Herring

Clupeid harangues

Distinguishing features

The herring is a narrow bodied fish with large, easily detached scales on the body. It has a prominent lower jaw and the dorsal fin starts in front of the pelvic fins. The dark blue back becomes lighter on the sides and merges into a silvery white on the underside.

Size

The herring can grow to a length of over 40 cm and a weight of around 700 gm.

British Record Fish List

UK Shore Record: 1lb 1oz 0dms / 0.481kgs

UK Boat Record: 1lb / 0.454kgs – Qualifying weight

Habitat

The herring is found throughout the north Atlantic, the North and Baltic Seas and up into the Arctic Circle. It can be found in all depths of water and will range through the water column.

Food

The main diet of the herring is plankton.

Bait

It is very rare for herring to take natural bait.

Lures

Herring will take very small feather or sabiki lures and can also be caught on plain silver hooks.