I’d been checking the catch reports for signs of plaice showing in North Wales but if any had been caught they were keeping it quiet.

The past nice spell of weather suggested to me that I was in with a chance and I decided on a short session up on the Dee Estuary. On the way I popped in to Alan’s Tackle on the Mostyn road and he also mentioned he’d not heard of any plaice yet. I picked up a couple of wraps of black lug and headed for the mark.

Although it was sunny there was a stiff easterly wind blowing with a real nip to it and white caps were whipping over the sea surface out in the main channel.

The sessions started off with a series of whiting up to about a half pound, these were taking the lug tipped with squid, but the fresh peeler baits were being ignored. I’ve found in the past that the plaice tend to hug the divide line between the boulders at the incline of the bank you fish from and the clean sand. It’s a case of risking some gear but putting your baits where the fish are.

Bang on low water I got the bite I was waiting for. I was fishing a slack line to keep the hooks tight on the seabed and watching for the bow in the line lifting to show the bite, which it did then fell slack. About 30 seconds later it lifted again and pulled the rod tip down a little. The fish was hooked and I lifted the rod to strike. The fish came a few feet then all went solid as the lead snagged. Instead of panicking I walked to the right to change the angle of the pull and luckily the fish came free. I smiled as I swung in a plaice weighing 1lb 1oz. It had taken the lug and ignored the crab which these early fish so often do.  

Mid March and the plaice are bang on time! It bodes well for an early start to the spring season, with an early bass my next target.