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Common and scientific names
Tacaud commun, Barraud, Gade, Guidon, Guitan moulek, Officier, Plouse, Poule de mer
Trisopterus luscus (Linné, 1758)
Morphology
The pout is a rounded gadfly with a flattened, fairly high body. It has a chin barbel. Its upper jaw is prominent. Its coloring is cinnamon on the back, yellowish on the flanks and white on the belly. There are four or five broad, dark-brown vertical stripes on the pout's body.
Fishing spots
Young individuals roam in shoals on the bottom of port areas (quays, dykes, channels) and nearby beaches. As adults, they live in shoals in rocky areas and on wrecks. They live at depths of between 5 and 300 m in the North Sea, English Channel and Atlantic.
Fishing techniques
They feed on numerous worms, shellfish, crustaceans, cephalopod parts and fish. They also like plants. We look for them mainly on land, using 2 or 3 stacks containing a piece of worm or shellfish. From the shore, dikes are the best spots, and from boats, they can be found on wrecks. Pout bite mainly at slack water, in the absence of current. They sometimes take soft lures and spoons intended for noble fish such as sea bass.
Reproduction
Pout reach sexual maturity at 19 cm. They reproduce in March-April, laying up to 400,000 eggs.
Size and weight
- Legal catch size (legal minimum) none
- Size at sexual maturity: 19 cm
- Average size: 10 to 20 cm
- Maximum size: 46 cm (2.5 kg)
- French record: 915 g (Boulogne-sur-Mer, 10/10/2011)
Good to know
Young pout live in harbor areas where they find easy food, especially in the docks of professional fishermen when they are cleaning their nets.
