Baited Spooning

[Simon Everett]

When South African and I went out to try the X-Factor I wanted to see if I coulod catch one of these elusive plaice - I say elusive because they have eluded me now for 40 years

Anyway, I dug out my old, home made baited spoons which have caught many, many flounders and a fair few bass and eels too.

malcolm at Anglesey Bait Centre provided the ragworms (thank you S.A.) and pointed out where to go and fish for the big, spotted flatties. The mussel trawler has landed a fair number of BIG plaice, up to 7lbs and a whole load of 4lb and 5lb fish - so we went off full of enthusiasm.

 

Here I am with one of those pesky bait robbers that plagued me when i went with Zzippy and Specimen to try and catch a smoothound:

[Simon Everett]

Sorry, wrong pic. That is the pesky bait robber coming to the surface on my baited spoon.

 

Here it is coming abord:

[Simon Everett]

And here it is in my lap with the spoon still in its mouth...not a big fish, about 2lbs, maybe 2.5lbs

[Simon Everett]

And so you can see the secret weapon in all its glory. You will be glad to know that the fish was returned quite happily, wondering where the juicy meal it had its eye on had gone.

 

The spoon is simply a desert spoon with the handle cut off and filed smooth. Then a small hole is drilled in the POINTY end. A split ring is attached to which you attach 2 swivels - one for the line and one for another split ring - swivel,split ring,swivel,split ring, swivel split ring until the last split ring is just past the end of the spoon. You attach your hook to the split ring direct. I am sure you could possibly get away with just a couple of swivels and a length of line to the hook (perhaps with some beads on) but the old boy who showed me how to baited spoon did it this way - and he helped me make my first spoon at about age 8. I promptly went out and caught a cracking flounder with it from his dinghy! About a 2lber!

Anyway, that is how I fish the baited spoon - andit works for bass, but not, it would seem, for plaice

[ZEBRA]

where abouts were you on Anglesey simon.i think i know the background on the photo .

is it a place where a fast tide runs all the time .

terry

[Simon Everett]

Nope, because we were after flatties we were over the mussel beds just off Bangor. This fish was taken before we had got over the bank, so it was just in the mid channel of the Straights - could have been going anywhere, just a fluky catch. (HO HO HO - Fluke....oh, never mind)

 

I had both spoons out and South African had a weighted spoon too, but we only hit the one fish, so it isn't an actual mark where you could target them. I think it was just on passage.

 

I still reckon there should be flatfish over all those shallow flats between Bangor and Penmaenmawr - where it dries out for miles. Imagine how warm that water is going to be when the tide comes in of an evening after the sun on the sand. It can't be more than 4' deep at the most at high water. So that is where we went - you can't fish it fromthe shore because it goes out too far, you can't fish it from a boat because it is too shallow and the water recedes too fast (Starvin, you know all about that don't you ) so a kayak has a good chance of getting in and catching some fish that others cannot target. It is a very large expanse of sand/mud, which is why a baited spoon is such a brilliant method of fishing it - you just move along, VERY slowly with the tide. Zig zag to cover more ground. The spoon flops along within a foot of the bottom searching out the flatties.

If you go to try it Terry, fish with the tide and work the edge of the the streams, gullies and river bed. Then go out over the flats when the tide has covered them by about 2'

[musket]

Simon You rotter!!! you beat me to it

I know ....yours' is bigger

Jon

 

[ 10. October 2005, 01:02 PM: Message edited by: musket ]

[Simon Everett]

You've got to get up earlier in the mornig Jon...

[Martin Hurst]

simon , these spotty fellas seem to becoming more illusive by the minute! As a lad I holidayed in a cottage on the pentraeth side of Red Wharfe. Used to dig a few lug and put out a setline of six hooks most days and nearly always was rewarded! Might be worth a trip next time?

[Starvinmarvin]

Nice fish chaps, looks like they've been spoon fed

 

You know that Speciman has started something now, there will be a shortage of spoons in the tackle shops, leading to an increased demand in Sheffield due to those followers of the Everett method, the children will starve, it's all madness.

 

SM