Saltwater Boat Angling — December 2017

Saltwater Boat Angling 55

Crabs are a constant nuisance for the

flounder angler and anything that

helps to keep them off is a bonus.

Another favourite embellishment for

a flounder rig is a silver spinner blade

mounted about 4 inches (10cm) from

the hook. Talking of hooks, whether

fishing with crab or worm I always

use a fine wire Aberdeen

style hook and while some

people like a size 4, I prefer

to go bigger and use a

size 1, I find I get fewer

deep hooked fish with

the bigger hooks and

these feisty flatties are so

voracious when attacking

a bait even small ones,

the size of your hand, still

get hooked.

If you do get a deep

hooked fish there are

various methods of

disgorging the hook

without causing too much

damage. There is the loop

disgorger which pushes

the hook out and it can be

retrieved through the gill

cover. My favourite is the

twizzle stick. This is a

tapered piece of dowel or

plastic that is pushed down

through the mouth and the

line wound around the

stem of the stick a couple

of times, then holding the

line with the weight of the

fish on it, the stick is simply

spun round and the flatty

comes off clean with the

hook by the point of the

stick. It takes, literally,

seconds and my own

twizzle stick is made from

8mm dowel, so if dropped

it floats and can be

retrieved.

Landing nets

If fishing a competition

from the kayak, then

a landing net can mean

the difference between

being placed or not. The

debate amongst kayak

anglers about landing nets

is a hot topic. A fixed net is

cumbersome and can act

like a sail when paddling. I

prefer a folding net that

can be stowed out of the

way until needed, by

putting some high-density foam on

the handle the net can be made

to float, so it is less likely to be

lost overboard in the heat of the

action. A lanyard is another useful

attachment provided it is attached to

the very end of the handle where it is

out of the way.

Seasons, tides and pinch points

The main season for flounders is just

beginning, once the first frosts have

fallen you can expect to start to catch

flounders. The best time in the West

Country estuaries is after Christmas

through to the first couple of weeks

of February, these are the

darkest days of the year so

your trips need to be timed

with the tide. I have always

found fishing the tide up is

more productive than the

ebb, but the ebb is better

than slack water. If you can

target the entrance to a

small creek off the main

channel, you can intercept

the flounders as the tide

floods the little creek and

they follow the tide up to

eventually spread out on

the worm beds on the flats.

If fishing the ebb, I will

search out these same

pinch points, where the

bulk of the fish will come

past again on their way

down to the low water tide

pool, where they sit and

wait the low water period

out.

Competitions

There are always some

specialist flounder comps

around the country,

especially on the south

coast. Keep your eyes

open for the Poole

Kayak Flounder Fishing

Competition, which is a

wonderfully social event

keenly supported by a

regular band of 20 or 30

kayak anglers plus a few

new faces each year.

The Teignmouth Flounder

Competition in aid of the

local lifeboat is another

that has been going for

years. If you aren’t a

competition angler, then

just join in the fun and

meet like minded folks.

Hopefully this season there

will be a few really big

flounders caught and we

look forward to seeing your

pictures, with luck one of

them will be mine!

At a pinch point

A flounder in the net

Roving float rig

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