Seeing as there are daffodils everywhere and spring has well-and-truly sprung, I thought it would be fun to do a couple of posts about everyone’s favourite ‘spring’ species: plaice. I’ve tried to avoid covering the same kind of ground that most articles plough over, such as their general biology, behaviour and habitat preferences. That kind of information is freely available on the web and in books/magazines. I’ve mainly concentrated on a few of my ideas about fishing for them and how those thoughts came to me.
March is an odd month for the shore angler. Looking back on the last few years’ fishing, it has been the least productive month for me by some way. February has the tail end of the winter fishing and April has the spring season kicking into gear but March usually has little to say for itself. It’s like the transitional month, where the winter species taper off and there’s a little lag before the first of the spring fish start to show in any strength. This March has been no different for me. Despite there still being pockets of codling to be caught, I haven’t been out much, more just waiting around for a spell of calmer weather so I could get out and test the water on my home coastline.
Typically for this time of year, my brain is full of plaice. I’m a big fan of plaice fishing almost to the point where I could probably fish for nothing but plaice and still be reasonably happy in my angling. It’s not just the fish themselves that do it for me (although plaice are stunning creatures), it’s the fishing itself. I enjoy the tactical aspect of it, picking the right lead to get the rig moving nicely, experimenting with baits to see which one (or combination) the fish want on the day etc. I think this kind of fishing offers the angler a great opportunity to develop their individuality and do some original thinking and experimentation to find what works for them.
Cornish plaice tend to come in smaller sizes these days. Although people who have fished a good deal longer than I have remember when a 3-4lb plaice was a realistic target off the shore, in these current times it is much less so. A plaice of 1.8+ is a nice fish down here and the average size at most marks is considerably smaller than that. A 2lb+ plaice from the Cornish shore is an excellent fish and a catch to be proud of. Despite their size, I find that even small plaice are a pretty game fish when hooked, characteristically staying deep and making spirited efforts to dive into any rough ground.
My preoccupation with plaice first came into being a few years ago when I began seeking them in earnest. Luckily, that year was a good one for numbers and I caught a lot of them, to the point where my tactics and thinking became pretty lazy and automatic. My entire approach revolved around crab baits on loop rigs cast as far as possible. This is not a bad general tactic at all, but I don’t think it is the complete answer by any means. I also used plenty of coloured beads as standard, believing that this was the factor that differentiated a ‘plaice’ rig from an ordinary one. The one thing that I think I got dead right in this period (and what I believe helped my success rate no end) was using plain leads pretty much exclusively. I was particularly fond of the Breakaway flat impact lead and used it a good 90% of the time.
After catching so many in that first year, the next season was a bit of a shock to the system as the open shore marks where I had gotten used to finding the fish were almost entirely barren of them. It was then that I started visiting the Camel estuary in search of my plaice fishing fix, with some success. I found that I could catch them every time, although the numbers per session were not great. I also began experimenting with rigs a little more, abandoning my ultra-long loop rigs as first choices in favour of less tangle-prone options. Baits came under review also, as sometimes worm baits seemed to pick a plaice out when crab went untouched. Rigs still carried beads as standard.
Last year started very poorly for me on the plaice front, I think through spring I caught a single plaice. I quickly abandoned the quest for them in favour of other species but it remained a sore point for me. Around August time, I heard of good numbers of plaice showing from an estuary mark that I knew and already liked to fish. I quickly headed over there and caught a good number of small plaice and repeated sessions gave much the same results. I was delighted to be catching so many plaice after such a barren year for them but itched to catch some better ones.
In late September I decided to focus on a local mark that I knew had plenty of form for good plaice. I already knew the spot well and was happy that it mostly went overlooked for daytime fishing come the latter part of the year. I also came up with a rig that I hoped would make it as likely as possible that I would locate and get a bite from any plaice resident. This tactic paid off and I caught several good fish from the mark in a series of sessions. I also tried my revised tactics on a session in the Camel estuary and succeeded there too, catching a couple more decent fish.
This short spell of success taught me a few things but there were two major lessons that I came away with; the first was that variation in bait preference was a much more key factor than I had considered it to be before. Plaice are responsive to a variety of baits, worms, shellfish, even fish baits, but are most commonly fished for with worms or crab. Part of my realisation was that there are worms, and then there are worms. I am now completely convinced of the benefits of having at least a couple of types of worms in the bait box before going on a serious plaice session, preferably as fresh and healthy as possible. I’ve also found it a good idea to carry some worms in less than good order, plaice sometimes seem to be quite fond of manky rag or black lug in particular. If I can get some white ragworm into the mix, then I’m an even happier man. Plaice, like many species, seem to be suckers for these.
The second lesson was that understanding what is happening out there in the water in terms of the tide is critical to consistent results. Plaice generally seem to be most inclined to take baits at specific points in the tide cycle, usually these windows occur as the tide begins to run or begins to slacken. The exact nature of these windows are that the tidal current is still in evidence, but it is some way lesser in strength than peak run. At the mark I fished, the window was between 1 and 2 hours before high water on a spring tide. As soon as the lines started to tighten a little with the tide picking up, I knew that my best chance of a bite was coming. Once I realised this, it made me understand why it was that I generally caught plaice in small flurries, often with long periods of inactivity either side of them.
Understanding these changes in current and what effect they have on the fishing helped me to begin to figure out how I could best approach different marks too. Generally, the marks that I seem to consistently do well at for plaice have lateral tide run. Using the right lead and letting out a bow of line, I can use these currents to drag my end gear across the bottom. To some extent, I can control the pace by changing leads. Knowing how strong the current is at different stages on different tide sizes lets me guess when I need to be thinking about changing size or shape of my lead to keep the drifting pace that I want. This sounds much more technical than it really is, the majority of anglers would probably find themselves doing it naturally after their gear went skidding downtide much faster than they anticipated, but knowing the mark and pre-empting the change saves a wasted cast and possibly a missed opportunity.
There are times when other factors affect this tactic to greater or lesser degrees, wind being the chief player. Some spots I’ve fished for plaice do not have lateral tide run or seemingly negligible tidal movement altogether and I’ve tended to find myself doing quite well in stronger winds that act on the line and move the end tackle for me. If conditions are calm, manually moving the bait by reeling in a few turns every couple of minutes can definitely help. Given the opportunity though, I would always prefer to use the tide to create the movement as it is easy and natural.
Coming up in part 2... more stuff!!
March is an odd month for the shore angler. Looking back on the last few years’ fishing, it has been the least productive month for me by some way. February has the tail end of the winter fishing and April has the spring season kicking into gear but March usually has little to say for itself. It’s like the transitional month, where the winter species taper off and there’s a little lag before the first of the spring fish start to show in any strength. This March has been no different for me. Despite there still being pockets of codling to be caught, I haven’t been out much, more just waiting around for a spell of calmer weather so I could get out and test the water on my home coastline.
Typically for this time of year, my brain is full of plaice. I’m a big fan of plaice fishing almost to the point where I could probably fish for nothing but plaice and still be reasonably happy in my angling. It’s not just the fish themselves that do it for me (although plaice are stunning creatures), it’s the fishing itself. I enjoy the tactical aspect of it, picking the right lead to get the rig moving nicely, experimenting with baits to see which one (or combination) the fish want on the day etc. I think this kind of fishing offers the angler a great opportunity to develop their individuality and do some original thinking and experimentation to find what works for them.
Cornish plaice tend to come in smaller sizes these days. Although people who have fished a good deal longer than I have remember when a 3-4lb plaice was a realistic target off the shore, in these current times it is much less so. A plaice of 1.8+ is a nice fish down here and the average size at most marks is considerably smaller than that. A 2lb+ plaice from the Cornish shore is an excellent fish and a catch to be proud of. Despite their size, I find that even small plaice are a pretty game fish when hooked, characteristically staying deep and making spirited efforts to dive into any rough ground.
My preoccupation with plaice first came into being a few years ago when I began seeking them in earnest. Luckily, that year was a good one for numbers and I caught a lot of them, to the point where my tactics and thinking became pretty lazy and automatic. My entire approach revolved around crab baits on loop rigs cast as far as possible. This is not a bad general tactic at all, but I don’t think it is the complete answer by any means. I also used plenty of coloured beads as standard, believing that this was the factor that differentiated a ‘plaice’ rig from an ordinary one. The one thing that I think I got dead right in this period (and what I believe helped my success rate no end) was using plain leads pretty much exclusively. I was particularly fond of the Breakaway flat impact lead and used it a good 90% of the time.
After catching so many in that first year, the next season was a bit of a shock to the system as the open shore marks where I had gotten used to finding the fish were almost entirely barren of them. It was then that I started visiting the Camel estuary in search of my plaice fishing fix, with some success. I found that I could catch them every time, although the numbers per session were not great. I also began experimenting with rigs a little more, abandoning my ultra-long loop rigs as first choices in favour of less tangle-prone options. Baits came under review also, as sometimes worm baits seemed to pick a plaice out when crab went untouched. Rigs still carried beads as standard.
Last year started very poorly for me on the plaice front, I think through spring I caught a single plaice. I quickly abandoned the quest for them in favour of other species but it remained a sore point for me. Around August time, I heard of good numbers of plaice showing from an estuary mark that I knew and already liked to fish. I quickly headed over there and caught a good number of small plaice and repeated sessions gave much the same results. I was delighted to be catching so many plaice after such a barren year for them but itched to catch some better ones.
In late September I decided to focus on a local mark that I knew had plenty of form for good plaice. I already knew the spot well and was happy that it mostly went overlooked for daytime fishing come the latter part of the year. I also came up with a rig that I hoped would make it as likely as possible that I would locate and get a bite from any plaice resident. This tactic paid off and I caught several good fish from the mark in a series of sessions. I also tried my revised tactics on a session in the Camel estuary and succeeded there too, catching a couple more decent fish.
This short spell of success taught me a few things but there were two major lessons that I came away with; the first was that variation in bait preference was a much more key factor than I had considered it to be before. Plaice are responsive to a variety of baits, worms, shellfish, even fish baits, but are most commonly fished for with worms or crab. Part of my realisation was that there are worms, and then there are worms. I am now completely convinced of the benefits of having at least a couple of types of worms in the bait box before going on a serious plaice session, preferably as fresh and healthy as possible. I’ve also found it a good idea to carry some worms in less than good order, plaice sometimes seem to be quite fond of manky rag or black lug in particular. If I can get some white ragworm into the mix, then I’m an even happier man. Plaice, like many species, seem to be suckers for these.
The second lesson was that understanding what is happening out there in the water in terms of the tide is critical to consistent results. Plaice generally seem to be most inclined to take baits at specific points in the tide cycle, usually these windows occur as the tide begins to run or begins to slacken. The exact nature of these windows are that the tidal current is still in evidence, but it is some way lesser in strength than peak run. At the mark I fished, the window was between 1 and 2 hours before high water on a spring tide. As soon as the lines started to tighten a little with the tide picking up, I knew that my best chance of a bite was coming. Once I realised this, it made me understand why it was that I generally caught plaice in small flurries, often with long periods of inactivity either side of them.
Understanding these changes in current and what effect they have on the fishing helped me to begin to figure out how I could best approach different marks too. Generally, the marks that I seem to consistently do well at for plaice have lateral tide run. Using the right lead and letting out a bow of line, I can use these currents to drag my end gear across the bottom. To some extent, I can control the pace by changing leads. Knowing how strong the current is at different stages on different tide sizes lets me guess when I need to be thinking about changing size or shape of my lead to keep the drifting pace that I want. This sounds much more technical than it really is, the majority of anglers would probably find themselves doing it naturally after their gear went skidding downtide much faster than they anticipated, but knowing the mark and pre-empting the change saves a wasted cast and possibly a missed opportunity.
There are times when other factors affect this tactic to greater or lesser degrees, wind being the chief player. Some spots I’ve fished for plaice do not have lateral tide run or seemingly negligible tidal movement altogether and I’ve tended to find myself doing quite well in stronger winds that act on the line and move the end tackle for me. If conditions are calm, manually moving the bait by reeling in a few turns every couple of minutes can definitely help. Given the opportunity though, I would always prefer to use the tide to create the movement as it is easy and natural.
Coming up in part 2... more stuff!!