Flounders whats the secret

BEADS, beads, beads and more beads in my view

ehhhh.....................................................no!

Only one bead allowed in fairness to dan, i have seen beads work very well up north for some reason. The rigs used up there are totally different to the way lads tackle them down here from what ive seen. Still prefer the simply built long snood, naked approach though. Guess its what your used to too and have confidence in fishing.

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Only one bead allowed

BEADS, beads, beads and more beads

will have a preference for long snoods

hooks are either a size 4 kamasan or size 6 owner pint (

pyramid lead where the bottom part that would normally form a point has become a cyclinder

Well there you go griplead tonnes of top advice and i bet your all the more confused now
flounder will take a lot and eric is spot on when he says experiment and stick with what works, what works today may not work tomorrow.. but keep trying.

Heres a wild card....!!! why dont we have a flounder meet/mini comp for the craic at a flounder venue just to show the variety of tactics...! i have found a lot.... that sometimes just listening to others on fishing tactics can actually throw you of believing in what your doing is right, causing you to search for a better way to catch fish when sometimes what your doing is spot on and you just need patience for the fish to find it....

LETS HAVE A MEET....!!! I SUGGEST WATERFORD..!! SOME GOOD FLOUNDER VENUES THERE...!

id be well up for that, dan could give me a lesson on beaded traces

i usually use 2 or 3 lumi beads if its dark, but their very small, the same size as the ones i use between the swivels and crimps on the main line for traces. i think their 3m.
seems to work for me.
if its an estuary i use crab and some rag if i have some.
on beaches i find worms the best, either rag or lug tipped with a tiny sliver of mack. i also find squid to be good for tipping.

Some good advice there, I was in the same boat as yourself not so long ago. I'd fish with Pete on our local beaches and he could have double figures of flounder while I had one or two. Took his advice, longer lighter snoods, small neat baits, small leads etc, keeping the rod tip down, searching them out etc and now, if I'm having good day, I can just about keep up with him.
As the guys say though, sometimes the fish make a mockery of all that and go for short snoods and 'big' dirty baits, but in general my flatfish catch rate is way up since. if you're not catching, just have a selection of rigs to try and see if any work. Always possible they aren't there or feeding as well, but hey that's fishing.

not much advice here but i just gave up and resorted to blasting baits out

Thanks for all the advice it seams the flounder, hads done many an anglers head in. It realy was a great response to my question thanks again.

if this is any help to ya. I use boom rigs with 6lb flourocarbon. some rigs have beads others dont. I also use 2 ways beads with long snoods with no beads and also beads. depends what the conditions are like on the day to be honest. I think the key is to have a rolling weight on your trace to find the flounders. but as others have said sometimes the rigs the day before might not necessarly work the day after.
Best is to find a flounder best and tie various rigs and see which ones work. good luck and tight lines

One of my favourite fish everything will catch flounder, the skill in fishing for them is picking out what works on the day and sticking to it, sometimes they will have a preference for long snoods, plenty of movement etc... Sometimes they want it hard on the bottom. By far my most successful rig I use is a rather simple 2 up one down flapper, snoods are 60cm long tied from 12-15lb maxima or a good quality flouro, the rig body is constructed from 40 grauvel super natural or 40lb grauvel tecklon gold. hooks are either a size 4 kamasan or size 6 owner pint (bait will dictate what size you use, for heavy crab baits in an estuary a size one hook will be need to present the bait properly) and a little small float bead is often added to give my bait movement. Golden rule keep rigs tidy and neat.

Sometimes you will find long snoods will bump the catch rate up, vie used snoods up to 4 foot with good success. they tend to fish the best on those calm, balmy days, little movement in the water etc.... combined with a light lead and a bit of twitching here and there they can work wonders. Having said that vie also found short snoods as ridiculous as 15cm have caught fish in comps where other who failed to experiment blanked. No idea why they worked? But when my traditional approach wasn’t working, I switched over and reaped the rewards??

In some cases such as estuaries or flat beaches a clip down rig will be necessary as to get out to the fish holding areas such as channels, mussel beds or galleys. For this I use a three or two hook loop rig, tied with 60b sakuma rig body or 60lb suffix superior. 45-60cm snoods, size 4 or 2 kamasan standard (don’t use match hooks on clip downs as the force from the cast and in stretch can bend fine wire hooks out)

Lead wise, I’m a huge fan of the pyramid lead; they offer nearly the right amount of resistance every time. I really don’t like using grip leads for flounder that just me I prefer to keep the bait moving, no need to trip the wires when I feel like a twitch or to gently lift into the fish when I want to reel in. saying that sometimes you have to use them, when its rough or threes a fierce rip of tide, and you want your bait to stay where you think the fish are feeding that what you have to use. Coloured leads have come into play recently and I have to admit I like them. I don’t know if they help attract the fish, they certainly don’t put them off and best of all they make finding a spare rig on the ground easier to find

what bait you use will depend entirely on the ground and venue you choose, estuaries traditionally fish best when using crab, open beaches lug and rag. Mix and match baits on the day till you find what they are feeding on. Maddies and wrigglers work very well in clear seas or in calm coloured water (the fish can pick up on the moving bait in coloured water by its lateral line) tipping off with fish baits like mackerel and herring can be the killer touch. Shellfish baits like mussel, razor and clam can also be devastating on sandy beaches and shingle beaches after a good blow, but make sure their stinky.

By far the most important thing you have to learn is water craft, it’s something vie had to come to terms with over the last year. Flounders are fish that love features!! Learning to identify and use features on what seems a baron beach will make the difference between blanking and catching. The easiest place to start would be the gutter (the depression made by the wave as it laps up on the beach, yes that close) work your way out. Creases indicate a run of tide and waves breaking at distance indicate a bank of sorts, fish on the edges of these. Keeping trying different spots till you find them, flounder are a shoaling fish where there is one there are often others.

In answer to your question about 'what’s the best rig?’ well there is none, its totally dependent on venue and conditions.





1 edit using F7

Flounders are the easiest to catch. Just use size 1 hook on a 2 hook flapper with sand eel, lugworm or mackerel.
Whether you use a grip lead or not should not affect your catching as the bait is flapping and it should attract the fish. Another way of improving your catch rate is by adding spoons and beads 2 whatever rig you are using.
Paternosters are another good rig.






1 edit to basic english

flounders r da easiest to catch.just use size 1 hook on a 2 hook flapper with either sandeel, lugworm r mackeral.whether u use a grip lead r not should not effect ur catching as the bait is flapping arnd it should attract da fish. another way of improving ur catch rate is by adding spoons and beads 2 watever rig ur using. paternosters r another gud rig.

Can you please not use text speak on the forums? I find it hard to read and i am sure i am not the only one.

I would contribute to the thread but it looks like Eric and Pete pretty much have it covered.

Alex

flounders r da easiest to catch.just use size 1 hook on a 2 hook flapper with either sandeel, lugworm r mackeral.whether u use a grip lead r not should not effect ur catching as the bait is flapping arnd it should attract da fish. another way of improving ur catch rate is by adding spoons and beads 2 watever rig ur using. paternosters r another gud rig.

Can you please not use text speak on the forums? I find it hard to read and i am sure i am not the only one.

I would contribute to the thread but it looks like Eric and Pete pretty much have it covered.

Alex

Edited 2 posts using F7

i remember one time when i was a kid (10 or 11) fishing in the tidal part of the river foyle under the new bridge with lob worms as bait i was catching nothing.
bored and experimental i put on nearly every bead i had in the box on, must have been about 25-30 beads in one big long string with a size 8 hook and lob worm. wanged it out and started catching flounder straight away and continued to do so for the rest of the session.
the foyle is a really dirty river so maybe it helped them find the bait.

its a memory thats stuck with me for 20 years cos the fish looked really ridiculous with a sting of beads nearly twice the length of its body hanging out of its mouth.

Ahhhhhh memories. would seem i was more prone to using madcap ideas when i was a kid. the older i get the more stuck in my ways i become.

Sorry Saving Private Brian, this is not good advice.

Just use size 1 hook on a 2 hook flapper

You use size 4s on a 3 hook flapper you will catch far more fish and also find it far easier to unhook them too.

Whether you use a grip lead or not should not affect your catching

It does, massively. There is a time and a place for a grip lead, dont get me wrong but in general selecting a lead that allows for your bait to slowly travel around your peg is key to increased success.

Another way of improving your catch rate is by adding spoons and beads 2 whatever rig you are using.

90% of the time they dont. Have you ever fished 2 traces side by side, a plain one and a decorated one? I feel most flats taken on massively blinged up rigs are caught in spite of this and not because of it. Indeed, one of the tactics to put (there is always the very odd occasion they do work, there are many many more they dont....) I'll put my money where my mouth is and put my plain traces (and have on many occasions in comps) against someone elses blinged up ones and 9 times out of 10 the plain ones will kick ass.


Not having a go mate but floundering is something that I (and Eric) do an awful lot of. They are a staple in daylight competitions.

BEADS, beads, beads and more beads in my view
bait- rag, lug and white rag, tipped with mackerel, bluey or squid
size 6-2 hook are best.

OMG D, did you just try to give some ADVICE?

its good replay from eric that says a lots and olso i have to agree with petekd as he said try behind first wave very close as i got same advice from him earlier this year and that works i cought flounders just few yards from shore, about the rigs im not to sure i'v cought good few flounders on boom flappers where 5inches of line covered with diferent red and green beads that mean 5inches of beads and your bait in the end of it well i was fishing on the very shalow waters those guys seems know theyr stuff

Short and sweet.......

Keep things simple, Its only as complicated as you make it.

if this is any help to ya. I use boom rigs with 6lb flourocarbon. some rigs have beads others dont. I also use 2 ways beads with long snoods with no beads and also beads. depends what the conditions are like on the day to be honest. I think the key is to have a rolling weight on your trace to find the flounders. But as others have said sometimes the rigs one day might not necessarly work the day after.
Best is to find a flounder Venue, tie various rigs and see which ones work. good luck and tight lines

Ok a year on and I am a bit wiser...

Just do what eric says..

I still sometimes use very light line but I have switched to heavier mono because it still works without the tangles...

It all depends on the day.. another tip is to watch what other people are catching on.. long snoods, beads / no beads, hook size, bait and then adapt your rigs to theres

stevie you obviously dont watch close enough mate!!!!!!!