Fantastic Flounder, Flatties Under Your Feet

River Alt, Merseyside

Almost every angler who’s been sea fishing for a while will have caught a few Flounder in his or her day but there are still people out there that rate this fish as hard to find. Once you’ve figured out where they are – catching them is relatively straight forward and doesn’t require any special tackle although if you fish with a the lightest set up you can get away with these usually overlooked flat predators can put up a fait fight that during the spring months will put a smile on any anglers face.

Living in the North West we have a few areas that are very well known for Flounder fishing – probably the most well known is Arnside in Cumbria which lies where the River Kent enters the North East of Morecambe Bay. With ample parking along the promenade the best fishing is about a couple of hundred meters to the left of the car park. Fish here as the tide floods but be very careful as the tide is very, very quick so be prepared to move backwards as it comes in.

Almost on my doorstep is the Ribble Estuary at Lytham, Lancashire. The best fishing I’ve had here has been a couple of hours either side of low water but to get to the mark involves a bit of a trek through some mud so a lot of people fish the area at high water from the safety of the embankment. Again – once the tides start to come in keep an eye out behind you for gulleys filling in and if in doubt move. The mud is very sticky and it would be easy to get stuck as the tide comes in. The area we fish is at the bottom of Fairlawn Road, Lytham.

River Douglas at low tide

Going up the River Ribble (if you were in a boat that is) the large tributary to the right is the River Douglas. This really is almost on my doorstep and I do a lot of walking along the River Douglas. During the spring and summer I have had some very pleasant days sat on the river bank, casting ragworm into this river and snaring some nice plump Flounder. The easiest way to get to the river is to drive down Guide Road in Hesketh Bank and take one of the many small tracks to the right – all of which go to the river. For those of you interested in small boat fishing – if you’re in the area Douglas Marine, the manufacturers of the Predator 165 are based on the River Douglas so you could do a spot of fishing then have a look at some boats.

Flounder from the River Alt

Coming south along the coast, past Formby where Kev got some Bass last year you arrive at the River Alt at Hightown, Merseyside. This is one of our favorite Flounder marks, easy to get to, very close range fishing and a nice sandy beach (if you don’t stand in the mud at low tide). Park along Riverside then walk towards the yatch club (large gate on the West side of the road) – go left past the club and the river is over the dunes. If you walk left for a while you come to a bend in the river – fish just after this bend into the river.

We always fish this from low water up to high, the best sessions always seem to coincide with an early morning start but that’s probably because we’re mad and just like an excuse to fish somewhere easy and have a sausage fry up for breakfast. Here are a couple of reports from a while back regarding the River Alt; one form the end of April using lug as bait and one from June, a BLAS match using crab as bait.

The tackle we use is just the normal beach fishing gear unless it’s within the rivers (Alt or Douglas) in which case I use my light shore / Bass rod as I’m not casting far, as light a lead as I can get away with – usually about 3oz for close in work and that old favorite – a flapper rig armed with 2 size 1 fine wire hooks.

Bait can be almost anything from lugworms to chunks of Mackeral but during the spring the Flounder will be gorging themselves on the moulting crabs, or peelers as anglers call them, and during the latter part of April, May and in to June you’d be hard pressed to find a better bait for Flounder than half a peeler on each hook.

So there you have it, a few Flounder hot spots in the North West. Keep your tackle as light as you can get away with and go out and snare a few ‘bin lids’. You’ll be suprised how much fun can be had flattie bashing…

Welcome To The Year 2007

Looking out to the Three Peaks

The new years is here and over on the west coast of the UK it arrived in some style, with winds gusting up to 70 mph. Where does the time go? We had every intention of going on a few fell walking trips as well as doing a lot more sea fishing over the Christmas break but before we knew it, it was time to go back to work.

It doesn’t look like we’re going to have any snow this winter either – we’ve not even had frost in lowland Lancashire so just to remind everyone what snow is the above picture was taken in March last year when we went walking over Fairsnape and Parlick.

Wendy and Millsy (and Shacky) at the River Alt

Our promise to ourselves this year is to do more sea fishing, fell walking and birding and – if possible – to be out in the countryside even more than last year. A tall order but we’re willing to give it our best shot!

As well as the usual we’ll be going on another bank holiday Bass quest to Anglesey at the beginning of May and for a change we’re going to Devon for our summer break, we’re already looking forward to that and it’s still half a year away! I’ve even bought an OS map of the area.

So here’s wishing you all a happy and prosperous new year, Stuart.

River Alt, Merseyside – BLAS Match, June 11th

River Alt, Merseyside

An easy days fishing on a blazing hot day – fantastic.

After collecting some great bait – peeler crabs from Chris at Moreton Angling Centre ( on the Wirral) on Saturday morning Wendy was fired up to defend the estuary cup as she’d already won leg one earlier in the year at Fort Perch Rock. The River Alt is a beautiful place, especially when the weather is so good and seems almost like it’s own little world sometimes.

Flounder from the River Alt

The fishing was hard and not at all as good as expected – well at least for me, Millsy and Shacky but for Wendy it was another storming session.

Fish after fish came to her where as I could only manage one even though I was fishing no more than about 10 feet away, using the same bait and rigs and almost casting in the same spot.

Amongst the flounder the dreaded eels made a show with some of them being a very good size. Wendy had one which must have been a good 2.5 pounds and almost as thick as my wrist. The final results were Wendy 1st followed by Millsy, Shacky and myself bringing up the rear.

We also saw a couple of Shelducks with chicks swimming in the distance but unfortunately they were to far away for the camera to pick up.

As we were packing up a couple more people turned up who were new to sea fishing so we gave them a couple of pointers on fishing where we had just been and the last couple of crabs, everyone is a beginner at first and it doesn’t take long to pass on a few tips to people new to angling.

River Alt Estuary – Flounder Fishing

River Alt Flounder for Me

Finally finished laying the floor in the downstairs bathroom on Saturday so treated myself by leaving Wendy in bed and getting down to the River Alt Estuary at Hightown, between Formby and Crosby, at 6.45am where I met a few mates for an easy light rod session catching Flounder. The weather was great although the fishing was very slow and we only managed a total of 4 fish before the tide went out too far.

The bait we’d usually use at this venue would have been fresh peeler crab but as the spring has been so cold the crabs are late in shedding their old shells so we made do with frozen black lug tipped with small pieces of mackeral. The rigs we used were 2 hook fixed paternosters with size 1 fine wire aberdeen match hooks. You use fine wire hooks as the Flounder tend to swallow the bait and these are easier to remove without injuring the fish so they can be released.