Flounder

Platichthys flesus

Ireland's most common flatfish, found in Cork estuaries and sandy beaches. Youghal estuary is noted for specimen fish.

How to identify it

Flatfish with eyes on right side (usually). Rough spiny scales along lateral line and base of dorsal and anal fins. Brown upper side with dull orange spots. Can reverse colouration in some individuals.

How to catch it

Bottom Fishing Surf Fishing Lugworm Ragworm Peeler Crab

Where to find it in Cork

Clonakilty Estuary Garryvoe Garretstown Strand Monkstown Pier (De Wall)Youghal Ballycroneen Beach Ballydehob Harbour Ballynamona Beach Courtmacsherry Crookhaven Barley Cove Lower Aghada Pier Long Strand Owenahincha Strand Power Head Rosscarbery Pier Timoleague Estuary Trabolgan Strand Whitegate Bay

Rules

No rod licence for sea angling

The flounder is the most widely distributed flatfish in Irish inshore waters and one of the most accessible species for shore anglers around Cork. Uniquely among Irish flatfish, it moves freely into estuaries and tidal rivers, tolerating very low salinity levels and penetrating far inland along the tidal reaches of rivers such as the Blackwater at Youghal, the Lee, and the Bandon. This behaviour makes flounder available to anglers who might not have easy access to open beach marks.

On the open shore, flounder favour sandy beaches and mixed sandy-gravel ground, particularly where shellfish beds or soft bottom hold the worm populations on which they feed. In estuaries, they move with the tide onto shallow mudflats and sandbanks, feeding actively as the water floods over the ground. Sandy bays, estuary channels, and tidal rivers all produce fish.

The standard approach is a long-snood paternoster rig — two or three snoods of 18 to 24 inches, baited with lugworm, ragworm, or a cocktail of both, cast to the edge of a channel or across a flat. Flounder are not strong fighters and the bite is usually an unmistakable series of sharp tugs on a rod held in the hand or propped in a rest. Peeler crab produces larger-than-average fish on many marks, including in the estuaries.

The Youghal estuary on the Cork–Waterford border is particularly noted for specimen-class flounder in autumn, with fish exceeding the specimen weight of 1.5 lb taken regularly from October through December. Tidal state is important — the last two hours of the flood and the first of the ebb are usually the most productive periods.