SHORE SPECIES SPOTLIGHT
Plaice will soon arrive to brighten up your sea angling. Who can resist these tasty, orange-spotted flatfish?
The focus falls on plaice.
COME mid-to-late February, the first plaice start to show back inshore after spawning. For the shore angler, plaice are the first sign of an imminent spring. Yes, initially, they are thin and out of condition, but they soon pack on weight, feeding voraciously throughout spring and summer to reach peak condition from late summer into autumn.
WHEN & WHERE
Although found throughout the whole of the UK, plaice can be somewhat localised, being resident in one area, yet rarely seen just a few miles up the coast.
Typical ground for plaice are the corners of surf beaches, where clean sand butts up to rock, also in any deeper gullies towards the low tide and
mid-tide mark where the plaice will sit as the tide floods deeper. Mussel beds beyond the low water mark are another beach hotspot.
They like the deeper holes in the main channels of estuaries, and will also be found inside harbours, typically in close proximity to mooring anchors and chains that hold seed mussel.
On deeper steep-to beaches, you need to find areas where there are undulations and small sandbanks on the seabed. Here, plaice can hide behind the banks facing into the tide and intercept food.
Plaice also frequent small sandy bays situated along an otherwise rocky coastline, especially if the water drops off quickly into deeper water. They sit on the lower and middle incline of this rising bank, but rarely venture on to the shallower sand.
In harbours, estuaries and off the rock ledges, smaller neap tides can fish best due to lighter tide runs, allowing more efficient fishing. On the open beaches though, it’s generally the rising middle-sized tides up to the bigger spring tides that produce the most action. Good times are the first hour of the flood and right through the stronger tide flow
periods, with bites slowing either side of slack water.
Plaice feed best in broad daylight. I have seen them caught at night, but not often. If you have a choice, choose a cloudy overcast day with more subdued light and, ideally, a slight chop or ripple on the sea’s surface to limit light access getting too far down into the water column. They will take in bright sunshine and clear seas.
TACKLE & RIGS
In estuaries and harbours when close-range fishing, you might get away with a light 3oz 11ft bass rod, a small 5000-sized multiplier, 15lb line and a light 25lb shockleader when using lead weights up to 3oz.
A 4000-sized fixed spool loaded with 20lb braid is the other alternative, matched to a 10ft 2-3oz spinning rod.
For beaches and fast-running estuaries, casting distance will be needed, so a 14ft to 15ft Euro-style rod rated 4-6oz and a 7500-sized fixed spool, 20lb braid and a 60lb shockleader will cover all options. Otherwise, a 12-13ft conventional beach rod, again 4-6oz, 18lb mainline and a 60lb shockleader proves ideal for both medium and long-range fishing.
Two rigs work particularly well for plaice. For long-range, a two-hook clipped loop rig puts both baits hard on the seabed where the plaice like them. Keep the hooklengths no more than 14 inches long and make them from 20lb line.
For medium range and for harbours and estuary channels with deeper water, go for a simple two-hook flapper. The 20lb hooklengths should be up to 18 inches long. Fish with a slight slack line bow in the line to put both baits on the seabed. Watch for a lift in the line bow to signal a bite. A general hook size for all plaice would be a size 2 Aberdeen. Fish both rigs with a release wired lead.
Do coloured beads work for plaice? Yes, but not always. The proven overall bead colour sequence is black, green, black, green using 5mm beads. These work well in clear shallow water, especially when fishing close to mussel beds. However, a sequence of smaller 3mm orange and lumo green beads, the rubber oval shaped ones, fishes better in seas with a hint of colour in the water. Four to six beads are enough. In deeper water, such
as off rock marks and in the deeper estuary channels, again the lumo green beads help increase catches.
BEST BAITS
Plaice take a variety of baits, but fresh blow lug, fresh black lug, mussels, and especially peeler crabs, are all top baits. They will also take razorfish and ragworms.
It’s always worth mixing a cocktail of baits. Good ones are lug tipped with peeler crab or a sliver of squid, lug tipped with a mussel, and mussels tipped with a small chunk of peeler crab. A certain combination may well work best on the day, so make a point of mixing things up.
The plaice has a relatively small mouth, like all flatfish, but can cram in a fair mouthful. However, look to only fill the shank and the bend of a size 2 Aberdeen hook, making sure the hook point is well clear.
TOP TACTICS
The key to plaice fishing is to actually find them. If a certain beach is producing plaice, then try to discover exactly where from, because they are often not evenly distributed along the whole beach.
As mentioned, go for the corners of beaches, gutters, gullies, areas of shallow sandbanks, the edge of weed beds, a shingle on to sand demarcation line, and especially seed mussel beds. The latter are all major hotspots for plaice.
They also like clean sand in among rougher patches, and will often lay-up tight alongside rough ground feature.
In smaller estuaries, look for a bottleneck in the channel. This often sees a deeper scoured hole where the tide is forced through quicker, and is a prime spot to find plaice that sit on the lower inclines of the rising banks. In harbours, apart from deeper moorings, target the deeper channels the boats use, especially if there is a bend in the channel, and fish the base of the inclines where the banks start to rise.
Plaice bites are pretty aggressive. They will bounce the rod tip two or three times, pause, then bounce it three or four times more. They usually self-hook, and just winding into the
weight of the fish is enough to set the hook. Plaice are tough and powerful and will fight hard for their size, bigger ones often nose-diving for any snags that cross their path. Bear this in mind if you’re fishing from steep breakwaters or rock ledges into deep water when bringing a fish in close.
In very clear water, if bites are hard to come by, changing to fluorocarbon hooklengths in 12-15lb breaking strain and using smaller baits on a size 4 hook can induce extra bites. These are also the conditions when it’s a wise move to remove any beads. Beads work best if there is movement in the water. If conditions are calm, just fish a plain bait looking as natural as possible. ■