East Coast Flounder
We had a plan, we stuck to it and for once, everything fell nicely into place. The plan was to explore some new locations on the east coast, an area I know little about in terms of angling opportunities. We new the area had potential, and were aware of it’s reputation for producing some great Cod fishing. However, for this session the Cod took a back seat and we were in search of perhaps one of the most underrated of our salt water species.
The many beaches of the east coast, in this instance East Lothian provide the perfect environment for Flatfish. Plaice, Dab, Turbot and, our most likely target, Flounders can all be found, although some more than others, on most of our surf beaches.
Some research, as always, was carried out and regular checks of the weather forecast showed that Storm Brendan still had a little puff left him. Strong- Gale force S –SE winds were predicted and the likelihood for rough seas were high.
Most beaches fish best with a good surf running. However there is a fine line between some nice breakers and an unfishable maelstrom of foam and weed. Therefore a relative amount of cover was opted for and a north facing beach just outside North Berwick was the chosen mark for the day.
On arrival, this decision initially looked to be a ill-judged one as the sea, albeit dark and moody, had very little wave action and little if any surf. Nonetheless we set about what we were there for and began to fish the very first of the flood tide.
Within 20 minutes there was a solid rattle of the rod tip followed by a huge slack line. When contact was finally made, the fish had come right in close on the increasing surf; this was no Flounder. A flash of silver in the waves instantly resulted in a call of “Bass!” Unfortunately it wasn’t and what did appear on the sand was instead, a small Sea Trout.
Another hour passed with nothing to show and thoughts started to turn to whether or not we had chosen the right beach. However, now with a good sea running, our doubts were eased with a simultaneous double hook up resulting in 4 Flounders on the beach.
For the remainder of the flood the surf continued to increase and the fish continued to come, with some to very respectable sizes. With the fishing improving, thoughts started to turn to what else may be feeding in the waves and hopes of a Turbot started to rise. It again, wasn’t to be and Turbot are still a species I’ve still to meet.
At the weekend our east coast adventure continues with a trip to Eyemouth in the hunt for and east coast specialism.
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