If you want to target flatfish with surf lures, understanding the currents is essential

When targeting flatfish with surf lures, most anglers say that the best timing is from the first ebb tide to just before the high tide, or from the first ebb tide to just before the high tide, and it is said to be icing on the cake if this time coincides with the sunrise or sunset in the morning or evening.

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In my personal experience, the high tide period produced the worst fishing, the mid tide period the best, and the neap tide the next best. However, the differences in fishing conditions between high and low tide were difficult to discern clearly.

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I had been wondering why this difference existed, but I had not been able to find a clear answer. Then, I found a vague answer in a Japanese paper I recently discovered.

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This document was published in 1998, so it is quite old, but since it is unlikely that the habits of flounder have changed much since then, I will briefly introduce the contents of the document.

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The original title is  “Analysis of coastal behavior of flounder using biotelemetry” and a link is provided for your reference.

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One of the things I always emphasize in my writing, as someone who enjoys long-distance fishing and surf lure fishing more than the float fishing I have been doing for a long time,  is that even long-distance fishermen need to have a basic understanding of currents .

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However, many people only understand the high and low tides, and there is a lack of effort to understand the boundary points of the tides called tidal marks or other underwater topography caused by waves. I would like to emphasize once again that the difference in being able to read these changes in the sea and not is directly related to the difference in tides.

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Returning to the main topic, biotelemetry, as mentioned in the literature, is a research method that investigates ecology by remotely measuring data on behavior, physiology, and environment by attaching small transmitters to living organisms.

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This biotelemetry was attached to wild flounder caught by gillnet fishing and released five times. The results were announced. Although the reliability cannot be considered high due to the small number of flounder used in the experiment, I think that the research results are still meaningful in their own way.

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The water depths and weights and lengths of the flounders released from the 1st to the 5th time are as follows.

1st time: Depth 400m, Weight 1.5kg, Length 52.4cm

2nd time: Depth 70m, Weight 1.2kg, Length 48.9cm

3rd time: Depth 400m, Weight 1.0kg, Length 46.2cm

4 times: Depth 400m, Weight 1.1kg, Length 47.6m

5 times: Depth 400m, Weight 1.6kg, Length 53.5cm

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And the area where the release was carried out was Sagami Bay, not far from Tokyo, and the migration route of the flounder released from the first to the fifth time is as follows.

1st discharge

4th discharge

5th discharge

Although the number of experiments and the number of flounders used in the experiment were small,  it was  confirmed that the movement of flounders occurred in the same direction as the current flow in this experiment . As reported by the author of this document, “the direction of movement of flounders and the direction of the current were the same.”

However,  it is understandable that the fishing season is not good for flatfish that are 45cm long and weigh over 1kg, as they are swept away by the current at a speed of about 21cm per second, and travel long distances with the current.

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The report also shows that the flounder moved toward the nearby coast as soon as they were released.

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Therefore, if you want to target flatfish with surf lures, you must first understand the behavior of flatfish that travels with the current, and then understand the environment and seabed topography that flatfish thrive in. This is what I want to emphasize once again. This will greatly help you catch flatfish.

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Among them, the best place to catch fish was at the tidal point where the tides meet. I would like to conclude this article by saying that developing the ability to read the currents and changes of the sea is of great help.