Flat fish preperation.

[Bushmaster]

Now I have done the normal stuff with trout etc but I have never prepared a flat fish. A friend of mine told me the innards are all located elsewhere.:o): lol Or so he thought .anyone got any advice please.
Geoff

[Tantalus]

lolol @ elsewhere

yes the innards are at one side of the fish

actually what you think of as top and bottom sides of a flatfish are not really top and bottom :shock:

with a little careful prodding you can find the gut cavity

now place this on the bottom so that the fish is sticking up in the air and you may be able to see that top and bottom are in fact left and right sides

one eye actually migrates across the fishes head as it develops so that both eyes end up on the "upper" surface

and what appear to be left and right fins are actually upper and lower fins

there are some amazing pics of this developing, let me see if i can find any

Tant

[Bushmaster]

Up down, left right, my spacial awareness has just gone tilt:shock: lol.
I will wait for a picture mate.Thanks for the reply.
Geoff

[Tantalus]

it is a slow download but worth the wait

http://www.ciwemb.edu/labs/schreiber/FlatfishMetamorph.mov

at first it looks like a normal fish fry

and you can watch it change into a flatfish

no this is not some kind of april fool honest

Tant

[Bushmaster]

Cheers mate,I will have to look at it later as my daughter is home from school and is msm messengering the entire planet.:yikes: and I thought it was my computer.
LOL:lol: Geoff

[tenbears10]

I really don't think that much of flat fish it just seems to be full of bones to me. I suppose I wouldn't turn down a freshly caught one if there was nothing else. Just IMO.

Bill

[Bushmaster]

Thanks tenbears,I was thinking about skate in particular as they are meant to be quite nice.
Geoff

[Bushmaster]

Nope.Tant I can not get the bloomin link to run.I get about 3 seconds and then nothing.

Geoff:banghead:

Thanks anyway mate.

[Tony]

Hi Guys, I've just put up ( in the gallery) a few flat fish pics that might be useful :wink: http://www.bushcraftuk.net/photopost/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=5

They're like this one...http://www.bushcraftuk.net/photopost/data/500/5DSCF0041.JPG

A good day with the spear!

http://www.bushcraftuk.net/photopost/data/512/5DSCF0032.JPG

[Paganwolf]

Nice ! :biggthump explain the technique Tone :wink:

[gillmacca]

And where you did this. I have never been able to catch that many fish in a day

[den]

Wow what a catch.


Tell us more Tone
:chill:

[Bushmaster]

Wow thanks Tony:You_Rock_
Geoff

[hootchi]

Nice ! :biggthump explain the technique Tone :wink:
Can you explain the spearing technique aswell. Is it a spear gun or a standard spear? I cant make it out in the picture. :biggthump

[Tantalus]

a few metamorphosis pics here if that helps, but i couldn't find any sequences :(

http://www.ciwemb.edu/labs/schreiber/homepage/feature.html

Tant

[Tony]

I’m not going to say where I go for my fishing as I promised the guy that showed me I wouldn’t.

The way these fish were caught was to wade up the estuary towards the river mouth. You need to have bare feet as you trap the fish under them and you would not be able to feel them if you had any shoes on. Once they’re pinned you can reach down and pick them up if possible or you can let the spear point (doesn’t have to be all that sharp) slide between your toes and skewer the fish.

Sometimes when you tread on a fish you get shrugged off as they can be quite powerful creatures, other times you pin one under a foot and the sand is shifting and your leg gets locked straight and you can’t bend down to get it!! Sometimes the water is really clear and you can see them feeding, the last time I went it was bad weather and everything was by feel.

The spear in the picture is just a length of metal rod. You could make one out of natural materials, the key would be to keep the diameter of it as minimal as possible.

I have to say though that unless you know what you’re doing and what to look out for it can be a deadly dangerous thing to do. Fast flowing water, quicksand and tides that came in faster than you can run…Oh, and the fish can cut you up as well!

Easting freshly caught fish, sitting in a cave, in a cliff face, looking out to sea while you talk with your mates….that’s what it’s about :biggthump

[hootchi]

I’m not going to say where I go for my fishing
Ah, a true fisherman thats what i like to hear.
Thanks Tone

[stuart f]

If your gonna try this with bare feet remember about Weever fish,these fish have got a nasty habit of burying themselves into the sand with their dorsal fin sticking out,the spines on the dorsal fin of this fish carries poison which can inflict a rather painful wound when trodden on,it is said that even when dead the spines can still sting. So do be careful.

[Tantalus]

any useful tips on how to avoid weever fish stuart?

apart from steel toe capped wellies :shock:

which would prolly make flounder fishing quite difficult anyway

Tant

[stuart f]

Hi Tant apart from wearing footwear i really don,t know any other way to avoid them,i tend just to fish for flatties,you dont need anything to fancy for flatties,a small telescopic rod is fine with a 1 ounce weight,hooks should be size1 Aberdeen pattern as they have a nice long shank to aid unhooking, just give a gentle cast into the surf and the bait will roll around covering alot of ground thus giving the bait some life,Flatties love movement and nail the bait with great zeal.As for bait i usually use lug worm cut up into small lenghts,remember the old saying big baits catch only big fish where as small baits catch all sizes of fish,so you don,t need alot of worms as a little will go a long way.

Sorry if this is no help whatsoever.

[arctic hobo]

No, there's no way to avoid the weever fish except shoes or looking carefully (rather impractical). We had a lady who got anaphylactic shock from a weever fish - very scary. Company policy (sailing school) is to take anyone stung by one to hospital - it can be nasty.
Those fish look great Tony - wish we could get 'em round here.

[Burnt Ash]

I really don't think that much of flat fish it just seems to be full of bones to me. I suppose I wouldn't turn down a freshly caught one if there was nothing else. Just IMO.

Bill

You are joking? What about Dover sole; turbot?

BTW, Bushmaster, skate might be flat, but they're not flat fish in the fishmonger/culinary sense. They're rays. Which brings me onto another potential hazard for the merry barefoot wader: stingrays!

Burnt Ash

[falling rain]

Hi Tant apart from wearing footwear i really don,t know any other way to avoid them,i tend just to fish for flatties,you dont need anything to fancy for flatties,a small telescopic rod is fine with a 1 ounce weight,hooks should be size1 Aberdeen pattern as they have a nice long shank to aid unhooking, just give a gentle cast into the surf and the bait will roll around covering alot of ground thus giving the bait some life,Flatties love movement and nail the bait with great zeal.As for bait i usually use lug worm cut up into small lenghts,remember the old saying big baits catch only big fish where as small baits catch all sizes of fish,so you don,t need alot of worms as a little will go a long way.

Sorry if this is no help whatsoever.

You can also add a few coloured beads on the trace just above the hook which help attract plaice and flounder.
http://www.fishing.co.uk/article.php3?id=1956
I'm off to Dartmoor this weekend and plan a day at the Exe estuary to try some static line fishing for flatties. I'll let you know how I get on. When beachcasting I always sling out a hand line into a channel or pool with ragworm and a couple or 3 traces and usually end up with a couple of flounder on the handline at the end of the session. Don't use ragworm that are a greeny sort of colour as these are spawning and will taint the rest of the bait making them unatractive to fish.
Weever are indeed a nasty customer to get stung by. And ugly looking things too http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/BMLSS/weever2.htm I've never been stung by one, but holiday makers who sea fish once a year and don't know the species regularly get caught out by them when fishing. It is apparently very painful. I've caught loads from the pier when fishing and the best way to deal with them is to gently place your foot on the head whilst extracting the hook and then gently flick them back into the sea with your foot. I havn't spear fished bare foot myself but I always wear an old pair of plimsoles when swimming exactly for the reason already mentioned to avoid treading on weever. Quite fancy a go at the spear fishing for flatties though. Another one on the list.
By the way (off topic I know but)a few people wanted to know about the lid for the crusader I made. The first one was from some steel I bought at B&Q which wasn't stainless DOH !! :shock: So Mark II was from a budget mess tin from Cadet Direct. I've had it for a while but think it was about a fiver. Turn cup upside down,Trace around the lip of the cup onto some hard board, cut out shape of wood (this is your template) Place the wood shape onto the tin and add on 10mm for the lip of the lid and cut out. Place tin on wooden template and drill into the center and fix with a screw. Hammer down edges around shape and that's it. Making a few cuts along the lip (10mm edge) makes it easier to tap down. If you don't understand this send me a pm. I'm trying to rush this as my lunch break is nearly up.
Cheers :wave:

[den]

Weever are indeed a nasty customer to get stung by. And ugly looking things too I've never been stung by one, but holiday makers who sea fish once a year and don't know the species regularly get caught out by them when fishing. It is apparently very painful. I've caught loads from the pier when fishing and the best way to deal with them is to gently place your foot on the head whilst extracting the hook and then gently flick them back into the sea with your foot. I havn't spear fished bare foot myself but I always wear an old pair of plimsoles when swimming exactly for the reason already mentioned to avoid treading on weever. Quite fancy a go at the spear fishing for flatties though. Another one on the list.
:wave:


I catch a few every year. Last year I got a whopper but I’m not even 100% sure it was one. This one had a very long spine on his back and was much bigger than any others I have caught. Any shouts on what it could be would be great.
It's what I like about sea fishing/potting. You don’t always know what you are going to get and you are pretty free to try what you want without breaking the law,unlike on land.

[falling rain]

Not sure Den, it could have just been a very large Weever. Look at the picture on the link I posted. :wave:

[den]

No cant find him. I’ll have to find the disc with the pic.

Reading that link reminded me of last year with a friend who’s sadly past away last month. Anyway we’ve been out on the boat all day when we decided to pull up on the beach for a bit of a break and a swim. My friend pulled up some sea weed from the shallows and chucked it at me like you do. So I picked some up and chucked it back and so on. After a couple of minutes both of us were covered in red marks which really began to sting quite badly. The sea weed we have been chucking were covered in sea enemies I didn’t even know they stung until then.
I always learn the hard way unluckily
Luckily for me my friend was a lot worse than me and Months down the road he still had scars from where he was stun

[Burnt Ash]

I catch a few every year. Last year I got a whopper but I’m not even 100% sure it was one. This one had a very long spine on his back and was much bigger than any others I have caught. Any shouts on what it could be would be great.
It's what I like about sea fishing/potting. You don’t always know what you are going to get and you are pretty free to try what you want without breaking the law,unlike on land.

There are two species: Lesser and Greater Weever -both venomous. The Greater Weever can weigh up to 3lb. As far as I know, the Lesser Weever is the more common of the two.

Burnt Ash