Right Plaice, Wrong Place
Hastings, East Sussex, UK
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| Spring has sprung, Hastings |
In all my fishing it had dawned on my that there was a species that had eluded me, I'm not sure how but the Plaice has managed to avoid me for a long time, to be fair I hadn't really targeted them specifically, more so I had just targeted flat fish in general. Now that the Plaice was firmly on my radar this was now the time to start trying for them, with an exceptionally warm winter I was guessing that they would appear early and with some settled weather the Northerly winds clearing the water, conditions looked good. Now all I needed was a venue, a few stuck out but with only a few Plaice being reported so far this session and that was only hear say, I decided to pick my venue on a hunch, venturing further west along the coast I felt would give me the best chance of a early Plaice and Hasting struck out to me as a low water venue fishing a sand bank good for flat fish, would the Plaice be there? I didn't know but there was only one way to find out!
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| Homemade rigs are the best |
I arrived as early as the bait shop opening times would allow me, with 60 fresh Black Lugworm and a box of Squid I arrived at my mark at 8.30 am a few hours after high tide, my intention was to fish all the way down and up a little for a 6 hour session. upon arrival I had the pick of the beach surprisingly I couldn't see another angler at all. I set up next to a concrete groin where I had had some good sessions before. I fished 1 rod at range with a single 1/0 Aberdeen hook on a up and over rig with beads and sequins to attract the inquisitive sight predatory Plaice, baited with a whole Lugworm and a slither of squid to tip it off, I used a plain lead and cast out as far as I could uptide and let it roll across in front of me seeking out any dips or gullys where food would congregate and hopefully find the waiting fish. the second rod was a simple size 2 hook flapper with size 1 Aberdeen hooks with a gripper lead baited with half a Lugworm, which I cast about 40 -60 yards straight out off the end of the concrete groin, from previous visits on bigger tides, I had seen that there was a gully where the tide flowed stronger around the end of the concrete groin, which I believed any fish swimming from one section of the beach to the other would swim along it.
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| The Rock Slugs are back!!! |
Well, it was fish from the off, both rods were only out a few minutes before the tips were rattling away, small Dabs and small Whiting were out in force keeping me so busy I barely had a chance to have both rods out in the water. Then on the close in rod a bite that was notable bigger than the rest, I struck and lifted into a weight that put a big bend on the light Bass rod, excitedly I slowly reeled in and landed a larger Whiting at 33cm and large Dab at 26cm, 2 keepers right there! Now firmly finding my place to cast to, I recast the close in rod to it, again within seconds rattle rattle the rod tip went, and again a bigger bite than the previous, it bent over again, and I struck, yes something a little bigger maybe a sizable Whiting, but as the fish approached the beach it skimmed across the surface, it was a flat fish and a decent one at that, I expected a Flounder, why I'm not sure I was targeting Plaice!, and a Plaice it was at 34cm, I couldn't believe it,my first Plaice! mission accomplished and the session was only early, so I set myself another mission, as family were over visiting, I thought it would be nice to catch enough fish to put on a Sunday spread.
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| The Flounder |
With in the next 3 hours I had another 2 target Plaice at 33cm and 37cm, a Flounder at 35cm, several Rockling, lots of Whiting and another larger keeper, and lots of very small Dabs, but also another bigger one which I kept. It had been nonstop all day and as the tide turned the fishing very much slowed, there were still plenty of fish biting,but now I was having to wait 5 mins for a bite and frustratingly missed a lot. Whilst most my action and all the keepers I'd caught had been on the close in rod with a plain flapper, the distance rod with a purpose made blinged up drifting Plaice rig had only been picking off Whiting at range of approx 120meters, But It did account for 1 Plaice dead on low water, and the biggest of the 4 that day at 37cm a new PB weighing in at 1lb 1oz.
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| The days bounty soon to be sunday dinner |
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| Biggest Plaice of the day |
I fished the flooding tide for a few hours as planned, and amongst the tiny Whiting and postage stamp sized Dabs with the odd bigger one, i did pluck out my 4th and final Plaice at 28cm, I fished till I run out of bait. I have to say there are some sessions that you hate, some session you love, and some sessions like this one, where you just really enjoy yourself, which is what I did, it seemed the winter cold and dark with gales and heavy rods and line was over, the sun was out, the wind was calm, I was fishing the continental and bass rod both very light rods and back to using braid instead of mono, ok it helps with casting but even more so it makes the bites from little fish exciting. I can honestly say this was a pleasure trip to remember and its not very often I take fish home for the table, but I had 3 Plaice, 2 Dabs and 2 Whiting to take home, just enough to feed the family on Sunday. And not forgetting I had finally found my illusive Plaice, and considering the rigs I used and the range I was casting to, I really cannot believe I've never caught one before as this is exactly the way I've fished for Soles and Dab for many years now, but hey, maybe it was all about location, or maybe as I suspect the Plaice normally turn up a little later in the year when the dreaded May water is about, which is a time where my rods stay firmly in the shed.
