Flounder tramping Flounder tramping Flounder tramping is a traditional method of catching flounder or other flat fish by wading in shallow water and standing on them. This method of fishing was used in the coastal waters and river estuaries of South West Scotland for centuries. Once trapped the fish were often secured by impaling them on a leister before being bagged. A leister is the local name for a trident or three pronged long handled spear. Although traditional, the use of leisters to aid capture is no longer permitted (presumably for safety reasons). On the first Saturday each August, Palnackie, a small
Atlantic salmon including the use of weirs, cruives, and nets, were used to catch the fish. Fishing for salmon was heavily regulated in order to conserve the resource. In 1318, King Robert I enacted legislation setting a minimum size for cruives, "so that no fry of fish are impeded from ascending and descending..." Laws on catching fish upon royal lands were frequently updated, demonstrating their importance. Because the fish were held in such high regard, poachers were severely punished; a person twice convicted of poaching salmon on a royal estate could be sentenced to death. The export of salmon was economically important