Jump to content

Grey mullet


brooktrout
 Share

Recommended Posts

Has any angler here had any success in catching this wily fish?. They swarm up our local estuary in the warm summer months in their millions, but extremely few fish are actually caught FAIRLY on rod and line. One ofthe main drawbacks is the well known fact that even when hooked, there is small chance of landing them due to the {soft mouth} which breaks awayon contact. Huge specimens can be seen cruisingaround our local docks around August, their weight easily approaching double figures. A finnicky fish with fussy feeding habits, and I believe that the angling mags deliberately avoid writing up on them simply because they know of no successful method of catching them on a regular basis.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There are lots of people who are obsessive mullet anglers.

 

Coarse fishing rods with a lightly adjusted reel clutch and line under 5lb bs seem to be required.

 

They use a lot of bread mash for ground bait and dough for hook bait.

 

A landing net is a must.

 

There is now some interest in fly fishing for mullet, but I've never seen it done!

 

http://www.chippyjersey.co.uk

 

http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/medway/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am an avid Mullet angler, a member of the Medway Mullet Club and the National Mullet Club.

 

There are two types of mullet common to our waters , the thin lipped and the thick lipped, guess what the difference is between them. <_<

 

The thin lipped is usually caught on small spoons tipped with maddies or harbour ragworm, but can occasionally be caught on bread.

Probably by accident,, as it inspect everything floating by.

 

The thick lipped can be caught on bread quite naturally.

Around piers, breakwaters, moored boats, pontoons and similar sea/estuary constructions.

We use a bread bag, made from a nylon mesh bag, about as big as a football.

Fill it with broken up bread and a large weight, lower it into the water at the depth you wish to fish (often 4-6 ft down, but can be deeper).

The water passing by and through it, will release bread particles every now and then.

 

The tackle I use is a 9-10 ft spinning rod (it needs to have a stiffish action, most float rods are too "soft"), fixed spool reel (or centrepin) , 6lb bs reel line and a large "avon" or "chubber" float. Hook size is a 12 - 14, hook link is flurocarbon 5lb bs, bait is bread flake.

Trot the float away from your bread bag with the tide flow........repeatedly.

 

Another method, when fishing off a pontoon that rises and falls with the tide, is the same tackle as above, but without the float and a bit more weight.

Lower your bait near to your bread sack.(1-2ft) and let it hang there.

 

The common belief that you can,t land grey mullet as they have soft mouths is a myth.

It spread because you can,t haul them up the side of a pier without a net, but you can,t do that with most fish over about 2 lbs in weight.

 

A landing net capable of reaching the water, or a drop net is required.

 

They are a hard fighting fish and make several long hard runs, great sport.

You can practise catch and release, as they taste awful, even when smothered in sauces.

They are the only fish I know the Spaniards and French won,t eat. :)

 

I catch them regularly in the UK, but on my trips to N Spain (where the water is warmer), my friend and I would expect to catch at least 20 apiece in a 2 hour session.

The average UK size is 2-3 lb, 5-6lb fish are unusual and anything 8-9lb is a monster.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In our area that is the same area as brooktrout there are 4 spiecies of mullet that you can fish for. thick lipped, thin lipped, golden grey and if you know where to fish and when red mullet. The golden grey is regaly taken on rod and line from tenby to oxwich on the storm beaches on ledgerd maddies. The red is a secret.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cornwall has got to be my favourite mullet haunt. Had many holidays on the Roseland peninsula and had several large mullet in the 4 -5 lb bracket.

Favourite bait has got to be bread. But I have had several on tiny cubes of mackerel and even on the fly rod using maggots or maggot immitations.

Fish baits tend to score best in harbours where they can be seen moping up fish bits off chucked in by trawlers.

We once fished a creek where the mullet were said to be uncatchable. To proove the locals wrong we set about feeding the mullet mashed bread when they came up the creek with tide. We did this for three or four evenings and then fished. I had my personal best of 5lb 6 oz and my mate had his of 4lb 9oz.

I have had some superb evenings fishing off pebble/shingle beeches with the fly rod . The mullet come in close to mop up seaweed maggots and this is the place to nail them. One good tip is to disturb as much of the weed on the beech, as the tide rises over it the maggots are washed out and the mullet go bonkers for them. Sewer outfall pipes are another favourite haunt, but not a pleasant place to fish.

Mullet fishing is very much a time game, if you put the time and effort in they can be caught and sometimes very easily.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cranfield its one of the best kept secrets in w wales but as far as im aware there have been a run of these fish for the last 12/13 years thats when i got to hear about them. I used to be a professional fisherman i was working on a boat that targeted them in that month. As far as fishing for them on rod and line i should imagine that maddie would be a good bait fished on a running ledger as i have never fished for them on rod and line.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As fishermen get older and are not as active, they are not so protective of their knowledge and tricks.

One day, last pheasant season, I ran into a chap, now in his mid 60's, whose family has netted more Bass and Mullet in the Fleet (behind Chesil Beach)than anyone else.

I should have asked him in front of the well known angler who was at the time picking up some pheasants that I owed him but I forgot so I went back to find him on Saturday.

"What were the biggest Bass and Mullet that you ever caught". I asked him.

"The biggest Bass was nearly eight and a half kilos" He said. "The biggest Mullet would have been a bit smaller. Just over seven kilos" He added.

 

As he quoted kilos and not lbs, I imagine these catches were in recent years.

 

Are you starting to dribble?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

rjimmer, only by name, I have never met him.

 

I have fished out of Weymouth, on the Bon Wey with Ken Leicester, for many many years.

Is the area of water that you mention, at the inland end of the harbour ?

 

The boat record thick lipped mullet (10lbs 1oz) was caught at "Portland", I bet that was in Portland Harbour.

The shore caught record (14lbs 2oz) was from Glamorgan.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...