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If the mark you are fishing offers just such a population, then it may be wise to experiment and see if you can reach them with conventional leger tackle instead of a clipped down rig like the one illustrated on the last page. The advantages of this are twofold. One, that the fish can pick up the bait and run a little way without feeling the weight, giving you more time to strike, and two, that you can load up the hook with a substantial bait, thereby increasing your chances of tempting a larger fish.
Basically, you need to test the water and see what you find. For myself I like to go down with two beachcasters, one which I blast out as far as I can with a clipped down rig, the other equipped with a standard running leger which I put out with an overhead thump, thereby fishing it at much closer range. If one rod then starts outfishing the other, then I will switch both rods to whichever is the most successful tactic.
When a plaice takes your bait, it will be unusual for it to give a really solid thump. Most of the time you will just get a rattle on your rod tip, followed by little or no movement as the fish sits on the rest of your bait. Not always, of course, for at times a bigger fish will make a good run, but on the whole the bites are not hugely exciting.
There are, of course, exceptions. I remember one misty morning, at Hopes Nose in Torbay, when I had gone down to the water for an early start at 6.00 a.m. I was there, quite calmly watching the end of my rod, when a chap wandered over for a chat. We talked for a while and then, quite suddenly, the nearest rod gave a screech of the ratchet, the line emptying from the spool very quickly. The angler, whose name I didn’t even know, whipped up my rod, struck – to my, cough, cough, - great delight and proceeded to reel in at least twenty yards of line, only then realising that he had committed, at the least, a rather large gaffe! He sheepishly handed me the rod and backed off, rather quickly, as I brought a large, beautifully conditioned, specimen plaice in the rest of the way.
What a pity I could not weigh it in, since the rules of the club I was in prohibited any assistance – however undesired and unnecessary – in striking and landing any fish! Oh well, it was only the biggest I had ever landed from shore!
