Portrane Beach 20.09.2020

When: 20/09/2020
Where: Portrane Beach
Who: Myself and my uncle Ken
Duration: 10:30-16:00
High Water: 14:02
Equipment: 15ft beachcaster with 9000 reel & 11ft bass rod with 4000 reel, bite detection bells.
Bait/Lures: 1/0 flapper on the 11ft rod, 3/0 pulley on the 15ft rod. I had a selection of bait today including ragworm, black lugworm, peeler crab, razorfish, mussel, mackerel & squid. Tried all different kinds of cocktails!
Conditions: Overcast, a bit chilly and a good surf.
Result: 1 Plaice

We were supposed to be taking part in a boat competition today but it was cancelled due to the swell so we hit Portrane beach instead. I was eager to test out my first ever black lug I pumped a few days ago so I threw on the fattest worm I had and tipped it off with a bit of salted mussel, literally had the line in the water no more than 10 minutes and I got a nice big jingle on the bells, reeled in a nice little plaice which is a first for me so I was delighted! That was it though for the next 5 or so hours and Ken didn't catch anything! Another lad fishing the other side of me caught a bass and another man way down the beach caught 2 bass so there was decent fishing going on!

You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.

Few more pics!

You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.

Congrats on the plaice!

Nice setup Gonzo.even 4 cans of coke on the bench.

Good that it was fishable after all the onshore winds. Any size to the bass the others got?Mainly small schoolies caught there from what I've seen but the odd decent one now and again.

Rag seems to work best around there and Donabate for the bass by the way. Flats seem to take most baits.

Congrats on the plaice!

Cheers mate!

Nice setup Gonzo.even 4 cans of coke on the bench.

Cheers haha ah you can't go wrong with a bit of coke and chocolate!

Good that it was fishable after all the onshore winds. Any size to the bass the others got?Mainly small schoolies caught there from what I've seen but the odd decent one now and again.

Rag seems to work best around there and Donabate for the bass by the way. Flats seem to take most baits.

Yeah there was about an hour were the weed was an issue but as the tide turned things got much better! I think the lad that caught the 2 bass had some decent ones because he packed up after the second one and said he was going home for dinner after only being there an hour The bass I saw caught was only a schoolie of less than a lb but the guy was just happy he didn't blank as he was down to his last few worms

Nice stuff man well done! Your plaice is actually a flounder unfortunately! But still nice to see them!

Nice stuff man well done! Your plaice is actually a flounder unfortunately! But still nice to see them!

Are you sure? He had big orange spots on his back but can't see it too well in the pic, he was flapping about when I was trying to get his coloured side

Good work Gonzo, glad to see ya catching! Did ya ever go back to Loughshinny? I grew up there and never caught anything of the pier, but probably only tried a handful of times!

Good work Gonzo, glad to see ya catching! Did ya ever go back to Loughshinny? I grew up there and never caught anything of the pier, but probably only tried a handful of times!

Cheers Sharky, I was only up in Loughshinny there last week fishing for squid but haven't been back since, just waiting for a day with good clear water and maybe even full moon before trying there again for squid! Someone did tell me recently you can get codling off the pier but not sure how much truth there is to that but might give it a try over the winter

Absolutely sure man! Plaice have much brighter spots. You will often catch flounder with orange spots though! Sorry man!

Absolutely sure man! Plaice have much brighter spots. You will often catch flounder with orange spots though! Sorry man!

Dang oh well I'll get a plaice some day! pity I can't edit the OP though..

Best way to differentiate between a plaice and a flounder is to rub your finger along the lateral line from tail to head.
Smooth all the way = Plaice
Rough towards the head = flounder

If the entire back is rough (not just along the lateral line) when rubbed from tail to head, it's a dab