DESTINATION DAB
Seventeen-year-old Tom England sets out to catch this tasty flatfish. Simple enough, but it had to weigh more than a pound…
A flounder session in South Wales.
From May to September I fished for smoothhounds in South Wales, but winter called for a new challenge. I decided to seek out a species I’d never caught or tried to catch before. The choice turned to flatfish – but not any old flatfish. Along with my fishing pal, Kevin Shortman, we decided to challenge ourselves to catch a dab weighing more than 1lb.
The venue would be Burry Port, located west of Llanelli on the coast of South Wales and facing the Gower Peninsula. After a hour-and-half of travelling from my home in Tonypandy, we arrived at the mark, close to the lighthouse, which we’d fish from noon until 7pm.
Immediately, we faced a few issues. The main one being the amount of freshwater running through the Burry Inlet on the fairly large tide. The flow of water from the River Lougher is strong here. Added to that were masses of suspended seaweed.
Three hours into the session we’d caught nothing, but low water was imminent. Not long after the tide turned, we finally encountered some dabs. Kevin caught the first, which was only a few ounces. Fewer than five minutes later I was into my first-ever dab, which weighed 8oz.
As darkness fell and the fishing picked up, the bigger dabs appeared. The best two were a 1lb 5oz fish for me, and 1lb 2oz for Kevin, so we beat our target of 1lb. After these few bigger specimens, we caught only occasional fish, which was a disappointment because Burry Port is normally a prolific venue. Conditions were not at the best, but we battled on and ended with eight dabs.
HANDY TIPS
Dabs can be tricky to catch as their mouths are so small, so your hook size and bait should be chosen accordingly. I used a two-hook flapper with size 1/0 Aberdeen hooks with a rig body line of 50lb and a snood of 25lb line. The weight was a 3½oz plain lead; smaller than I’m used to, but they helped me spot a bite easier than with a 6oz sinker.
Dabs can give an aggressive bite, but mostly just rest on your line while eating the bait. Ideally, this requires a sensitive rod with a 3-6oz casting rating, which gives more noticeable bites. However, during this session, I had to use a stiffer rod due to the troublesome weed and strong tide.
Our bait was local black lug, which we used in bits around two inches long threaded on the hook. I had planned to take mackerel, which can be cut into 1cm x 3cm strips, but left it in the freezer.
Don’t be too keen to strike at the first rattle on the rod tip. Instead, wait because this might be the fish pulling at the bait. Sit on your hands for perhaps three rattles until retrieving in your rig. In addition, check your rig and bait every 15-25 minutes.
THE VENUE
Burry Port is an ideal location for anglers of all ages, being easily accessible. Always check the tide times so you know you are safe.
In the summer it’s always good for mullet, particularly golden greys, and some big ones have come out here. Other species include bass, whiting, flounders and dabs.
Use only one rod. With two rods, it’s a recipe for tangles if there is a lot of tidal flow. Because the weed can be a nuisance during parts of the session, you don’t want to be removing weed from two rods. Stick with one rod and a two or three-hook flapper rig.
On arrival at the mark, check the ground for features, such as deeper areas, and where the tide flows and in which direction. Always look for clues to what the fish are eating. We noticed a lot of worm casts, so it was a nobrainer to use worms, but there was lots of razor clam shells too. ■
■ SEE THE SESSION: This session was documented on Tom's YouTube channel.