them can of course be leaded. John Garrad had no particular preference in bait for the baited spoon technique and reported catches on just about everything, from white and king rag to herring, sprat and mussel. The only thing he insisted on was the need to row with the flooding tide and use the estuary currents in order to get maximum results from a minimum amount of effort.
There are all sorts of variations of the baited spoon method such as trolling the spoon using an engine, deploying it on a driftline and even casting it from the shore. In the latter case the angler follows the rules by walking with the tide or by casting it into the tidal current and recovering it with the current. Nowadays, baited spoons and their variations are widely used for fish as diverse as cod and turbot.
We still don't know why flounders are attracted to spoons of a particular size although no doubt, controlled experiments in a marine aquarium would supply the answer. However, there is no doubt that a moving bait and a bait that is adorned with a spoon has a particular attraction for flatfish. I have several times seen flounders rise from the bed of a river to investigate the spoon when I have been spinning for salmon. One idea I found useful was to collect ½-inch diameter jingle bells at Christmas and to replace the flimsy wire loop at the neck with brass wire held in position with plastic body-filler. These brilliant gadgets can be strung up the trace both when fishing a spoon or when creeping a legered bait over the mud.
The Daily Mirror, Thursday 2 January 1975 at page 21
Fishing with the Experts
Estuary Flounders No 2
By Hugh Stoker
Fishing for estuary flounders calls for light tackle. My choice is a spinning rod and fixed spool reel loaded with 9 lb. line.
Most estuaries swarm with bait-robbing crabs, so I use this homemade "crab-beater" device. It's a cigar-shaped piece of ½in. balsa dowelling, about 3in. long, with a hole bored lengthways through the centre.
The buoyant "crab-beater" lifts the bait about 12in. above the bottom. Wavering about in the tide, it actually attracts flounders to the baited hook.
The type of hook is important. When using worm baits I use a round-bend hook with a fairly long sliced shank.
The Daily Mirror, Thursday 9 January 1975 at page 23
Fishing with the Experts
Estuary Flounders No 3
By Hugh Stoker
Flounders can also be lured with a baited spoon. For dinghy fishing I prefer the type with a light plastic blade, but when shore casting the extra weight of a metal blade is useful.
Medium-sized ragworms are the best bait to use with a flounder spoon.
The spoon is trolled just above the bottom by rowing slowly with the tide along the estuary channels.
To keep the lure fishing just above the bottom, I suspend the lead on a 12in. length of nylon. Flounders are inquisitive fish, and they quickly swim to investigate the fluttering lure.
"Sea Fishing For Fun" (1977) Alan Wrangles & Jack P. Tupper at pages 76, 77 & 78
6. How to Catch Fish
Fishing for flounder
Most flounders quit inshore waters around the turn of the year, returning during April or early May. Naturally there are both yearly and local variations to this pattern, temperature playing a big part in the timing of their seaward migration. Very cold weather will create a food shortage in shallow inshore areas; this in turn will send the flounders out that much earlier.
During the time that it inhabits inshore waters, the flounder tends to be a shoal fish which moves with the current, feeding over mud and sand banks as it travels. Although they will come within a few yards of the shoreline where the beach is steep, they do not seem to like wide, flat expanses of mud or sand where the water is shallow and a falling tide rapidly leaves the bed uncovered. It also seems that flounders are attracted by movement - a crab shuffling across the sand, an eel burrowing into mud, or any one of a dozen or more similar activities.
… As the flounder is basically a bottom-feeding fish, the angler must present his bait on or near the bottom, and knowing the type of food the creature is hunting makes it relatively simple for the fisherman to select the correct bait. For this, the simplest arrangement, and one which most anglers begin by using, is the ledger … The hooks can be baited with lugworm, ragworm (king, red or white), small pieces of fish, or soft or peeler crab. These are the best bait for flounders.
… When fishing for flounders remember that they will often investigate movement. Therefore, if fishing from a small craft, drift with the current, giving the occasional oar stroke to make your craft move just that much faster than the tide. When fishing from a boat which cannot be allowed to drift, add an amount of movement to the baited hooks by either casting away from your boat and slowly reeling in, or, if you are fishing with a hand line, slowly lifting the tackle every few seconds. The amount of movement in this latter case need not be very much; just a few inches is enough to arouse the flounder's curiosity.
There is seldom any doubt that a flounder has taken the bait. When they are feeding well they bite quite fiercely, giving the rod tip a positive twitch. In fact, they will frequently give such a hearty pull that one can be forgiven for imagining the fish is a lot bigger than it really is.
Added movement can be given to ledger tackle by using a drilled bullet as a weight, and if this tackle is cast across the tide, the current will sweep it around. If a slow but steady recovery is made a considerable area of bed can be searched.
"Sea Angling with the Specimen Hunters: Big-Fish Tactics of the Experts" (1977) edited by Hugh Stoker at pages 140 to 146
21 Flounders Hugh Stoker
Flounders are distributed from the Mediterranean to Norway, and can be caught on rod and line all round the British Isles. They are mostly found in sandy or muddy estuaries and creeks, or in shallow bays situated fairly close to a river mouth. They are similar in shape to plaice, but tend to run to a smaller average size. Coloration varies considerably: flounders from muddy estuaries are mostly dark brown; whereas those from sandy areas range from light brown to greenish-grey. Often these lighter-hued flounders are marked with darker blotches or plaice-like orangey spots. Unlike the spots on plaice, however, these soon fade after the fish is dead.
Although primarily an estuarial and inshore species, the flounder migrates into deeper water for spawning from about February to May. After spawning it gradually makes its way back inshore again. At first the spent fish are thin, and their flesh is watery and tasteless, but they soon recover condition.
The best period for flounder fishing extends from about late June until January, but winter is probably the time for flounder fishing so far as most boat anglers are concerned. When gale force winds put paid to fishing in the open sea for winter cod and whiting, it is still often possible to fish for flounders in some sheltered estuary reach.
Although there is a tendency for 'blue water' sea anglers to despise the flounder, this humble flatfish is capable of providing interesting sport when fished for with light tackle. My own outfit comprises a light hollow glass spinning rod and a small fixed-spool reel loaded with 9 lb b.s. nylon monofilament. This is about as light as I care to go, because in many of our West Country estuaries there is also the possibility of hooking the occasional bass.
Flounders are inquisitive fish, and their interest is quickly-attracted by anything that moves on or close to the sea-bed. Therefore, if you decide to fish for them with a flowing leger rig, it often pays to retrieve the baited tackle slowly along the bottom between each cast. This causes the moving lead to stir up puffs of sand or mud, and any flounder that happens to notice these 'smoke signals' will swim over to investigate. They probably mistake the disturbance for the scuttling movements of a shore crab, or some other small food creature.
On drawing nearer, the flounder will notice your bait and transfer its attention to that. Of course, it helps if you attach some conspicuous object in front of the bait to catch the flounder's eye. The pioneer sea anglers of the last century used to thread a two-inch length of clay pipe stem on to the trace immediately in front of the hook, and the modern equivalent of this useful dodge is to thread on about half-a-dozen small plastic beads.
I used to favour white beads for this purpose, but a few years ago I discovered by chance that fluorescent pale green or orange beads had a much greater fascination for flounders - particularly when fishing in dull wintery conditions.
Used with a medium-sized ragworm, peeler crab, razorfish, clam, lugworm or other suitable bait, this method can be very killing in the right sort of estuary. However, it does have two disadvantages - as the baited hook is dragged along the bottom it is liable to be stripped clean by robber crabs, or it may pick up strands of loose weed.
To overcome these problems, many anglers use a baited flounder spoon fished a foot or two above the bottom. The hook attached behind the revolving lure blade is usually baited with a medium-sized ragworm, but an offering of lugworm, cockle or piece of peeler crab also stands a good chance of producing results.
When fishing in an estuary, the baited spoon is normally trolled slowly with the tide behind a small rowing dinghy, keeping to the channels, pools and feeding grounds frequented by the flounders. Ideally, you should be travelling just fast enough to make the revolving blade of the lure tick over steadily. and the trace should be fitted with an anti-kink lead to take the lure down to the fishing depth, which - as previously mentioned - is usually a foot or two above the bottom.
In suitable fishing conditions the baited-spoon method is capable of producing plenty of bites. Hooking the fish, however. calls for careful timing and this comes with experience. Flounders tend to suck at a bait; therefore a delayed strike is often necessary to drive the hook home successfully. Sometimes the bite will be felt as a series of gentle tweaks, followed by a more determined pull. Other times the final pull does not come - in which case the following two alternative tactics are worth trying.
By rowing more quickly you may make the flounder think the bait is going to escape, and thus stimulate it into making a more determined attack.
Or, by allowing line to flow freely off the reel for a few seconds, you can cause the baited-spoon to flutter down and lie motionless on the bottom for a moment or two. This may also do the trick.
A light 9 ft spinning rod is a good choice for this type of fishing - not only from the sporting point of view, but because the rod tip will be sensitive enough to register the regular beating of the spoon blade. In this way you have visual proof that all is well down below. If the rod tip suddenly stops pulsing, it will probably mean that the baited-spoon has become clogged with a piece of drifting weed.
Although the baited-spoon method is intended primarily for estuary flounders, it also accounts for quite a lot of plaice - sometimes of very good size.
Conditions vary considerably from estuary to estuary, and on some parts of the coast anglers have been forced by local difficulties to develop their own variations of the baited-spoon technique.
One favourite method is the 'float-fished spoon' - although here again there are several variations. Given a shallow estuary channel with a reasonable run of tide, it is possible to drop anchor and float fish a ragworm-baited spoon so that it drifts with the current along the lower edge of the channel. The secret of success is to plumb the depth carefully at regular stages of the tide, and to keep the float adjusted so that the spoon is presented a foot or so above the bottom. The float should be sensitive enough to register the slightest tug at the bait.
If a bite occurs while the float is drifting down-tide, your first indication will be some preliminary bobbing movements of the float. Flounders usually take their time over accepting a bait, so don't be in too much of a hurry to strike. Provided you are using a reasonably sensitive float, it will probably tell you when to strike by suddenly going right under.
Sometimes during the down-tide drift, a flounder will cause the float to bob once or twice, and then apparently lose interest. When this happens, begin to retrieve very slowly. This will cause the spoon blade to revolve, and the additional movement usually produces a renewed response from the fish. As soon as the flounder plucks at the bait again, stop reeling and slacken the line very slightly. Then strike when the float slides under the surface.
Another killing method is the 'bouncing spoon'. This is normally carried on from a drifting dinghy, with the angler jigging or 'bouncing' his spoon just above the bottom by raising and lowering his rod tip. When using this method my own preference lies with the ABU 'Rauto' spoon, which is fitted with a fluttering (not revolving) blade.
Sometimes a strong wind blowing across the estuary channel may cause your boat to drift towards unproductive mudflats. Under these awkward conditions the boat can be rowed very slowly along the course of the channel, instead of being left entirely to the mercy of wind and tide. The best plan is for two anglers to work together - each taking it in turns to fish while his companion plies the oars.
For the sake of clarity, and to avoid too many 'ifs' and 'buts', I have described the foregoing fishing methods as they apply to the dinghy angler. However, most of these methods will work almost as well for the shore angler, provided he is fishing from a suitable estuary vantage point - such as a jetty or boat landing stage giving access to a flounder channel.
Nevertheless, there is one small but important point of difference between shore and boat fishing for flounders. The shore angler, when choosing a flounder spoon, must bear in mind its casting properties; whereas the boat angler's main consideration will be the spoon's action in the water. For boat fishing I usually find a spoon with a light plastic blade produces the best results; but for baited-spoon fishing from a shore position it is best to use a nickle-plated metal spoon, as this has more built-in casting weight.
When shore fishing with a baited-spoon, the lure can either be repeatedly cast out and retrieved in spinning fashion; or else, when fishing from the end of a jetty, it can be driftlined just above the channel-bed in a good flow of tide.
Another method of flounder fishing which can be equally killing from an estuary shore or a dinghy is the buoyant leger technique. Basically, the idea behind this method is to present your bait attractively a foot or so above the bottom, where it will be safe from hungry crabs whilst at the same time retaining the advantages of an ordinary on-the-bottom leger.
The accompanying tackle drawing shows how this is achieved. The home-made cigar-shaped float is made of balsa wood, and a small hole bored through the centre with a red-hot steel knitting needle enables it to be threaded on to the flowing nylon hook link.
I began using the buoyant leger many years ago, during a dinghy fishing session in quest of flatfish among the back-channels of Poole Harbour. Baiting up with locally dug ragworm, the method accounted for several good flounders and plaice during the first three hours of a flooding tide.
On this first experimental trip the submerged float was painted a dull brownish-green to minimize the risk of scaring the fish when they approached the bait. However, on discussing the method with some angling friends a few days later, one of them suggested that even better results might be obtained if the submerged float was given a coat of shiny aluminium paint, so that it acted as an up-trace 'flasher'.
I decided to adopt this suggestion, and on my next dinghy fishing visit to Poole my tally at the end of the day included a 4½ lb bass on razorfish, and several decent-sized flounders and plaice on ragworm. I regarded this as a pretty fair catch for a cold and blustery day in mid-November - especially as two other dinghy anglers fishing nearby with ordinary leger tackle were constantly being pestered by robber crabs, and only caught three flounders between them.
Since then I have used the buoyant leger on innumerable occasions, and everything points to the fact that the shiny submerged float, positioned only a few inches in front of the bait, actually lures the fish in much the same way as a baited-spoon.
However, there is one very important difference between the buoyant leger and a baited spoon. When using a buoyant leger it is very much easier to control the fishing depth, even when drift-trolling with the tide over an irregular channel bed that is full of ridges and hollows. This, in turn, means that the baited hook seldom becomes clogged by pieces of loose weed picked up off the bottom of the channel - something which is apt to happen all too often when trolling slowly with a baited-spoon.
So much, then, for the basic principles of the buoyant leger. However, it is possible to employ several variations of the method, depending partly on local conditions, and partly on whether you are fishing from the shore or from a boat.
When fishing from the shore of an estuary, or from the end of a jetty, results are usually best when the tackle is retrieved slowly between casts, with the lead dragging along the bottom. This movement, coupled with the flow of the tide, will often cause the float to wiggle attractively with a fishy swimming action.
More often than not, however, I use the buoyant leger method from a dinghy. This offers a choice of techniques.
Sometimes flatfish may be concentrated in a fairly small area where the feeding happens to be particularly rich, and provided you know the whereabouts of the hotspot it may be preferable to anchor the boat on the up-tide edge, and then cast out astern. After allowing the tackle to settle properly on the bottom, it should be retrieved slowly as previously recommended for shore fishing. This technique is only suitable for those occasions when the tide is slack, or running at moderate strength.
When the tide is running faster than about 1-1½ knots, I prefer to row the dinghy gently with the current along a productive estuary channel, allowing the lead to bounce along the bottom. In this way the effect of the tide on the terminal tackle is reduced to a minimum, and by covering more ground there is a better chance of locating a concentration of fish.
Naturally the size of the balsa float will be governed to some degree by the strength of the local tides. For average sea conditions I use a float about 3in. long and ½in. in diameter. It can be made quite easily from ½in. balsa dowelling, obtainable at most model shops. After being shaped up and sandpapered smooth, the centre hole can be lined with a length of plastic tube from an empty ballpoint pen.
Like all balsa floats, it must be well protected with paint to prevent it becoming waterlogged, and any patches of chipped paint should be touched up at the first opportunity.
"How to Improve Your Sea Fishing" (1978) Melvyn Bagnall at pages 47 to 51
Flounder
Distribution
Flounders, though available for most of the year under a wide range of conditions, come into their own during the winter. This is partly because the fish is generally in the peak of condition at this time and partly because many other species are not so easily caught. The fish are ready for spawning, which takes place from January to April depending on the area. This, therefore, is an ideal time for the big fish man. The roes and livers will be large, adding valuable extra weight.
Flounders move several miles offshore to spawn and as a result are rarely caught on rod and line during this period. After spawning they return to their inshore feeding grounds and the estuaries. They are in poor condition at this time but feed heavily and quickly recover.
Tackle and methods
One of the greatest attractions of the flounder is that it is relatively easy to catch. Ultra-light tackle is by no means essential and they are often caught on tackle intended for other species such as cod. But by adopting the right approach, you can enjoy an exciting day's fishing with flounders instead of catching just the occasional fish. Fortunately, catching flounders doesn't mean sticking rigidly to one particular method. They can be caught from the beach, boat and pier and will take a legered, float-fished or spun bait.
Legering is the most effective and, therefore, most popular method. A simple home-made paternoster with two six-inch snoods spaced about 18 inches apart is ideal (see figure 8). This rig keeps both baits clear of the lead and provides plenty of attractive movement in the tide. The weight itself should be as light as possible, though this does, of course, depend on the strength of the tide. Remember also that the weight must be heavy enough to allow a good long cast if necessary. Balance the weight correctly with the tide and the strength of the current will move the rig across the sea bed in an arc, covering a far greater area than would be possible if the tackle was anchored to the bottom with a hefty weight. Movement of the tackle can be encouraged by allowing a little slack in the line.
When fishing from the shore for flounders the best sport is generally just before high water. They have a tendency to move into deep water or into the shelter of gullies when the tide ebbs and this is an important point for the boat angler to remember.
Flounders are not a timid fish when it comes to taking a bait and they are most confident when the water is a little coloured. Often there will be no preliminary messing about with the bait to warn the angler a fish is, at least, interested. The fish will take the angler's offering wholeheartedly, registering a very definite knock on the rod tip. The power of a flounder is deceiving. It may appear as a fragile species, but its relatively long tail makes it a powerful swimmer and it will invariably give a good account of itself on the right tackle. A light beachcaster and a line of say 12lb, to cope with any snags or bigger species that may put in an unexpected appearance, is quite strong enough.
It is easy to be misled when choosing a hook for flounder fishing. For though the fish does not have a big mouth it can be a mistake to use a hook that is too small. Admittedly a small hook is easy for the fish to take into its mouth, but it is equally easy for it to eject it again. A 1/0 hook is ideal. Even small flounders will have no difficulty in sucking it into their mouths.
Spoon fishing is a popular and sporting method of catching flounders and can be carried out from both the shore and boats. Anglers using spoons from the shore should never be too intent on casting long distances but should pay attention to the water close in. Casting parallel to the shore and working the spoon back through shallow water will often produce far more fish. A big spoon will not deter even the smallest flounders from moving in to attack and the effectiveness of the lure is improved when it is baited with a piece of worm.
Many anglers, however, prefer to fish spoons from a boat, either spinning them or trolling them behind the boat. Both methods take fish and so too does a third style of spoon fishing. The lure is suspended clear of the bottom on a sliding float. The greatest advantage of this method being that it is possible to cover a large area by allowing the float to move with the tide. The bait is also less likely to be interfered with by greedy crabs which always seem to abound on flounder marks.
Another good method of tackling flounders from a boat, probably the most effective of all, is a variation on the legering theme (see figure 9). A conventional two-hook trace is used just above the weight, one hook on a short length of line, say six inches, and the other on a longer length, perhaps as long as 18 inches. But in addition another hook is used on a white, flat plastic or nylon boom further up the main line. A slight kink or twist in the boom will make it move in the tide and attract flounders or other flatties to the three baits on offer. It is by no means a rarity to catch two or even three fish at the same time on a multi-hook rig such as this.
This method of boat fishing works best when the tide is not too strong. For when this is the case only an ounce to one and a half ounces of lead are needed on a light rod and the angler can cover quite a wide area by casting with or across the tide. Remember that the greatest advantage of boat fishing is that it allows you to search out the deeper gullies and creeks which cannot be fished from the shore.
Baits
When it comes to baits the flounder has eyes bigger than its belly. It has been caught on just about every accepted bait, and a few more besides, at one time or another. The best all-round bait, however, is ragworm. Size is not that important but when a big worm is used it often pays to give the fish a little extra time to get it well into its mouth before striking.
Ragworm are at their most effective during the early part of the winter. After spawning flounders will gleefully mop up lugworms, crabs, mussels, small strips of fish, and they have even taken earthworms. This is not so surprising when you consider flounders penetrate well up our rivers where earthworms are naturally available.
As a rule, flounders tend to move inshore late on the tide and their peak period of feeding activity is at dusk. So if you time your fishing to coincide with dusk and a late tide, you could be in for a big supper.
"Sea Angling Supreme" (1979) Mike Millman at pages 27 to 31
Tidal river fishing is at its best during the first two hours of the flood tide. As the water makes its way upstream from the estuary, so do the fish. Creeks running off the main river are often the best places to fish. If there's a deep channel out in the mud, that's where a bait will do the most good.
Casting into a vast expanse of water is trusting to luck, and will only result in a take from the odd fish that happens by. The creek and gully concept, on the other hand, yields an excellent catch.
The best floundering can be expected during spells of hard frost. Most of my larger fish came when the temperature was below freezing. This condition also gives another benefit to shore fishing, as it drives bait-robbing crabs downstream into deeper water. In normal temperatures they can be an absolute menace, wasting valuable fishing time and allowing precious few flatties to get at a bait.
Flounder are entertaining fish and put up a good fight. One should never be in a hurry to strike, as most only make an exploratory attack on a bait at first. After the rod tip has registered this, a few inches of line are slacked away. Seconds later will come a much stronger knock, indicating the flounder has taken the bait down. Now a light but firm strike sets the hook. There is absolutely no need to hold a rod in the hands when fishing for flounder; in fact it is quite the wrong thing to do. Cast out, wind in until the line is tight to the lead, place the rod in a tripod rest, and intently watch the tip. Thousands of flounder have been unnecessarily lost simply because the angler was too hasty.
Small waters can be fished with a 10-foot two-handed spinning rod and small multiplier, or a fixed spool reel. With this tackle 12-15lb breaking strain is right. Where long casting is necessary and when the tide run is fierce, a light beachcaster is the usual rod. The same multiplier will serve, but line strength should be stepped up to 20lb breaking strain.
Most tidal rivers have a strong run of water, and consequently quite heavy leads must be used to maintain a bait in a chosen area. In the first hour of the new tide, when the water is shallow, a thin flat lead is much the best shape. It falls through the water at considerably less speed than a bomb, and does not penetrate the soft mud by more than a few inches. In the same situation, a pear lead can end up six inches down. From that depth it takes a lot of prising loose, and quite often a line break is experienced.
Flounder end tackle can take several forms. The single-hook ledger with a 2-foot trace of 10-12lb nylon ending in a size 1 hook is popular; equally so, a two-hook paternoster with 8-inch snoods and size 1 hooks. For flounder, plaice and dabs a long shanked fine wire hook is always the best. Robber crabs can to some extent be beaten by incorporating a small white torpedo-shaped float, made up from balsa wood, into the trace or snood. It should be placed about 4 inches from the hook and kept in position by tiny swivels at either end. It effectively lifts the bait just off the bottom, out of the crabs' reach, and is a most useful aid to river fishing."
Flounder will take a variety of baits, but what is good in one area can be a flop elsewhere. Peeler or soft-back crab are certainly number one and two and will outfish all others by as much as four fish to one.
Fishing from a small dinghy is an excellent way of making a big bag of flounder, but tackle must be ultra light to get the best from it. The craft can be anchored in the middle of the channel and a baited spoon rig allowed to run away with the tide. When it is retrieved slowly against the run, the spoon revolves and kicks up spurts of mud, both highly attractive to no end of fish, as the flounder is a very inquisitive species.
Drifting with the current over the channels allows a great deal of ground to be covered, and is to be recommended. The spoon is worked very close to the bottom, and if rigged correctly the rod tip ticks rhythmically. There are many types of spoon one can use and it is only constant experiment that reveals the best for a particular area, but in general those made from white plastic are very successful.
"The Bait Book" (1979) Ted Lamb at pages 174 & 180
Sea Species
Flounder Common all around Britain, the flounder penetrates estuaries and creeks in large numbers to spawn, often running well up into fresh water. These spawning runs are in winter, and generally coincide with the coldest weather. Worms and peeler crab are excellent baits, and fish strips of 2-3in are also effective. Flounders react well to movement, and a particularly good method of fishing for them is to mount the bait behind a small revolving spoon which is retrieved slowly across the bed. Use hook sizes 10-6.
Groundbaits
The fresh-water style of groundbaiting is also simple when used for sheltered water, although it need not be restricted to mullet fishing alone. Flounders and other flatfish seem a reasonable target for this approach, and small fish pieces, chopped worms or prawns and mashed up crabs would all make good additives for a crumb base.
"The Sea Angler's Sporting Fish" (1985) Mike Millman at pages 35, 36 & 38
Flounder
A member of the flatfish family, growing to a reasonable size, reaching a maximum weight of 7 lb. The great majority of rod-caught fish are taken in estuaries and tidal rivers which cut deep inland in many places. The autumn and early winter months are much the best time as, at the end of January, they make their way out to the open sea where the females spawn. Essentially a fish of shallow water, it is seldom taken by boat anglers operating any appreciable distance from land, so is a species for the inshore dinghy fisherman and the shore angler.
Its colour varies slightly, but is usually dark brown above with a pure white belly. In the mature fish the eyes are situated on top of the head and it has no downward vision. Generally the average weight of fish caught will be about a pound, but where the sand-eel abounds … the weight is much greater and fish of 3 lb are fairly common whilst each year a few over 4 lb are taken. Flounder are quick movers; the mouth of the fish is hinged and can open wide enough to allow the passage of quite large fish and crustaceans. In the tidal rivers the best time for fishing is from the start of the flood to mid-tide, as the flounder make their way up stream with it - or are stirred into activity from the mud where many bury themselves when the old tide recedes. The deep water channels which are often found in the rivers and the creeks running off them are usually a good bet for fish. During the first hour of the flood they are relatively narrow, consequently a bait cast into them is well placed for the fish to find.
For shore fishing the most successful method is often a short trace with a single 1/0 hook, fine in the wire, fished leger fashion. In tidal estuary and river fishing a flat lead should be employed as this passes through the shallow water very much slower after the cast than the bomb type, consequently it does not sink into the soft mud of the bottom to any great extent.
Until the first frost drives them into deeper waters, crabs are a real nuisance and will strip a baited hook clean in a very short time. One way to beat them is to incorporate a small white float on the trace a few inches from the hook; this effectively lifts the bait off the bottom out of their reach. A two hook paternoster with the lead at the bottom is also successful, and again the small float can be used on the bottom snood.
One should never be in a hurry to strike flounder bites, for as well as being an inquisitive fish they are also very cautious and will quite often initially only nibble at a baited hook when they first come across it. As soon as this bite is felt it is a good idea to give a few inches of line; and a determined attack quickly follows. Now the hook should be struck home decisively.
The flounder puts up a good fight making spirited dives and, on medium or light tackle, can provide a lot of sport. A nine foot two-handed spinning rod matched with a small multiplier or fixed spool reel filled with twelve pound line is right for marks that do not have any great run of tide, but where a heavy run of water exists the rod must be capable of casting between three and six ounces of lead; this calls for the average beachcaster and reel line of at least 20 lb breaking strain.
Fishing with a baited spoon from a small boat is the best way of taking good numbers of flounders as a lot of ground is covered when the craft drifts along with the tide. The most successful type of spoon varies considerably from area to area but, in general, white, silver or copper colours, seem to get the best results. If the spoon is working correctly it will make the end of a spinning rod 'tick' rhythmically as it passes over the bottom.
Tidal rivers with sand bars over which the tide flows strongly are usually excellent marks. Spinning with a spoon from a boat anchored up-tide of the banks, allowing it to work a foot or so over the bottom produces a great response from the fish, which lie behind the banks waiting for the tide to bring food within their reach.
Flounder will accept a great many different baits including worms, both marine and garden, soft-back and peeler crab and the sand-eel.
 |
 |
 |
"The Complete Book of Sea Fishing: Tackle and Techniques" (1992) Alan Yates and Jed Entwistle at pages 59 & 60
6. Beach and Promenade Fishing for Bass, Cod, Rays and Flatfish
Beach fishing for flatfish
The flounder
… Flounders can be found everywhere including estuaries, harbours, storm beaches and even rocky shores. Not so famed for its eating qualities, the flounder of the estuary has a muddy and unpalatable taste, although fish of the open beach and surf are often a different matter.
From many beaches the flounder frequents the inshore line between sand and stones, and a short cast will often produce fish; it is no coincidence that long-distance casters rarely catch many flounders. Another likely hotspot is the end of a groyne or breakwater which the fish have to circumnavigate on their travels.
Flounders will accept most of the worm baits but have a preference for small wriggly white ragworm, red ragworm and peeler crab - a large half of peeler oozing pungent yellow juices is the ultimate flounder bait in spring. A sliver of mackerel added to other baits can also prove effective for flounders in many areas … Here, the flounder will often be found in the famed third breaker within easy range of the poorest caster, whilst those who wade may well wade past the fish. Flounders can get so close to the shore-line that anglers have actually caught fish on their spare-baited traces which have inadvertently been allowed to dangle from their rodrest in 6in (15cm) of water.
A three-hook terminal rig is most effective and in surf the longer the trace, the wider spread it gives baits. This is one time when longer, light line snoods increase catches with the baits allowed to flutter in the breakers as they tumble onto the sand. One of the best rigs for surf fishing for flounders is a rig designed by England International Dave Andrews which uses blood loops and superglue to produce a tangle-free terminal rig which includes long snoods. Alternatively the basic three-hook mono rig previously shown is ideal, with the snood lengths increased. Flounders sometimes eat all three of the baits on a three-hook rig, so making up the rig so that hooks are well spaced apart helps to prevent this.
 |
 |
Flounders are renowned for responding to the movement of the bait, and will in fact chase a baited spoon in many areas of the coast. The method works particularly well where crabs may remove a static fished ragworm bait quickly. Silver, gold and white-coloured metal and plastic spoons all have their followers, and this method of fishing should not be discounted as an alternative.
Movement can also be added to baits by using a plain bomb lead and allowing it to roll around in tide and surf. This method is preferred by many match anglers who fish regularly for flounders.
"Estuary Fishing Afloat & Ashore" (1995) Dave Lewis at pages 61, 62 & 63
Fish Species
Flounder
The shore angler's choice of tackle and tactics to catch flounder will vary from venue to venue. With a fish whose average size does not commonly exceed 2½lb, it is preferable to use the lightest tackle practical in order to get the maximum amount of sport from each fish. On the small rivers, or at times of little flow on the larger rivers, catching flounders on light to medium spinning tackle can be tremendous fun. But often it is necessary to use more substantial tackle, especially on the larger estuaries when there is a lot of weed or other debris floating about.
Various permutations of the running leger rig are the usual choice of terminal tackle. Like all members of the flatfish family, flounders are attracted by colour and movement, so there is plenty of scope for experimentation with various types of spoons, beads and other artificial attractors. Movement is probably more important than colour, and a bait that is slowly rolling across the bottom will nearly always attract more bites than a static bait.
Other methods which are sometimes used with great success for flounders include float fishing and spinning with a baited spinner. Float fishing is a useful method for working a bait slowly along the edge of a groyne or wall or perhaps through a deep channel, and provided the bait is on or within a few inches of the seabed, it can be a very effective method.
Spinning for flounders is a method not commonly seen these days (Fig. 29). The best types of spinner to use are bar spoons, such as Mepps. The spinner's standard treble hook is first removed, then replaced with a single hook, usually a fine wired, long shank Aberdeen hook. Sometimes the hook is attached about an inch behind the main body of the spinner with a length of line or light wire. The hook is then baited, cast out, and slowly retrieved across the bottom. When a fish is felt nibbling at the bait the angler should slow down but continue the retrieve, making no attempt to strike; the fish will normally hook itself.
From a boat, the angler will be faced with a choice of either fishing on the drift or at anchor. Drifting is the classic technique for catching flounders afloat in an estuary. But where the current is particularly fast, or when drifting is impractical due to hazards to navigation, anchoring might be the better, not to mention safer, option. In both cases the angler's primary objective should be to keep baits on the move. The real beauty with fishing afloat is that it is usually possible to use far lighter tackle than would be required from the shore.
By far the most successful all-round bait for flounder is peeler crab. More specimen fish have fallen to crab baits than any other. All types of marine worms also make excellent baits, notably harbour ragworm and lug. However, worm baits rarely remain intact and effective for long, given the attention of crabs. Small thin strips of mackerel or other fish can also work well on occasions, especially a fillet from the side of a sandeel, or even a small, whole sandeel. Fish is a good flounder bait in the lower reaches of the estuary. In the upper reaches of the estuary, in brackish water or following flooding, garden worms can often be used with some success.
"Four Fish" (2010) Paul Greenberg
Preface
Fish is the only grub left that scientists haven't been able to get their hands on and improve. The flounder you eat today hasn't got any more damned vitamins in it than the flounder your great-great-granddaddy ate, and it tastes the same. Everything else has been improved and improved and improved to such an extent that it ain't fit to eat.
per a Fulton Fish Denizen in "Old Mr. Flood" (1944) by Joseph Mitchell
"Fox Guide to Modern Sea Angling" (2011) Alan Yates at page 124
Chapter 4
Species - Smaller Species
Bottom Feeders - Flatfish
Flounder (Platichthys flesus)
Once the most common of British fishes, found everywhere, in recent years its common use as pot bait by the commercial crab and whelk fishermen has seen a drastic decline in numbers. It favours brackish water and is commonly found in estuaries and harbours. It swims close to the shore, inside the breakers, and can easily be overcast.
ID: Rows of bony tubercles at the edge of fins, square-cut tail, scaly head.