SHORE SPECIES SPOTLIGHT
The focus falls on tasty dabs.
DABS TEND to swim under the angling radar these days and are considered as just another species, but they are always willing to feed and remain reliable throughout the winter – especially in the first three months of the year when other species can be very thin on the ground.
WHEN AND WHERE
Tides sizes don’t really worry these flatfish because they feed whether it’s a small neap or a massive spring tide. They follow the tide in on the beaches, but prefer deeper water than flounders. As a result, you’ll need to cast medium-to-long-range from the surf beaches to consistently find them.
Flood tides are best. They like a little run in the water too, so expect bites to increase from the second hour of the flood through until an hour before high water when bites can ease away. They will quickly drop back to deeper water as soon as the ebb tide begins.
What they don’t like is a rough sea. Look for settling conditions a few tides after a blow has passed through or, better still, settled seas with a light onshore wind.
Dabs are also a species that will feed in prolonged light easterly winds, but if these winds become strong and prolonged, catches will generally fall away.
Dabs are widespread, being found on both shallow surf and deeper beaches, the main channels of deeper estuaries, also from man-made structures such as piers, breakwaters and harbour walls.
On the shallower beaches, they tend to sit out beyond the natural low water line where the sand forms a shallow rising bank. As the depth increases, they filter out across the sand, but tend to stay out around the mid-tide mark where the water is deeper. They like to lay in gutters and on the seaward side of any small banks.
On deeper beaches, they will be well spread, but concentrate around any obvious clean seabed features, such as deeper basins where a tidal current scours out the sand, or where there is a definite change from clean sand to shell grit or fine shingle. From man-made structures, find the deeper boat channels or areas where there are chain moorings because these anchorages also hold dabs.
Deeper-water venues will see dabs taken by day, but night-time sees far more feeding activity from shore marks. As is so often the case, try to fish tides that start to flood in the dark for peak catches.
TACKLE AND RIGS
Casting distance can help when dab fishing in shallower water, so in most cases a 14ft to 15ft Euro-type rod with a 7500 fixed-spool reel, 30lb braid line and a 60lb shockleader is a wise set-up.
The other option is a 12ft to 13ft beachcaster casting 5-6oz with a fast-running multiplier reel, such as an Abu 6500 or similar, loaded with 15-18lb line and 60lb shockleader.
Top rig for dabs is the two-hook clipped up for shallower water when distance is important. When fishing off structures, fish a two-up, one-down rig to keep the baits tighter to the seabed. Hooklengths should be 14 inches of 20lb fluorocarbon or mono to minimise tangles. Dabs have small mouths, so drop your hook size to size 4, or even a size 6 Aberdeen pattern.
BAIT SELECTION
Sticky black lug is the top dab bait. A good way to create this effect is to leave freshly gutted or frozen black lug on kitchen towel or newspaper to absorb moisture and exposed to the air, say in a garage, for a day or so.
It starts to dry, but goes tacky and the dabs love it. Just aim to fill the hook with the bait, but no more.
Other good baits are a single fresh blow lug, thin strips of mackerel 1½in x ½in, a single mussel, small chunks of razorfish, and tellin clams.
After storms, pick up any queen cockles you see washed up and cut these into hook size sections. These are deadly in water still coloured but settling after a good gale.
TOP TACTICS
On surf beaches, that definite low-water bank edge or demarcation line is the place to start. The dabs sit well out beyond this, waiting for the initial push of the tide. Longish casts either side of low water can pick up bonus fish.
As the tide floods, put baits in the deeper water behind where the low-water bank lifts. The dabs will congregate here waiting for the water to deepen and flood over the main beach. Keep fishing this deeper water as long as you can.
Pinpoint mid-tide mark gutters or areas of shallow sandbanks, and fish here as the tide floods. This is where the dabs tend to congregate during the rest of the tide. If you’re fishing deeper boat channels off breakwaters and harbour walls, have a few feet of slack line between the rod tip and rig to create a bow. This will keep all three baits tighter to the seabed and increase your catch-rate.
Dabs are another fish that respond to a lumo green bead positioned directly above the hook. Use the smaller 3mm beads. One is enough in clear water, but use two end-to-end if the water is coloured for greater effect.
Another edge is with lumo leads. These can be used as a major visual target at night, and are especially good in semi-coloured seas. Dabs and other species see the luminescent glow and move closer to investigate, bringing them nearer to the baits. Charge the weight with your headlight or phone flash.
It seems to be little known, but dabs swim in what could be loosely termed small groups. If you take a dab from a specific spot, then try and drop back into the same spot because there is a high probability you’ll catch more fish from the same general area.
If you want to target a big dab, try fishing the corners of beaches where the sand meets rocks and rising cliffs. Big dabs show a preference for this type of ground adjacent to solid rock. Another good spot for a big dab in February and March is around the mouth of a small estuary in a deeper channel, especially if there are mussel beds present and you can put a bait close to the edge of that.
Dabs give a fast rattle-type bite, then a pause, and another series of fast rattles. They usually hook themselves against the weight of the sinker. It’s just a matter of taking in any slack line, lifting the weight out of the sand, and winding the fish in. ■