Plaice
Pleuronectes platessa · Flatfish
A right-eyed flatfish of sand, mud and shingle that moves inshore in spring and summer, sometimes into estuaries, and is a popular shore target.[1]
How to recognise it
When and where
- Season
- Mar–Sep[1]
- Found over
- sand, mud, shingle, estuary, gullies[1]
- Baits
- ragworm, lugworm, harbour ragworm, peeler crab, mussel, squid, mackerel strip[1]
- Tide
- Fish both the flood and the ebb; bites often pick up as the tide starts to run.[3]
- Light
- Daylight is best because plaice hunt by sight.[3]
Shore anglers mostly catch plaice from March to September, when they are inshore; early fish are often thin.[1]
Sources
- British Sea Fishing: Plaice
- Sea Angler: Know your flatfish species
- Sea Angler: On the chase for spring plaice
These notes are a draft: we gathered them from the sources above and are still checking them. We don't work out best times for this fish yet. The size rules come from the same checked byelaws as every other fish.