mullet, zander, boats etc.

The trouble with mullet, Barrie, is you have to know whether you are fishing for thicklips or thinlips because they respond to different baits - and as they look identical in the water you have to catch one to know what you are fishing for! The overused "Catch 22" analogy seems to apply here!

Mullet of the size you saw (5lb plus) are almost certainly thicklips, in which case they will respond to bread. They are contrary creatures, though, and sometimes will only take during a narrow "window" of opportunity on any given tide - you make a cast, just like the 50 others that preceded it, and for no good reason that you can discern the float flashes under.

They're worth all the frustration, though - magnificent, beautiful fish, and with pound-for-pound fighting ability that beats anything else in either salt or fresh water. Only an overwintered rainbow trout comes close.

My own experience with mullet, which is not extensive, confirms the fact that they truly are superb fighting fish.

The biggest I have caught came from Durban Harbour wall and were caught on bread. I am not sure of the species but I caught them on 6lb line and they went like stink.

Peter Jacobs will remember me hooking one near Christchurch just over a year ago. It got off but put up a really dogged fight.

There are other saltwater species which will fight harder that the mullet Jim, but not around England.

I've had an Indian Ocean species called a Springer, run over 100 yards of backing out on heavy fly tackle - 9 weight with 12lb tippet.

It only weighed 5lbs.

"There are other saltwater species which will fight harder that the mullet Jim, but not around England."

try a smouthound Ron, they can strip a reel of 20lb line with out slowing. i wouldnt like to try for them on 6lb line.

having caught both of around the 4lb mark the smouthounds give a harder fight imho.

I don't think I've ever caught a smoothhound in my life, but I have caught quite a few sandsharks which go like express trains.

For purely selfish reasons I have never wanted to catch members of the cartilidges fishes (sharks and rays).

A mullet have me the shock of my life, aged 12.
I had only had a couple of roach and perch in my life and was cackhandedly failing, spinning for mackerel off Helensburgh pier, staying for the summer holidays with a cousin.
A huge mullet was spotted by all the local kids who spent hours chucking spinners tomwards it. It drifted around aimlessly, totally ignoring them.

I lost my only spinner later that afternoon and begged a hook from abother guy. All I had for bait was a chicken butty for lunch. I cast out a huge chunk of bread and this mullet cam back in and took it!

I had it on for about 2 minutes while a crowd cheered me on.

It fell off, of course, and i needed new underpants.

I've had my share of mullet, and I still just love them to bits. They are not colosally clever, but as Jim says, hideously frustrating to get feeding. Once they go for it, they can be ridiculously easy.

I once took a mate for his first mullet session down to the Deben in Suffolk. We fished a rising tide in private moorings, until - just as the fish moved in - we got told to leave. We hung on, watching a shoal of the blighters mopping up crusts so I told my mate - who had waggler tackle on - just to dangle crust on the water for one last try.

The biggest fish left the shoal and grabbed it straight away - 4 lb 12 oz, his first mullet!

As Mark said, mullet aren't colossally clever - notwithstanding their reputation that suggests otherwise. They fight unintelligently, too, all dash-and-splash and line-ripping runs but purposeless with it. Just as well, mind, if they made a determined effort to reach snags (rocks, weed, mooring ropes, pier piles etc) they'd be virtually unlandable on the sort of tackle mullet anglers generally use (my standard line strength, for example, is 5lb BS).

Something I've never seen reference to is that they smell unpleasant. Gorgeous looking, but a serious problem with B.O.!

They can be a bit whiffy. As I've fished for them directly over a sweage outfall, that isn't perhaps so surprising - they seem to eat abnything!

It does hack me off to see them on fishmongers' slabs - they aren't that good to eat.

They also shed their large scales like crazy, which can be a bit alrming. But they are pretty tough, strong fish.