ESTUARIES

FOR THE LOVE OF ESTUARIES

Overlooked by most people, estuaries are essential to sea angling. David Mitchell explains why they are so important and how they offer something for all types of anglers

For much of the population, estuaries are an irrelevance to their lives. Put simply, many people simply see these muddy, often smelly, landscapes as the point at which rivers empty into the sea, and that, quite honestly, is as far as it goes for them.

Others may associate estuaries with pollution and the heavy industry of ports, like the Mersey, the Humber or the ames. Whether it’s a tiny tidal creek or a mighty mouth of one of our biggest rivers, very few groups of people appreciate just how unique and how important estuaries are, and what role they play in our lives. However, there are some who do, and one of those groups is sea anglers.

FISH FACTORIES

For one thing, the creeks and intertidal mudfl ats of estuaries and saltmarshes are essential for providing habitat for the fry and juvenile fi sh of many species, such as bass, mullet, gilthead bream and fl ounder. Much of this habitat has been lost over the years leaving fewer places for the fry of these fi sh species to hide from predators, feed, and grow before heading into open water. Less available habitat leads to fewer fi sh. species of fi sh, the grey mullet, is a specialist in living in the brackish waters of estuaries and it’s anglers who have paid most interest in the presence, or absence, of these notoriously wily fi sh. If it wasn’t for anglers, and grey mullet were to disappear from Britain’s estuaries, would anyone else notice, or even care?

NURSERY GROUNDS

Many species, such as bass, use the open water of estuaries as nursery grounds where the juvenile fi sh shoal up and feed before heading into the open sea. Designated Bass Nursey Areas have been around for decades to protect juvenile bass for just this reason, and it was anglers who were instrumental in making this happen. Another

SUPERHIGHWAYS

Estuaries play a role in the life cycle of many fi sh species which migrate either from freshwater to the sea to spawn (such as salmon or seatrout) – or vice versa – (such as silver eels and sturgeon). Either way, as they travel along their watery breeding highway, their passage through the estuary is an essential part of completing their lifecycle. Netting, barriers (such as barrages), and pollution can all have an impact, something anglers know all too well.

GATEWAY INTO ANGLING

For many of you, the introduction to angling may very well have been catching an eel or a fl ounder from your local estuary. In all probability, the reason for this is their accessibility – both from the shore and boat –

and the fact you can fi sh them in conditions that would make other venues unfi shable. Many of these may have been in remote, picturesque locations; however, it often gets overlooked that for many anglers living in cities and urban locations, estuaries off er the only access to sea fi shing they might have. Despite all the industrial pollution poured into rivers like the Mersey, Tyne, ames and Humber over the years, anglers have always been able to walk to an accessible wharf, quayside or dock, drop a bait in the water, and catch fl ounders and silver eels, albeit heavily polluted ones! With many of these rivers being cleaned up the fi shing is steadily improving in many of these post-industrial urban estuaries. Now, with the advent of LRF fi shing, these estuarine marks off er even more opportunities for urban species hunting allowing generations of young people with no access to the coast the chance to get the sea fi shing bug.

BAIT

Let’s not forget just how important estuaries are as bait supermarkets for sea anglers. Ragworm are almost exclusively dug from the rich intertidal mud in creeks and estuaries. Peeler crabs are collected from tiles, pipes and tyres in the warm, shallow, waters of estuaries, while many anglers collect their own live sandeels from estuaries using either rakes or nets.

ENTRY LEVEL ESTUARY FISHING

FLOUNDER

Flounder can be caught in almost all estuaries, although there have been worrying declines in numbers along much of the south coast. Flattie rods designed to cast 1oz-3oz leads are ideal, paired with a light multiplier of fi xed spool reel loaded with 10lb-15lb line. Small, Aberdeen, hooks baited with worm or crab baits, using a two or three hook fl apper rig are all that’s needed. Wire booms can be helpful in keeping the bait nailed to the seabed. Baited spoons can be particularly eff ective (see pages 12-15).

BASS

While specimen bass are always present in estuaries – and many lure anglers now see estuaries as the best marks to target specimen bass – the vast majority of bass the average angler will encounter will be schoolies, many of which can be half a pound or less. As a result, your set up for fl ounders will be more than adequate for most of the bass you are likely to catch. Alternatively, a purpose-built bass rod with a bit more backbone is a better choice for any specimen fi sh. Peeler crab is the number one bait for bass in estuaries and are collected using the closely guarded pipes, tiles, and tyres you may often see on the mud.

If conditions, and water clarity, allow lures and fl ies of all descriptions can be used to target bass; however, sandeel or shad imitations often work well when fi sh are tuned into feeding on the shoals that come into the rich, warm, waters of the estuary during the summer and autumn. Chest waders are essential – and make sure you know the rules if it happens to be a Bass Nursery Area.

EELS

Much has been made of the decline of the silver (or European) eel, a species that makes its way through the UK’s estuaries to the Caribbean in order to spawn – surely one of the most remarkable migrations of any species, anywhere. While they aren’t present in anywhere near the numbers they were, plenty still get caught. Small hooks are essential as eels have very small mouths. Fish baits work best and fl apper rigs with short snoods will help prevent the inevitable tangles that result from a writhing eel on your hook! e European eel is protected by law and you must return them alive from the water they were caught.

The huge halibut on the scales

TRY SOMETHING MORE ADVANCED

GILTHEAD BREAM

e range of this Mediterranean species is expanding further around the UK but to catch giltheads consistently you need to fi sh the estuaries of Devon and Cornwall, such as the Helford River. Like bass, feeding giltheads can be caught using just about any method and any bait. Ledgering or fl oat fi shing is the most successful with crab, worm and live prawn baits working well. Giltheads are powerful fi sh and being an estuary specialist for all of its lifespan, you are just as likely to encounter a specimen fi sh as a juvenile. As a result, don’t go too light and miss the fi sh of a lifetime!

GREY MULLET

ick and thin-lipped mullet require diff erent approaches. Float fi shing or legering for thick lips using small hooks and bread for bait is the classic method. e challenge is in fi rst locating the fi sh, then using bread as ground bait in order to encourage the fi sh to feed. If you are lucky enough to have achieved these two challenges the third is to hook the fi sh and keep it hooked in its soft mouth. e fourth and fi nal challenge is to subdue the fi sh. Mullet are incredibly strong and have remarkable endurance. in-lips present similar challenges but are most reliably caught using a small lure, such as a Mepps spinner, with the hook tipped with a small harbour ragworm, or maddie.

SPECIALIST ANGLING

SEATROUT

Very few seatrout get caught by sea angler fi shing at sea in the UK. Why? I wish I knew! Travel to Denmark, Sweden, Norway, or even Ireland, and catching seatrout at sea is either a commonly accepted method of catching them, or a common bycatch of fi shing for other species, such as bass. ey are there, but very few get caught, or reported. ose few anglers who do catch them have specialised in using small fi sh or shrimp imitation lures with hooks smaller than those used for bass – although I know mullet anglers who have caught accidental seatrout on bread fl ake! Seatrout swim high in the water column and are only present in estuaries on their passage to, or back from, the sea before returning to their rivers to spawn. Try fi shing at night. Most seatrout caught by fl y anglers in the UK are caught in the darkness. Remember, if you are targeting seatrout in England or Wales you’ll need to be in possession of a valid rod licence.

THE ROYAL FISH

Sturgeon were once common in the UK’s rivers and estuaries until overfi shing, dams and pollution killed them off hundreds of year ago leading to them now being critically endangered and totally absent from UK waters – the last recorded native sturgeon was caught in the 1990s. An ancient law requires any sturgeon kept to be presented to the monarch, hence its nickname as the ‘Royal’ fi sh. Very occasionally anglers have caught sturgeon since then, but these tend to be ornamental fi sh – although how many more might be caught if anglers specifi cally targeted them is another question.

Like salmon, they are anadromous meaning they are born in freshwater, spend much of their lifecycle in saltwater, and return only to freshwater to spawn. A new project, the UK Sturgeon Alliance, has been set up to help reestablish sturgeon in UK waters, starting in the River Severn. It may take many decades but, one day, could the UK have sturgeon fi shing like anglers enjoy on the Pacifi c coast of Canada? Ten years ago, fi shing for bluefi n tuna off the coast of Devon was unthinkable but look where we are now.

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