Barry Ord Clarke
 

Sand Eel (Tobis)

Step by Step

Trout feeding on sand eel   Three sand eel imitations:

One of the most common foods of salt water seatrout is the sand eel (Tobis). There are 5 common species of sand eel in europe, but the only one of real importance to the fly rodder is the lesser sand eel (Ammodytes tobianus ). Normally ranging in length from 5-20 cm, with a bluish green back, silver flanks and a white under body, the lesser sand eel can be found in shallow waters from sandy beaches to kelp forests. Although called an eel they are not as serpentine and flexible as true eels. They are agile swimmers,  known for their ability to burrow themselves several cm down into a sandy bottom at the first sign of danger, and  remain there throughout low water. Spawning occurs twice a year for the lesser sand eel, first in April-May and again in September-October.  The eggs are laid in small bunches which adhere to the sand. When hatched the young sand eels are planktonic and grow only 20-30mm the first year. Within suitable breeding areas this can result in dense concentrations of sand eels, which are favoured hunting grounds for larger sea trout. Fishing the sand eel is methodical, if there are no sea trout rising you must of course fish blind, for the most part in the top two metres of water.  As mentioned earlier the sea trout can come right in to land and therefore your first couple of casts should be just a few metres in length, slowly working out a little more line each cast.  A method I use is three or four casts of differing length and then move on one metre and repeat. It's very important that you keep on the move and don't remain in the same place for more than a few minutes.  The retrieve for the sand eel can vary as the natural can swim in short stiff jerky movements or long slow ones.  As a rule of thumb I fish it long and slow when conditions are cold and wet, then the sea trout are a little sluggish and won't chase, and with a quick, short retrieve when the water becomes warmer, and the fish are in top condition.  At the end of the retrieve when loading the rod for the next cast, try and keep a low profile as this is when you can get fish following for the take just as the fly speeds up, if they see you, they'll be gone. The chances are that you will encounter and land many other species before you catch a sea trout  Cod, coal fish and pollack all can give a good fight,  but that for me is all part of the salt water fly rodding experience. .