Flounders

[Simon Everett]

Anyone know if there are any flounders about in the estuaries of West Cornwall at this time of year?

 

I have a week of work in Rock, opposite Padstow on the Camel from 8th January on. I was wondering if it would be worth taking the kayak down and trying for a flounder for fun, otherwise it will be a week of evenings consigned to the pub with a book.

 

Any help gratefully received - bait collection (ragworm preferably as I shall probably troll a baited spoon) otherwise I might even try fly fishign for one. This is only for fun after all. If I could get one I would be DELIGHTED. It has been several years since I caught a flatfish (looking back - 6 years!)

 

Cheers,

Simon.

[Leon Roskilly]

Simon,

 

See http://www.anglers-net.co.uk/sacn/latest/index.php?view=444

 

 

Tight Lines - leon

[Ken Davison South Wales]

Hi Leon & Simon,

 

Have to agree the flounder has taken a hammering.

 

I heard recently that gill nets had to be anchored to the bottom locally.

 

This has resulted in a large number of flounders being caught.

[sam-cox]

Hello Simon,

 

I often holiday at Rock this is a good bass mark and you may be able to pick a few peelers up there even in winter if its mild. There are flounders there.

[wurzel]

As usual the netters get the blame, A bass gill net catches very few flounders, I think there are less flounders in areas were there is very little commercial fishing as well, so who gets the blame for these areas.

It would be interesting to see the Teign match results over the years going back to 1922 .

It would not surprise me if anglers were proved to have had the main inpact on large flounders in the river Teign in the past.

[Ken Davison South Wales]

Hi Wurzle,

 

Not actually blaming them as such as it was one of the netters who raised this point.

[wurzel]

hello Ken

 

In some areas the local bylaws to protect migrateing sea trout and salmon is, that any anchored net has to have 3 meters of water above the float line, Is this perhaps what the local netter was refering to ?

[Newt]

A nice article on Winter Flounder although I have no idea if any of the areas they mention are places of interest to you Simon.

[Norm B]

Hi Leon & Simon,

 

Have to agree the flounder has taken a hammering.

 

I heard recently that gill nets had to be anchored to the bottom locally.

 

This has resulted in a large number of flounders being caught.

There is a netter in Langstone harbour, he's been there since time began. He rows his boat out and sets his nets. The next tide he collects them. He never used to bother with flounders, not worth anything he told me when we were chatting. For the last few years he's been keeping them for his mates pots, they buy him a pint for them. Last time I saw him with his Sunblest crates full of big, over 4lb some of them, spawning flounders I gave him a fiver to let them go , which he did, he probably caught them again on the next tide though. That could be a reason why there are less flounders, pot bait bycatch, and of course, anglers.

[wurzel]

Hello Norm B

 

He probably waited till low water,picked the same fish up off the sand put them back in his sunbless tray and resold them to his mates.

 

what is his normal target species?

 

I know flounder by catches are sold for pot bait, they always have in this area,

although generally areas of high concentrations of flounder are normaly avoided by commercail net fishermen because of the amount of work for very little return involved. You need to use a trammel net to catch any amount of flounders, the ground in esturarys is normaly to dirty with weed and shore crabs to work trammels.