winter fishing

[andy connor]

hi guys
can anyone give me advice what species are available to catch this time of year i'm new to see fishing and just want to bend a rod. i,ll be fishing somewhere in plymouth cheers guys any help will be much appreciated.

 

[alan outen]

the most obvious ones are cod, whiting, flounders, pout,LSD's but diferant areas produce diffent fish, the easiest thing to do would be ask the tackle shop whats being caught.

 

[michael rouse]

me and a mate went fishing in wales and had dog fish,whiting ,small pollack and codling.the guy i buy bait from said he caught bull huss and small conger over a rocky bottom at night.

 

[Kieran Hanrahan]

Hi Andy

Given your location, there may still be some bass about given the weather has been quite mild, but most people would concentrate on codling and whiting from now until February or March. If you want Flounder head for the estuaries although you can catch them just about anywhere!

You will get all the species listed by the lads above and possibly a few others, smaller species like poor cod. It does depend on the exact location - ask at the local SAC and or tackle shop for advice.

FWIW...

 

[andy connor]

cheers lads thats the sort of responce i was after i fancy giving whiting a go i'll start looking into i. are mullet not an option this time of year?

 

[michael rouse]

kieran.im new to all angling and just wondered the best baits for flounder.iv never caught one and would like to next week.iv got small sandeels and loads of mackeral.would these work ?what features should i look for when flounder fishing?

 

[michael rouse]

the programmes on tv show that mullet are hard to catch.

 

[alan outen]

the best way and place for flounder i was told was, mudflats, size1/2 hooks and ragworm as bait, local to me what they do is get to the mudflats at low tide and start fishing as soon as the tide turns as the flounders gather near the flats waiting for the tide. ive never caught one either and plan on giving them a go so i have been asking around for advice as well.

 

[jason fisher]

if you want's mullet then it's float fishing with bread then using a loafer float and trotting.
for the flounders either ragworm or lugworm you could always try a flounder spoon baited with worm or put a few sequins on the hook length.
as far as features go then look for sea bed structure gullies in the sand and similar on a rising tide,
if you can fish 2 rods then fish one in the bottom of a gully and one near the top of a bank.
both places have ways of concentrating debris.
or if you can find a bait bed stick it right on top of that.

 

[jason fisher]

now here's a trick for marking features,
get a house brick preferably on with the holes in it, tie a float onto a piece of line which is long enough to stop it being pulled under,

take the brick out to the place you want to mark, bury the bottom half of the brick into the bottom sand/mud.
as the tide comes in the float will be in the general area of the feature, you have to do a bit of thinking on depth and flood direction but it does work.
fish the tide on the rise then go back and pick your marker up later when the tide has dropped.

 

[alan outen]

jason, bait beds could be why i was told to fish the mud flats, its where they all go bait digging near me.

 

[michael rouse]

i heard that you can make a groundbait out of liquidised bread crumbs and fish guts.mash it up and apparently it works for mullet.

 

[jason fisher]

alan if you've to the time, walk the beach right at low tide before you start, and look for casts or rag worm holes, then either mark it or just drop your lead with baited hooks on to the bait bed then walk back up the beach.
wait for the tide to come in you will get all sorts of flat fish following in very close behind the first couple of waves.

micheal the fish guts works but then again so does plain bread.
mullet are a weird fish a coarse fish that lives in the sea some times, or is it a sea fish that lives in a river some times.
i don't know.

 

[jason fisher]

i had the most frightening experience of my life with a shoal of mullet.

i was snorkelling on a beach in portugal when this great big grey shape came looming at me through the water,
the first thing i thought was oh dear its a shark and i'm going to get eaten, the second thing i thought was swim up the beach, and then i saw what it really was and spent the rest of the day swimming about with them no more than about 3 feet away.

 

[alan outen]

"the first thing i thought was oh dear its a shark" or words to those effect.

 

[jason fisher]

i was only ten, but you are right it wasn't dear

 

[Kieran Hanrahan]

http://www.sea-angling-ireland.org/flatfish - flounder.htm

The above page gives some details on how to catch flounder. They will take anything - sandeel and mackerel strip is good but keep the baits relatively small and the hooks no bigger than 1/0s, in fact ideally drop them down to 1s or 2s or even 4s....

Look for fresh water if tackling flounder, estuaries being a good spot or even run off dropping over a cliff onto mixed/rocky grounds. A small stream running through a a beach or into a harbour is a good sign.

Flounder are daylight feeders and active hunters. They are also inquisitive and will check out beads, sequins and a flasher spoon. On most mud marks, use a watch lead to stir up the bottom and reel in the baits, a few turns every 30 seconds to generate some interest. A cocktail bait that includes crab or lugworm to generate a scent trail improves your odds again.

I will be writing an article on it as part of a series I am doing for the Irish Anglers Digest, and if the editor is okay with it, I will pass it on and let Mr Marsden publish it here...

FWIW...

 

[michael rouse]

my mark now is nothing but whiting ,dabs and doggies

 

[alan outen]

what wrong with that?
whiting are fun on light gear, and its better then standing there freezing your nuts off and not catching

 

[andy connor]

hi guys
i went out sea fishing for the first time the other day in plymouth i took mackeral as bait but the guy in trader jacks tackle shop took pitty on me and gave me some rag worm which is just as well coz the mack caught nothing but on rag caught a lot of small wrass some whiting and a couple of small pollack nothing over 4 ounces but its a start.
where are those flounder?