Essex Smooth Hounds are Back

[sam-cox]

In the 60s, 70s, and early 80s there was lots of large smooth hounds. I can remember many large fish over 20lb and lots of fish in the 7lb bracket. The large female hounds were always let go but the small males were ofter kept for the pot.

It was not unusual for a charter boat with 8 angler to keep 80 hounds a day.Thats a lot of dead hound if you take a average of 10 charter boats boats a day fishing the Thames Estuary.

In the mid to late 80s the hounds seemed to disapear, with only a few small 3 to 3lb fish remaining and very few large fish.

Over the last five years the hound have returned with again lots of small hounds and good numbers of fish over 20lb( the best I heard of last year was a massive 28lb) being caught each year.

I put this down to the fact the anglers have discovered that hounds tast like **** so now returne all hounds large and small. Hounds have very little commercial value so I belive that when the hounds disapeared in the late 80s it was directly due to over fishing by anglers not over fishing by commercial fisherman.

Now we have lots of hounds maybe they will returne in shore, as very large hounds used to be caught as close in as Bradwell creak. In order to find out if they are there people have to target them but as they havnt been there for many years it would take a brave angler to maybe waist his prime crab bait trying.

The last hound I know of from Bradwell creak I caught 16 years ago and it was about 15lb.

These fish are very good fighters and it would be good to catch them from the sea walls of the blackwater again.

[A Norfolk Boy]

Sam, this is good news. I've only ever caught one, a pup from a local beach last spring which means they must be breeding. There are some beaches around here where they will show up but people tend to keep quiet about them. I don't blame them at all. Might just have to have a try. I met a couple of people from Essex who came up to a Norfolk beach last year in search of them. That place will be my starter.

[A Norfolk Boy]

Sam, can you give me some tips on catching them from the shore. I believe a period of settled weather is best. Rigs, weather, tides, light level, baits etc. I understand hermit is good but it would be difficult to get hold of.

[sam-cox]

late augerst hear, well it used to be.

Peeler, softies and crispys. Hermid deadly from boat and shore.

Humid close evenings, from mid flood up till mid ebb.

get yourself a dingy and a dro nett for the hermits, they are all over but thicker in some places. We get them all over hear.

I seem to recolect some coming from yarmouth pier at times although i could well be wrong

[Tom Pinborough]

Hi Sam

A couple of guys , I know ,used to anchor up the Bradwell side of Osea island , on the way home from a angling trip, waiting for the tide to fully flood so they could return to their mooring by the millbeach and put a couple of baits out, they would catch Roker , occasionaly the odd smoothound up to about 10lb would appear,but this was about 10 years ago and I havn't heard anything since.

They probaly are there at certain times of the year , but with the vast numbers of very juvenile bass, you bait wouldn't last long.

 

By the way , I have been campaigning with your dad now for about the past three years.

 

cheers

Tom

[wurzel]

worth a try at Orford light house during late may early june, peeler crab is best large rag second choice at this time of year, squid, rag and hermits will work later in year september october.

Big tides, big baits and make sure your clutch is set right.

[macky]

peelercrab is the only bait worth trying in my experiance of hounds

 

i use up n over rigs with a 3ft snood

 

3/0-4/0 kamasan b950u hooks

 

night time best but will feed in coloured water during the day

 

i have had a fair few in linconshire fishing alongside the sandbanks on the edge of gullys

 

set ur clutch.....

 

hang on

 

macky

[Davy Holt]

Hiya,

 

Unlike almost every other UK shark Species Hounds are not slow growing or slow at reproducing. Really to be blunt about it, it's one shark that can with stand the pressures of a moderate targeted fishery. So really with that in mind it's highly unlikely that Anglers were at the root of the cause of it's demise in your area. The most likely cause would be accidental by catch in another fishery or change in localised behaviour of the species.

[sam-cox]

I understood it that a large hounds or tope are very old wich would indicate slow growing.

Hermits are top bait hear, last year we fished peelers untile the drop nett had caught some hermits. We caught nothing until we put hermits on.

[Shonzy.]

top baits down here are peeler again but not cheap at 80p each, espcially when ur catching 11 in a night as i did last august, upto 11lb but i know of a 17lb caught by my mate bout 7 yrs ago

oh and king rag can work sometimes!