Common smoothhound
Mustelus mustelus · Sharks and dogfish
Also called hound
A hard-fighting inshore shark that crunches crabs. Most UK smoothhounds are actually starry smoothhounds, which are caught from sandy beaches and gullies in summer.[1]
How to recognise it
- Plain grey to grey-brown on the back and white below, with no white spots. The second dorsal fin is much larger than the anal fin.[2]
- Starry smoothhound usually has small white spots in rows on its flanks, but they can be faint or missing, so spots alone can mislead.[3]
- The two are often confused and genetic tests are the most reliable way to tell them apart. Starry smoothhound has a larger lower tail lobe.[1]
- Teeth are flat and crushing, not pointed like a tope's. The second dorsal is big, unlike a tope's small one.[3]
When and where
- Season
- Jun–Sep[4]
- Found over
- sand, mixed ground[5]
- Baits
- peeler crab, hard crab, squid, ragworm, lugworm, sandeel, mackerel[5]
- Tide
- On one Lincolnshire beach the size of the tide and time of day did not matter, and the fish came mainly on the flood in some years and the ebb in others.[4]
Best from June to September, when the water is calm and warm; the first small fish arrive in April.[4]
Sources
- Planet Sea Fishing: Starry smoothhound
- Shark Trust: Common Smoothhound
- Shark Trust: Starry Smoothhound
- Sea Angler: Top beach tips for catching smoothhounds
- Sea Angler: When and how to catch big smoothhounds
These notes are a draft: we gathered them from the sources above and are still checking them. We don't work out best times for this fish yet. The size rules come from the same checked byelaws as every other fish.