14th - The still elusive Flounder

Calm seas and a dredger at Shoreham West arm

With the previous client session still on my mind, poking partner Graham and myself went for a poke on the Shoreham West arm. At some point in the next few weeks, the flounder gather at the mouth of the river in a spawning ritual, before slipping away again. The timing is unpredictable, one day the fishing can be poor, the next a dozen big flounders is on the cards. And the fishing only lasts two or three weeks, by which time, spawning ritual complete, they disperse back to wence they came. So we thought we would check to see if they were feeling fruity yet, epsecially as the clearer seas mean an end to the ravages of daylight whiting.

Doh!!

The rockling are beginning to haunt me now. All usefull practices, as these chaps can win matches in late Jan and early feb. But I wish they would leave me alone when seeking flounder.

Grahams not immune either

With the tide dropping away, and only rockling nodding the rod tips, we decided to relocate to look for a plae that held no rockling, but where we might expect to find the flounder on their way down the river to the mouth.

The Adur just upriver of the harbour

The spot we relocated to gave good access to the main channel, with no ropes or mooring snags, and some lovely sloppy mud that we hoped the flounders would come and investigate as the tide flooded once again.

Basslet invasion

We had made a good call with the location regarding the rockling as they were nowhere to be seen. But as the tide flooded and the last of the light left the sky, it was a succession of basslets that kept the rods nodding every cast.

Graham, with perhaps the biggest fish of the session

With the air temperatures really dropping fast, and no sign of the elusive flounder, we called it quits and headed off, determined to hunt once more for the flounder in the morning. I think the spot we fished has huge potential on the ebb tide, as with the quay sides offering slack water on a fierce ebb, it would be a natural place for a flounder to lay up and allow the food to come to it. One marked down for a daylight top of the tide session down in the future!!