Flatfish / Long shallow beaches

Ok, i'm mostly talking about Ballyholme beach [Bangor, Co Down] here. I only live 10 mins walk from it. I see it as pretty much a decent place to practice beach fishing [and fishing in general!] but as i'm such a rubbish caster [80-100 yards maybe], i'm wondering whether it's really worthwhile in actually targetting flatties? Would they generally come in with the tide to a relatively short casting range or do they prefer slightly deeper water? I'd like to start targetting them as i've only ever caught one and that was when i was like 8! [and that was unintentional]... All advice taken on board, cheers.

With dusk/darkness and a bit of surf, all you need to hit is the back of the furthest wave. Often only a few yards out so well within your reach. 3 hook flapper, 5oz gripper, size 4 hooks, lug tipped with squid or mackerel belly. Sorted.

Many times, when wading on shallow surf beaches I've seen them kicking up off the sand when disturbed and hammering off, times in water of only a foot or 2 deep. When it gets dark, you will find them in as close as 15-20 metres or so. I recall a post from somebody a while back who fishing a rising tide had a baited rig hanging off his tripod, when he went to move it back out of the water there was a flattie hanging off it.... :shock: They can be incredibly close in!

This ain't no surf beach lads! pity :lol:

I was talking to Bruce Vaughan the other day and he had been talked to Michael Viney who lives down the road and does the piece in the Irish Times. Michael sets a night line once in a blue moon during the summer on a local very shallow long wide beach. In the first night, after wading up to his thighs at low water stting the line, he pulls out nothing but dogfish. Quelle surprise! But here is the interesting bit, on the second night because he learned to set the line the second night, he pulls out flounder, plaice, turbot and wait for it, a 7 lb cod! :shock:

and I mean this beach is really shallow and in the middle of summer!If it was anyone other than Michael Viney, I'd take it for twaddle...

FWIW

well Livid to be honset i have niver fished that beach and i dont relly know anything about it. i know that on cushendun beach its like kinda leged and it would go out say 10 ft and then drop 3 or 4 ft and then go for another 10ft or so and drop another 3 or 4 ft so you dont need to go out masave distance like and were it drops of is were the plaice flunder and dab hang out becuse that is a place that holds food and means that they can just chill out i mean i have had place 2-3lb at only 20-30 yards out some times even less as for rigs just a simple wishbone pulley rig is what i use and i put tons and tons of beads big ones small ones and spinning blades mustad make some good ones if you can get a watch type lead 3 or 4 oz is fine and any old paint you have in your shed like white and red or something like that paint your lead half and half flat fish are very nosey when your lead is on the bottem and is siting for 5 to 6 minets then just give your reel a turn or two to make a cloud of sand any flat fish that are close will go over and have a look as i told you nosey little buggers they love color and shiney things i hope this helps you and if you get it i think this months total sea fishing has a page or two about fishing for flat fish tight lines Merv :)

cheers merv, some good advice which i'll take into account. As for rigs, well i'm a beginner in most aspects of sea angling still and would mostly tie and use 2/3 hook flappers and nothing else yet, i've been thinking about making a wishbone rig recently but most articles on it etc seem to indicate they are mostly used for plaice, are they as successful for other flatties aswell?

i find they are mate do you know how to make a pulley rig if so then its just a case of geting line 15lb or whatever you use pass it throw the swivel and make the line say 3ft half of that is 18 inch so you have 2 bits of line that are 18 inch put one bead on each of the lines thats 2 beads and one crimp on eatch and say 3 inch up from the swivel and crimp simple if you cant make a pulley rig just say and i will take some pics and tell you how to do it step by step :)

i find they are mate do you know how to make a pulley rig if so then its just a case of geting line 15lb or whatever you use pass it throw the swivel and make the line say 3ft half of that is 18 inch so you have 2 bits of line that are 18 inch put one bead on each of the lines thats 2 beads and one crimp on eatch and say 3 inch up from the swivel and crimp simple if you cant make a pulley rig just say and i will take some pics and tell you how to do it step by step :)

Thanks again merv, i've never made a pulley rig before, i'm pretty sure i have instructions on making one somewhere, i'll maybe try and give it a go over the weekend and let you know how i get on.

Hi Livid, get in touch with the Gemini guys and ask for a brochure, they're usually in all the sea fishing mags. In the back there is all the rigs you might ever need with the diagrams and measurements to go along side. Makes making rigs easy.

Maybe I am wrong ( I was wrong once in my life) but I think at one stage in Kats strand and some other beach in wexford that using a second rig or baiting a second rig to have ready in competition was banned as some fish were caught on the rig that was suspended in the water while the angler was wading. This would have been back in the 70s so many of you would be too young to remember.

Pat as far as I'm aware you can have a 2nd trace baited and ready to go but not attached in any way to a rod either the one you are using (obviously) or a spare rod incase of crackoffs. The second trace is normally hung from the rod rest. I've seen fish caught on the 2nd trace that is on the rod rest also, usually small flounder, although if they were big enough they still wouldn't be counted in a comp.

i've seen bass pulled out of ballymacoda (cork) that were in less than two feet of water on a bright sunny day, ive also seen conger of 20lb pulled out of six feet of water on a sunny day. when i first saw the conger i thought it was weed i had no conger gear with me as i was fishing for wrasse but a mate got it using some shock leader he had with him and a lump of wrasse as bait.

if it aint surf beach and has little tide affecting it try really light leads and rigs - perhaps 30lb body and 10lb 2-3ft snoods, all clear or flurocarbon, light rod, size 4 hooks, and small worm baits tipped with very small slivers of mackerel, if there are flounder there they should take it, no matter what size they are