Favourite flounder rig

[pete]

Whats your preferred rig for targetting flounders? You know like what strenght of snood line would you use, or what length of snoods would you normally fish? Beads or no beads? Floating beads? How many snoods? I'm going to sit down and make a batch of flounder rigs but its been that long since I fished them I'm almost unsure which design to run with. I'd be interested to see what current theory on flounder rigs is out there!

Pete

[DAMIEN]

hi



for my flounder rigs i use a 3 up flapper 15lb snoods a bout 1ft long and 3or4 beads and an attractor blade on each one.i use this rig all the time.

[kieran]

For myself....

2 up 1 down with a watch lead to stir up the bottom on a stepped retrieve, also referred to a twitching. Beads and sequins should be in matched pairs (patterns, i.e. two red, two white, two green) with an attractor blade on the final piece. Tie a bit of mushy mackerel into the whole in the watch lead with some shirring elastic for extra scent, and a spray of WD40 never helps if there are dogfish around (unless you do not want them).

I always leave the top 2 hooks undecorated as you will often pick up species like rockling which seem to avoid the beads etc. Whiting and Coalfish like the extra bits and bobs too, although if you were after only flounder then I would put everything bar the attractor blade on the top 2 as well. Clean ground.

FWIW

[stevecrow74]

hullo , i use a running ledger with 6 beads, 3 each side of a small attractor blade( taken from a spinner ) on an 8 inch snood with a 2/0 or 1/0 hook,

(if anyone finds one like this on fanore beach IT'S MINE)

using strips of mackerel usually garauntees me flounder and squid gets me turbot, worms usually plaice ,,, but some times not in that order

[liamd]

but one thing u will find is that plaice never take fish bait. i bet some smart alec will come on now and say that they have but thats the general rule

[plaicy]

have to disagree.... if i had to choose just a couple of baits for plaice, good quality sandeels would be right up there. also baits tipped with squid can be deadly as well

[liamd]

i agree on the squid, and maybe u might get the odd few on sandeel but unless its flounder r turbot ur after and if u have to chosse plaice baits i would have to say lug, crab, shelfish would out fish either mack r sandeel!!!1 thats setting myself up for a fall now isnt it!!!!

[pete]

Thats interesting about the spinner blades. Just thread them on or are you all using clevis clips to allow them spin? Whilst on the subject does anybody know where you can buy clevis links for the blades? I can't find them anywhere.

I like the watchleads alright, I've outfished the mates whilst after flats from the boat while using the watch.

Anybody experimenting with really long and light snoods for flounder? I'd say most of the snoods I'm using are about a foot aswell although I did make a few rigs with an up and over link and tension which allowed me to fish a snood of 3 feet. Didn't make any difference though in the catch rate.

Pete

[lampoon]

like any other fish theres no hard rules to what baits plaice take. - it all depends on the area, for example if you fish the north beach for plaice you'll find that mussel is the most consistant bait with rag and mussel taking the bigger fish - big rag and mussel baits on a 2/0 pennell.

Regarding flounder i use a 3hook flapper with long snoods, i dont go over board on the beads but as kieran says its important to match colours.
at the top of cahore beach at the rocks is a lethal spot for flounders and the odd turbot using lug and mackeral close in - good fish too.

plaice do take fish in some areas - theres an area where a lot of the forum lads fish regularly that holds huge plaice (still) and they will only consistently fall for 1 bait - sprats, they can also be tepmted by small sections of sandeel and slivers of the underside of the mackeral. Why do they take these because thats the food in the area not because the sea angler mag says that lug rag and crab are the best plaice baits. match the bait with the venue.

[stevecrow74]

about spinner blades have 3 beads each side and just thread through..
a swivel each end and then a few inches af snood... quite simple really

[m.b3]

fishing with the snoods up the line gives more movement to the bait and can sometimes make a huge difference to catches. a long rig body also helps you spread the hookbaits apart and is useful for searching out fish/ covering more ground. using a plain lead that roles slowly in the tide can add to this approach and a moving bait can encourage a fish to take the bait.

snoods are usually 2 foot long, lenghten or shorten to suit venue, tide, sea conditions and the like. i have used them effectively up to 4' long in the past. i use 15lb. amnsia as standard but i am sure others have their own preferences. it is light but stands up to crabs mauling the baits. you can also lighten snoods when fishing clean beaches, going as light as 8lb. in clear seas. hook sizes are usually size 6's up to 1's, depending on bait being used.

the attractor blades Damien mentioned can be excellent on their day and are definately worth a shot. they are cheap and effective. strongly recommended. fish them between beads as mentioned (i prefer the smaller ones). also, try slowly retrieving your rig to encourage bites. you can also twich your mainline to cause your baits to rise and fall in the tide to encourage bites when things are tough.

hope this is of help. cheers and happy hunting!

[pete]

M.b3, Steve, Damien, Kieran, Lampoon,
Thanks for the tips lads. I think I may well reduce the snood strength down to about 15lb or thereabouts, had tied up a few with 25lb which may be overdoing it a little. Excellent idea that one about using the links on the ends of the booms to allow quick changing of the snoods, very clever. Just bought a rake of those attractors blades last week so there going to get used!

Thanks
Pete

[m.b3]

forgot to mention the good old flounder spoon. important to remember not to retrieve the spoon against the current, so you will have to pick your spot right.