Flounder

Floundering Around

THE FLOUNDER

The flounder is a right-sided flatfish. It has both eyes on the right side of its head, and swims on its side, right side uppermost, usually near the seabed. The colour of their upper side varies to match that of their environment, from dark brown fish in muddy estuaries, to lighter sandy coloured fish from beaches. The underside is usually white. Flounder average between 0.227kg and 0.567kg in weight, although they can grow much larger, the Scottish Record being 2.14kg, and the British Record standing at 2.593kg, but these are exceptional fish. The flounder begins life upon hatching from an egg near the surface of the sea, looking like any other baby fish. Soon however, it makes its way to the seabed, where it begins to swim on its side as its left eye moves round to the right side of its head. Like most sea fish the flounder is a true predator, feeding on other smaller fish, and crustaceans, such as crabs, shrimp, prawns, and marine worms. Often the flounder lies camouflaged on the seabed, ready to ambush any passing prey. Early in the New Year, flounder move offshore to begin their annual spawning ritual. This is an arduous process that causes the fish to lose body weight, and leaves them in poor condition. With the onset of spring, and the warming of the shallower inshore waters, comes the annual crab moult. This heralds the return of the hungry shoals of flounder, eager to feed on the plentiful supplies of peeler crab, one of their favourite and most nutritious food sources, which will bring them back to peak condition.

WHERE AND HOW TO FISH

The flounder can be found all around our coast, favouring areas of sandy or muddy seabed, such as beaches, and river estuaries. Flounder, although being a sea fish can tolerate fresh water very well, and are sometimes caught miles up river by coarse anglers. Flounder can be caught on a variety of baits, including; rag worm, lugworm, fish-strip, and peeler crab, or cocktails of the aforementioned baits. Because of their preferred types of food, flounder tend to feed close inshore, and are usually the first species to move in with the flood (incoming) tide, feeding in muddy estuaries over the beds of marine worms, or on peeler crab which they find in the mud by using their sense of smell. Often they will feed in just a few inches of water!

Flounder, like most sea fish are spurred to feed by the movement of the tides, and are usually reluctant to feed during periods of slack water, when the tide stops moving. As the tide turns and begins to ebb, (go out) the flounder head back off in to deeper water to await their opportunity to feed again with the next flood tide, but occasionally they can be found trapped in pools cut off from the sea. From sandy beaches and estuaries, flounder will still feed on worm and peeler crab as the opportunity arises, but here they are also likely to hunt small fish such as sandeel. They lie in wait on the bottom, partially covered with sand, their eyes perfectly placed to watch above for their unsuspecting prey, which they quickly seize as soon as it comes in to range.

Fish from different places, and at different times, can therefore be interested in one particular food source almost to the exclusion of all others. For example, in the Clyde estuary during spring there are huge numbers of crab peeling, therefore the flounder are preoccupied with feeding on them to such an extent that worm baits are likely to be ignored. To have a fair chance of catching these fish, you really have to be using rigs baited with peeler crab. At the same time, because the crab have come in to the inter tidal zone (the area which is uncovered when the tide goes out) to moult, the flounder are often feeding close to the shore, so long casting is not only unnecessary but less likely to be productive than casting short. A two or three hook flapper rig is ideal for this type of fishing, and tackle can be light, a carp rod matched to 7kg line and 50-80g leads is adequate, and is more pleasurable to use than heavier tackle.

The venue which produced the current Club Shore Record, a flounder of 1.134kg caught by Stephen Wallace, is the River Tyne Estuary at Dunbar on the east coast of Scotland. This is a sandy Estuary, which at low tide leaves only a narrow winding channel. As the sea floods in, the channel eventually can no longer contain it and the waters cover a large area of sand flats. This means that the best time to fish this venue, is either as the tide ebbs back in to the channel, or as the channel is filled by the incoming tide, as these are the times when the flounder are concentrated in the channel. Once the sand flats are covered, the flounder are spread over a large area and are more difficult to find, and in any case the angler has to retreat before the incoming tide. When the tide drops to its lowest point most of the flounder will have retreated to the sea at the mouth of the estuary, or lie in the sand at the bottom of the channel, refusing to feed until the next flood tide. The Fish in this estuary are accustomed to feed on sandeel, and will readily accept fish baits, as well as peeler crab or worm. Indeed the club record fish was caught on rag worm tipped with mackerel strip. Similar rigs can be used for this venue, although once the tide picks up here it begins to flow very strongly, and heavier grip leads are needed to hold in the flow, which means that you will have to use a standard beach rod.

FLOUNDER RIGS

As mentioned above, most flounder fishing is generally done at close range, therefore simple multi hook rigs are the order of the day. The two hook flapper rig is well suited to this type of fishing. The usual type of hook used for flounder fishing is the Aberdeen, in size 1 or 2, which is well suited for use with worm, fish, and small crab baits. Some anglers when using crab however, prefer to use the Mustad Crab Hook in size 1 or 2. This like the Aberdeen is a fine wire hook, but with a shorter shank and a wider gape.

FLOUNDER FISHING TIPS

Match your bait to what the fish are most likely to be feeding on, but go prepared with back-up baits in case the expected bait, fails to catch. Remember that flounder often feed close to shore so don’t automatically cast as far as you can, and be prepared to fish very close in.

THE ROLLING LEGER

Flounder are a species which like a moving bait, so if you’re fishing an area where the tide isn’t to strong, instead of using a grip lead, try using a plain bomb instead. By selecting a lead, which is only just heavy enough to hold bottom, you can make your rig move by tightening the line to the lead and lifting the rod gently. This causes the lead to be dislodged from the bottom, and allows it to be pushed in the direction of the tidal flow. If this is done a number of times, your rig will travel round in an arc, and cover a large area of the sea bed. Using this technique you will often discover features, such as shallow channels which the flounder will move up as the tide floods, or simply by covering more ground your baits will cross the path of a feeding fish. Alternatively, you can retrieve your rig very slowly, which will cover the ground between where you cast to, and the shore.

BAITING UP

Bait and baiting up will be covered more fully at a later time, but here are a few tips for now. When using worm baits thread the worm on to the hook and up the snood. Do this as neatly as possible, keeping the hook inside the whole length of the worm. When using fish baits such as mackerel or herring, cut it in to narrow strips, and simply nick the hook through one end, this allows the bait to flutter in the tide. Small whole peeler crab should have the hook pierced through a leg socket, out through the back, through the back again, and exit through a leg socket on the other side. A few turns of fine bait elastic can be applied for added security, if you wish.