Flat Fish Fishing, Hastings

Floundering Around For Plaice

Hastings, UK

A small selection of flat fish rigs

It's been a while since I've written a blog, for that I'm sorry, because I've just not been catching any fish of note, the winter sea fishing here in the South East of England should of been about catching Cod, but they never showed on the beaches, I must of had at least 6 beach sessions targeting them and I didn't catch one, let alone see one, only bags of Whiting and the odd Dogfish or Pouting. And it wasn't only me, most anglers struggled with very few Cod caught over the winter. Personally I think it was all to do with the weather, we had mostly Easterly winds keeping the water gin clear and calm, rather than the stirred up muddy food filled angry sea that the South Westerly storms cause, which brings the Cod inshore. Also the water temp was unseasonably warm for the time of year, even in December Mackerel were chasing White Bait along the shore line, testament to the clear warm water. But maybe just maybe we may get a spring run of Cod, so I'm holding fire on them for the time being. Knowing that the water was still quite clear and still fairly warm, I was looking at spring species that I suspected would turn up a little early, one target kept popping up, and that was Plaice, our prized spotted flat fish, that's very good eating.

As still in real life as in this photo

I had attempted to target Plaice a few times, but weather and tides stopped me going fishing, But I soon had my window, a calm warm day, preceded by a north easterly wind, which would clear the water, and a nice high tide of around 4pm which was important as the water is normally at it clearest at high water, as Plaice are sight feeders, and during daylight is the best time to target them. I was spot on!!! 2 days before my planned trip reports from many anglers, of many Plaice being caught from a few venues, ok, not the venue I planned to go to, but Hythe. This put doubts in my mind as to weather or not to go Hasting which was my planned destination, Well maybe it was my pride or stubbornness, but I didn't want to follow the reports, I had my plan, my gut feeling and if I'm honest I convinced myself that if Plaice were at Hythe then they would be at Hastings also, only time would tell!. I set off early doors, and arrived at my mark at low water, a Dawia Theory bass rod for close in work, and my Yuki Q7 for distance fishing, baits were fresh Black Lug tipped with squid, on home made rigs with bling, consisting of, up and overs, 1 up 1 down flappers, boons, pulley droppers, you name it I made it! the idea was to present a bait on the sea bed and have the beads, sequins, blades and pop ups attract the Plaice.

40cm Flounder loving the bling

Well, what can I say, and I'll try beef this out a little, I had 2 bites and 2 fish in 8 hours fishing!, I cast out with bait, I reeled in with bait still looking exactly the same as when I had put it on, there was obviously no fish or crabs around for the majority of the session, I tried over 10 rigs, at all ranges from ridiculous close to extremely far, and everything inbetween. The name of the game was to locate fish, and mostly I drifted rigs on plain leads in the current searching for gullys and features, I must of covered more ground over this session than any other I can remember, It was dire! not even a Whiting! but as I said earlier, I did catch 2 fish, a tiny postage stamp sized Dab, and a Flounder, to be fair, one of the biggest Flounders that I've ever caught, this should of been a welcome catch, but my disappointment that it wasn't a Plaice seemed to over shadow the capture of this lovly fish. I just wanted a fish to take home, like the Cod, the Plaice didn't play ball, and I will not eat Flounders, they are snotty horrible things to me, so this one was released to continue on his merry way. Its been a hard end to last year, and a hard start to the this year, but this is fishing, and one decision, one little change, can make the difference between good fishing and bad fishing, All we can do is use our experience to help us make the best decisions given the circumstances, and hope for a little luck, and remember, it's not all about catching, if it was easy,  it would be boring! I can't wait to get out again waving my sticks around in the fresh sea air, chatting with friends, watching the sunsets and stars whilst listening to the waves breaking on the beach, and I'm sure, some fantastic catch reports to come.