THE ULTIMATE ANGLING BUCKET LIST

On the other hand, as sole are not that regularly caught on rod and line for reasons to be explained,
perhaps the chances of one of the others putting in a show might not be that great after all. Time will
tell. Otherwise, a long narrow bodied fish, which like the plaice and dab lies on the left side of its body,
having a rough almost dry feel to its skin when rubbed against the grain from tail to head.
The dorsal fin actually runs onto the head almost reaching the snout which is blunt and round, with a
tiny curved mouth set into it. Colouration is a deep greyish brown with darker blotches which tend to
fade after death, plus a conspicuous dark spot on the upper side pectoral fin.
Despite being widespread and common, sole are not a fish most anglers are ever going to catch, simply
because most people don't fish for them. Putting baits in the water where sole are known to hang out
just simply isn't enough.
There will always be the odd accidental encounter. In fact I had one myself very recently. The first sole
I've caught while dinghy fishing on my local patch in over forty years of catching other small flatfish
there. So if you want them then you need to deliberately fish for them, and frankly, you stand a much
better chance of doing that successfully from the shore.
Much of this has to do with the type of places where sole like to hang out and feed, which are often so
close in as to make boat fishing more trouble than it's worth, though casting back to the shore from a
kayak might be worth a go.
By day, sole tend to bury themselves in the bottom sediments showing little interest in food. You will
get exceptions to every rule like that one I had in bright sunny conditions off Cleveleys in 2014. But
look at the hundreds of hours of fishing time I've also put in there which didn't produce a sole.
Nocturnal feeding then is the first point to take onboard. The second is terminal presentation. Offerings
must be very firmly pinned to the bottom, which means short droppers and a good grip lead.
Baits must also be manageable, both in terms of size and the hooks they are presented on. Hooks in the
size four to six range stand the best chance, with a nice portion of worm threaded up over the shank on
to the snood. Forget bling. At night this counts for nothing.
The final point here is don't over cast. A short thirty to forty yard lob is all it takes, which is probably
easiest done with a fixed spool reel. Patience is the one big remaining ingredient, both for the bites, and
when reacting to them when they do come along.
Sole have small mouths and are slow methodical feeders, so don't be in any great hurry to set the hook.
Give a bite time to develop properly to be sure the hook is well inside the fish’s mouth before attempting
to drive the point home.
Sole are potentially found all around the British Isles, which isn't the same as saying they can be caught
all around the British Isles. Potential is one thing. You have to seek out and identify sole territory to be
in with a genuine shot.
Using my own patch up here in the north west as a working example, the River Mersey turns up a few,
often at the base of the walls. But I would be more inclined to fish the outer beaches say from Crosby
through to Ainsdale, which is a shallow fine sandy area sandwiched between the Mersey and the Ribble
Estuaries. There I've seen literally dozens of soles come up in the shrimp trawls towed by the shankers,
who drive tractors or purpose built wagons in to a few feet of water to work their nets.
The Thames estuary, the Humber, and the upper Bristol Channel all typify good sole country. But I
have to say that when it comes to widespread consistency, the south coast from the Isle of Wight
eastwards through Sussex on into Kent offers some of the very best and most consistent opportunities.
Particularly when fishing from sandy or shingle beaches after dark, grabbing the last couple of hours of
the flooding tide in calm settled conditions any time between May and November.
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