FEAST OR FAMINE
Flounder fishing in Poole Harbour has seemingly hit the doldrums, but there is still decent sport if you know where to find it
What’s going on in Poole Harbour?
Amid claims of a seeming collapse of the flounder fishery within Poole Harbour, I was far from enthusiastic when I set out in my hunt for an elusive flattie from a mark along the lower reaches of the vast waterway.
Armed with the knowledge that only the previous day just four flounders had been caught by 67 anglers during a match at the once prolific Baiter gave me very little, if any, encouragement.
Arriving at dusk on a mid-November evening at the Evening Hill section, I met the father and son duo of Luke and Vernon Allen, both from Poole, Simon Watkins, from Christchurch, my mate Steve Lawrence, from Poole, and Tony Perkins from Ringwood.
Tony had caught a number of flounders from this section during previous few weeks while trotting a flounder spoon under a float, so I was hoping that it would be an eventful session.
A stiff cold north-westerly wind was blowing almost straight into our faces, which would provide near-perfect conditions on the young flooding tide. The water already had a tinge of colour.
For those heading to the harbour, the crab population can be rampant, stripping even large ragworm baits within a few minutes. Most of the local anglers use very large 18mm pop-ups on six to eight-inch hooklengths armed with a size 2 or 1 hook with very large ragworm baits.
I settled for far smaller pop-ups and longer hooklengths, but, alas, I was to suffer dearly at the hands of those ravenous crustaceans.
GOLDEN RULE
As the last rays of light rapidly faded over the horizon, it was one of Steve’s rods that showed the first signs of life, with several slow pull-down bites on a bait cast of only 30 yards. It was a definite indication that a flounder was munching its way through his enormous bait, comprising of a trio of good size ragworms.
One of the golden rules when flattie fishing, particularly within Poole Harbour, is to never rush a bite, but leave it for five minutes or so to develop.
Sure enough, after another 10 minutes Steve landed the evening’s first flounder; not big, but it was most certainly welcome and gave us hope of better things to come.
While snapping away with the camera, I caught a glimpse of one of my own rods wobbling. By the time I had finished taking pictures of Steve’s fish, the flattie had well and truly taken the bait, and soon a nicely marked flattie lay at my feet.
Before I had a chance to get any pictures taken of my first fish, Luke Allen shouted for the net as he navigated yet another flounder through the mooring buoys. This was beginning to look like how Poole Harbour fished in the old days.
Shortly afterwards, Steve was again into the thick of the action, landing his second flattie. Then it was my turn to land my second fish, another flounder. These were not monsters, but just a good stamp of fish.
Soon I had a bit of a giggle as Steve tried to land another flattie without the use of the net, only to see it spit the bait just as he was about to heave it over the lip of wall. Lesson learned. This is one of the problems when using very large worm baits – flounders often just suck the bait without actually making contact with the hook. Once a fish is lifted clear from the water, its weight just pulls the bait from the mouth and it is gone. Steve would have the last laugh later after he bagged half-a-dozen flounders – almost unheard of in recent years from the harbour.
Not to be outdone, Simon Watkins, fishing 100 yards to our left, was finding some fish and took three good flatties in as many casts, while Luke added another to his tally. His dad, Vernon, a local policeman, also bagged himself a brace of suspects. With so many fish being caught, I hardly had time to think, let alone fish. By the time I got back to my own rods, the baits were stripped clean.
To my right, Tony Perkins, who was trotting a traditional flounder spoon under a float, was still without a flounder, although he had caught numerous school bass. They produced some good sport on his light rod. Tony was not to be outdone though. Just before we called it a day after four hours of fishing, he finally bagged a nice-looking flounder. It’s always great to see fish caught on a more traditional method.
KEY FACTORS
Now for the big question. With only four fish caught the previous evening during the match at Baiter, and two days later 10 flounders for 60 anglers fishing the Wessex Flounder League along the Hamworthy and Rockley sections, how do you explain why we had such a bagging session?
While some are still in denial that there is a problem and that it is just a natural phenomenon, I am not convinced. I believe
that there are a number of key factors why the flounder population has plummeted in recent years.
Natural predators, such as cormorants, have always taken their toll, but the irresponsible releasing of seals into the harbour added to the problem. The harbour has seen a huge increase in the bass population, too, since its introduction as a nursery area. Immature flounders are a natural food for these hungry predators.
Yet that does not answer why there are still some flounders in the lower reaches of the harbour, while the upper reaches, which years ago were alive with flatties, are now virtually barren for them. Both legal and illegal netting have had a big impact; these flounders are often sold as pot bait for just scant reward, while their social economic value is worth many times more.
As to the lower reaches of the harbour where we were fishing, yes we were there in ideal conditions with a perfect wind direction and young flooding tide.
More importantly, because of the numerous mooring buoys and being a designated windsurfing area in full public view, there is little if any netting activity, hence the flounder population has not been decimated as happened in the higher reaches where
many areas are out of the public gaze.
For decades the flounder population within the harbour was pretty stable, even with the netting, but when you add the other recent factors (being a bass nursery and the release of seals) it just tips the balance from being a sustainable to an unsustainable flounder fishery. It is not really rocket science. ■