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FISH GUIDE · Sea

European plaice: identification, habitat and fishing guide

Pleuronectes platessa

Search for plaice with a worm close to soft bottom during a short, controlled drift. Keep the rig’s behaviour readable and compare the features of every flatfish.

Catalogue names : Carrelet, Plie. Forms and names may vary between habitats.

Editorial review : · This species guide is not permission to fish. Read the precautions below and check the current rules for your location before targeting a species. Some species or populations are protected.

Geographical distribution

Found in the Northeast Atlantic, English Channel and North Sea, with a range described from Scandinavia to Morocco; DORIS also records the western Mediterranean, where it is much rarer.

  • Documented presence : Northeast Atlantic
  • Documented presence : North Sea
  • Documented presence : English Channel
  • Documented presence : Western Mediterranean

Documented areas, not an exhaustive list. Presence in a region does not imply presence in every water body or permission to fish.

Distribution sources

Identification

Pleuronectes platessa often has visible orange spots and a row of bony bumps behind the eyes. Its lateral line is only slightly curved. Flounder instead have tubercles along the fin bases; dab have a more pronounced curve. Young plaice may lack obvious spots: compare several criteria.

Habitat

It lives on sand, detrital bottoms and other soft substrates, sometimes in brackish estuaries. To begin, look for an area from which you can retrieve the rig and whose bottom type you know. From a boat, a short drift over sand makes the rig easier to read. From a beach, an accessible gutter may be more useful to test than an uncontrolled long cast.

Diet

Polychaete worms and bivalve molluscs; larger fish also eat crustaceans, brittle stars and small fish, among other prey.

Behaviour

Plaice can hide partly in the sediment and eat worms and molluscs, among other food. Their presence on the bottom does not mean they will take any motionless bait. In the suggested approach, compare a settled presentation with slow movement, then keep the setting that lets you read bites without constantly ploughing the substrate.

Indicative biological size

Around 40 cm common total length according to FishBase; not a legal size limit.

Fishing context and precautions

  1. Locate a permitted soft-bottomed area and plan a short drift without obstructing navigation. Keep someone attentive to operating the boat. Put pliers and a landing net within reach, then choose a rod whose tip lets you follow the weight used.
  2. Prepare a terminal-weight rig with a low hook snood, free enough for the worm to work near the bottom. Connect the rig with a swivel and check that the snood is clear. Start without extra accessories so you can identify the cause of any tangle.
  3. Lower the weight, establish contact and follow the drift with the rod held low. The rig should move slowly without sticking or rising far from the bottom. If the line angles strongly, retrieve and restart a more controlled pass rather than leaving it trailing behind.
  4. At a bite, take up tension progressively and wind in steadily. Receive the plaice in the landing net, then check its identity. Next, check the bait and rig. Repeat a comparable drift or adjust only the weight to understand what changes.

A distinctive feature

It sometimes hides in sediment with only its eyes showing.

Sources and review

Each reference includes its access date. Overall editorial review: . Local conditions and regulations may change.

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