The season is about here, I have been checking out the other Internet forums to see if anyone is out there attacking the estuaries for Flounder, but it seems a bit quiet still.
Are you Floundering yet
I feel it is not really cold enough for the Flounder to be coming into rivers like the Exe, Teign, Camel, Fal etc but I would love to hear from you if you are already getting good catches.
How to catch Flounder
For those of you who are looking for a bit of Flounder fishing advice, have a look here at some articles from the past regarding catching flounder from the shore.
- Flounder fishing – Hints and tips
- Flounder rigs – The use of beads and sequins
- Fishing the estuary – Tips and ideas for estuary fishing
I would also love to hear from anyone using new and interesting ways to catch flounder. The goal for me this year is flounder on the fly, even if it is a baited fly for that initial catch.
November 20, 2008 at 13:10
i catch flounder all the time on flies. using czech nymphs in the low tide gullies. they fight very well on 6wt tackle. ive given up bait fishing for them as flies seem more effective. you just have to find the fish. if u want more info on fly fishing for flukes email me
November 6, 2008 at 10:26
A very nice fish there. What rig and bait were you using???
November 6, 2008 at 00:03
I pulled a 2.7lb flounder out of exmouth yesterday
November 1, 2008 at 11:57
Very worthwhile and precise article, thanks and tight lines.
October 29, 2008 at 12:05
Blakdog – Thank you for your comment. That is a very useful addition to the post and I accept my comment as you put it “misleading”.
Thank you for taking the time to write a sound comment.
October 29, 2008 at 01:45
Not being funny, but the comment about Flounder coming into the rivers is a bit misleading really; they are already there. Most of the fish that congregate this time of the year are pre-spawning fish which spend their year in the rivers and estuaries and will start to mass up to feed and then head out to sea to spawn. They’ll leave at varying times depending on which river they are in but they will all be away for 10 to 12 weeks, before returning in a “spent” condition.
On my local estuary, the Colne in Essex, they will start to gather at various marks on the river about mid-December and assuming there is no snow or heavy rain (which seems to send them out to sea and can end the fishing overnight) will hang around till about the first or second week of January – you can generally expect my local fish to return sometime in late March / April.
I stress that this is not something that I’ve “discovered” but has been documented in studies and if you think about it, is fairly logical – the fish spread out into small shoals during the summer, though its not to say that some fish don’t move into estuaries to take advantage of the feeding grounds before they move off to spawn.
It does explain why one local (Suffolk) estuary has been virtually devoid of Flounder for about 2 years thanks to a commercial boat heavily netting them as they prepared to spawn 3 years ago. Incidentially, if you fish with a baited spoon trolled behind a dinghy (or a kyak) in the summer you will discover just how many Flounders are there …. but you’ll struggle to catch them on traditional methods.
October 20, 2008 at 16:38
no I usually fish for flounder on the Tamar November time after a nice frost. Still catching bass and mackerel in the river.