Flounder on the Fly. Red Bay. 2011 Targets complete !!!

People: me. (with 60+ fishermen fishing a comp over my shoulder..)

Duration: 1.5hours

Tide: comin in

Weather: sunny and breezy. with thunder and lightning on the horizon over Scotland

Bait: none

Rigs: fly flishing

Report:
it was a long time coming but i finally tried in earnest to try and catch a flattie on the fly.
think i got him on about the 3rd cast... after which i thought that it was going to be easy to catch many more... wrong, it was the only one i managed.
caught using a sinking line with a teal blue and silver squirrel tail varient (correct me if im wrong Cathal, - you tied it last night!! )
not a big fish but a healthy wee flounder. he put up a fun little fight towards the end, and he swam back none the worse.
very happy
so thats all the targets hit for the year!!!! happy days. really enjoyed it!!! ive had a great year.

hmm, still havent hit the target number of different species tho...

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Absolutely brilliant Charlie, lovely photo, 'Squirrel, blue and silver' with a tiny bit of blue crystal hair in the wing.
I knew it was a good mainstay pattern for both river and sea and there is hardly a fish that cant be caught on it but thats the first flounder Ive ever seen caught on it.

First class Charlie, you deserved that going out today, I just had to take a big saucepan of hot water to the car windscreen to go out, about an hour ago.

Great stuff, congratulations.

nice fishing and nice looking fly.

I've definitely gotta try a bit of swff next year.

Did you use a floating or a sinking line?

I've heard of flatties being caught on a sinking line, short leader and Booby type flies or some sort of weighted usd shrimp pattern. A GRHE should work too.

I had a few flounder and dabs off the pier there on the float. Good crack and not so many deep hooked.

congrads charlie
that one was a while coming mate. fair play to ya for sticking at it

congratulations, nice way to start bringing the year to a close

Excellent result,kept meaning to try for a few flounder on soft plastics,must give it a bash soon

awesome achievement, well done.

Can see this catchINg on,excuse the pun,,,,nice bit of angling mate

Excellent man...

Great stuff Sir

Well done mate!! But you know what this means don't you for next year....ya have to set the bar higher hmmm lets see Bass on the fly??

Absolutely brilliant Charlie, lovely photo, 'Squirrel, blue and silver' with a tiny bit of blue crystal hair in the wing.
I knew it was a good mainstay pattern for both river and sea and there is hardly a fish that cant be caught on it but thats the first flounder Ive ever seen caught on it.

First class Charlie, you deserved that going out today, I just had to take a big saucepan of hot water to the car windscreen to go out, about an hour ago.

Great stuff, congratulations.

cheers Cathal

nice fishing and nice looking fly.

I've definitely gotta try a bit of swff next year.

Did you use a floating or a sinking line?

I've heard of flatties being caught on a sinking line, short leader and Booby type flies or some sort of weighted usd shrimp pattern. A GRHE should work too.

I had a few flounder and dabs off the pier there on the float. Good crack and not so many deep hooked.

cheers nobuzz. yeah, i caught it using a fast sinking line. it would be the only way to go i reckon unless fishing in shallow water with a sinking tip or something. i reckon i could have been casting out to maybe up to 4-5feet depth of water
and yeah, i had a few boobies in the box and considered using them. the problem using normal flies as opposed to boobies is that they drag along the bottom. this means that the bottom has to be free of weed or whatever, otherwise there will obviously be a lot of snagging. it needs to be pure sand/mud or whatever. i can definitely see the attraction of using boobies on the bottom!
i believe these fish would have a go at anything and hairs ear nymphs would undoubtedly be great too - they would mimic the wee shrimp they feed on.
what about ragworm patterns...?

congrads charlie
that one was a while coming mate. fair play to ya for sticking at it

cheers Al. would love to get a few bigger ones mind...... or a turbot on the fly

congratulations, nice way to start bringing the year to a close

my thoughts exactly mate. thanks

Excellent result,kept meaning to try for a few flounder on soft plastics,must give it a bash soon

you should defo have a go at it mate. i know a few guys that target them successfully on small meps spinners too. good luck

awesome achievement, well done.

cheers dave. was pretty chuffed to finally manage it

Can see this catchINg on,excuse the pun,,,,nice bit of angling mate

cheers. i believe fly fishing for flatties is not a novel idea MONKEYwrasse. ive heard theres a whole effort behind the concept and many flies have been designed to be used to target flatties.
i reckon the only main challenge is to get amongst the fish... as we all know, we are limited to the distance we can cast with a fly rod (unless you maybe try and use the flow of a tide too..) and so it is obviously necessary to be in an area where there are plenty right in close to you. i would love to know a real hot spot for flatties in close - so that i could target them with the fly properly. (PMs welcome! )

Excellent man...

cheers Drew

Great stuff Sir

cheers boss

Top class! Well done on hitting those targets.

Cathalger wrote;- First class Charlie, you deserved that going out today, I just had to take a big saucepan of hot water to the car windscreen to go out, about an hour ago.
That's a great way to crack a windscreen! Stick to cold water, slower but safer and cheaper!

Cathalger wrote;- First class Charlie, you deserved that going out today, I just had to take a big saucepan of hot water to the car windscreen to go out, about an hour ago.
That's a great way to crack a windscreen! Stick to cold water, slower but safer and cheaper!

I understand Johnwest, I should have said tepid water and I applied it in wee splashes at a time, what I really need to do is get a can or 2 of deicer!!! It was a build up of sleet which had frozen pretty solid. Tonight is every bit as cold, I was out there a wee while ago givin the mutt a bit of excersize on Waterfoot beach. I saw a van parked down there as I got near the beach and I wondered was there someone out fishing, alas I couldnt see an angler or any lights. Youd need to be pretty keen to be out there tonight, its totally arctic out there. I didnt stay long! No one on the pier either, its just too cold tonight and the wind is unbearably cold. My fingers feel numb even thinking about it!

Top class! Well done on hitting those targets.

cheers Sweetwrasse

Problem with using a ragworm fly pattern would be that it'd be too big for 99% of the flatties on that beach.

I reckon a size 12 GRHE would be perfect to imitate the wee shrimps & sandhoppers.

congratulations on accomplishing what you set out too. its good to see people sticking at targets that are out of the ordinary.

i know a few very shallow turbot marks and i think this would be great for getting one on a sandeel pattern.

thanks for the bit of inspiration to try something new

dave

Well done mate!! But you know what this means don't you for next year....ya have to set the bar higher hmmm lets see Bass on the fly??

indeed Creep. when i headed down to Cork earlier in the year i was intending to target bass mainly on the fly. but i fished with guys that preferred soft plastics, lures and bait... and so i did likewise. i willl defo get one on the fly some day!

Problem with using a ragworm fly pattern would be that it'd be too big for 99% of the flatties on that beach.
I reckon a size 12 GRHE would be perfect to imitate the wee shrimps & sandhoppers.

hmmm, so what about just a little ragworm pattern..? say about 2 or 3 inches long and not too thick. id say that that could be the go. oh yeah, and with a wee hook hangin out the tail of it
couldnt agree more about the shrimp/sandhopper patterns tho. there plenty of freshwater shrimp patterns that look exactly like those wee sandhoppers.. and that i have in the fly box.

congratulations on accomplishing what you set out too. its good to see people sticking at targets that are out of the ordinary.
i know a few very shallow turbot marks and i think this would be great for getting one on a sandeel pattern.
thanks for the bit of inspiration to try something new
dave

cheers dave. now that would be great if i could manage one of those on the fly. class fish
i intend to devise and tie a few sandeel patterns over the winter!

thanks for the responses lads

Its the small things in life that can make us the happiest. Well done.