KEY POINTS:
I must admit that during the summer holidays I'm so laid-back, rested and at peace with the world I really can't be bothered going out for a fishing fix.
On such a day I would look around at the bay where I'm anchored and wonder what
might be lurking underwater.
By taking the dinghy ashore at low tide you can have a closer look at the bottom, and its makeup will provide some idea of whether it's the sort of place to find flounder or whether a mullet net would be better.
The one thing I do every day when I'm on the boat is have a nana nap in the afternoon. Woe betide anyone who wakes me as it's the one time I can get scratchy and grumpy.
It does jar a little that nana naps are a waste of good fishing time. Yet it's sometimes hard to nod off when you should be fishing.
The answer is to set a flounder net so that while you are kipping you can also be catching a fish that I prefer to eat more than almost all other species. It's a bit like getting the double at the races.
Flounder are funny little critters. They're often found living in places you wouldn't normally think of looking.
When setting a flounder net in a bay, it's best to take a close look around at low tide first for a likely spot.
Often there will be a creek or small stream running into one end _ a good choice as flounder love munching the small bugs and insects being washed into the tide.
Some parts of a bay will be more muddy or have a layer of silt, which is where you'll also find small crabs which make up part of a flounder's diet.
Flounder will move in and out of the shallows with the rise and fall of the tide and can be found in water that is only a few centimetres deep.
The lapping of the waves in the shallows disturbs the bottom, exposing their food, so set your net close to the low tide mark to fish the rising tide.
Set it parallel to the shoreline rather than at a right angle, as flounder work their way into the shore rather than along it. Then it's off to bed.
But there's one more trick to ensure you get maximum flounder for dinner: go along the length of the net and "plonk" it.
Often the flounder will come up to the edge of the net, feel the rope and just lie there.
If you go down the length of the net and "plonk" the oar on the bottom you frighten the flounder up and over the rope and into the net.
So go on - be a plonker.
