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Finishing off a flatfish?

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ben

Well-Known Member
Apr 26, 2005
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Ok, so iv shot a flatfish...a flounder, place or turbot, its on the spear and ready to be killed. How and where exactly do i use my knife? I just want a quick easy dispatch......preferably just one spike or cut.....

How do you guys go about it?
 
ben said:
Ok, so iv shot a flatfish...a flounder, place or turbot, its on the spear and ready to be killed. How and where exactly do i use my knife? I just want a quick easy dispatch......preferably just one spike or cut.....

How do you guys go about it?
Click to expand...

Personally I would recommend you only catch them with a knife, slipped directly behind the eyes, but if you must spear them and then dispose of them make a spinal cut just behind the gill covers, quick and effective on all types of flatfish.
 
You can stab a flatfish between the eyes, you can smack it with a 4lb lump hammer, you can gut it and/or fillet it alive, but in my experience non of these will lead to its quick demise. The only way to kill a flatfish is to completely sever the spinal chord just behind the head. For this you need a sharp knife and a very steady hand, especially if you are trying to do this on the surface while treading water.

Almost all flatfishers that I know of don't kill their catch at sea. They just spike them and thread them on a stringer. Gruesome but practical. Unless it's over 20lb (you should be so lucky) they don't even wriggle very much.

If you were on SCUBA and could work on the bottom or a freediver who could reach a nearby rock or climb into a boat then you could maybe do some humane finishing off. However for most people this is not the usual practice and trying to severe the spine of a slippery flatty is going lead to injury to you not the fish.

Most round fish, bass, mullet, pollack etc are easily dispatched using a knife or sharp stringer but much as I'd like to say the same for flats I can't.

If your conscience really troubles you maybe you gotta try to finish them off but personally I'm okay with the pragmatic approach.

Dave
 
Reactions: Mr. X
Thanks Dave......

Thats the basic conclusion i had come to!!!!
I know you like stealthing in the shallows too so im sure you can appreciate that a flatty making the occasional half hearted dives to the bottom and wrapping in weed can be a problem. Im also not to keen on having a distressed fish trailing along off my float as i continue to fish......what message is it silently sending to those bass????

Having said that, last year i experienced a wierd sensation from my float line, i thought i had hooked up some weed in the swelly conditions so i gave the float a sharp tug.....the sensation briefly stopped and then started again. I decided that the flatty on the float was still alive and diving for the bottom so drew the float towards me to check and give it another stab! The water wasnt clear and my float line was about 10m long, but as the float drew near i could make out a nice big grey shape tugging at the flatties tail!. As i reached for the gun and pulled the float a little closer....just into range the Bass reacted to the danger and promptly left!!!!! How gutted was i......

Still it got me thinking about lures and groundbaiting.....something else to contemplate for this summer eh!
 
Hi Ben

I've never had that experience although I have been bitten myself by a few fish, all of which I admit I had speared first.

There is a story in David Ways book (printed in the 70's?) about a spearo having a large angler fish grab a plaice attached to the spearo's belt while he was swimming along just off the bottom. Not sure if that's good or bad. Catching a big tasty angler is good but being caught unawares by one of those big toothy mothers could cause some alarm, as in "Oh Shit"! :martial .

Good huntin' (keep prodding)

Dave
 
I've had a similar experience. I had a few nice flatties and a sheepshead on my belt while diving the local jetty. Vis was 5-7' and I was doing an aspetto between 2 rocks at 25'...the flounder which were previously dead begin kicking about and driving the sheepshead's spines into my rear, not wanting to spook the drum in front of me I restrain from swatting at my stringer, the drum spook as if they were shot out of a cannon...???...so I take the opportunity pull on my stringer, then I realize something is pulling back. I flinch pretty good and scare the $#!t out of the perpetrator only to get hammered by the tail of a fleeing 5-6' shark! I nearly crapped myself...he must have been there for a bit, all of the fish but one were mangled a bit. We got a kick out of it after the fact, but I am quite glad that this guy had the table manners of a Debutant.

Matt
 
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Reactions: Old Man Dave
I usually keep a surface to air missile clipped to my float just for these kinds of fishing trips.
 
and i thought rednecks were only found in the states!:blackeye
 
I have not had the best of luck with a knife. I Put the ball of my palm on the flat fishes belly just under the gills and the other hand push under the chin and push upwards. When you feel a crack its all over.

If there are sharks around then don t tie fish to your ass/ groin.
 
Reactions: Mr. X
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