Mullet Fishing

Hi could someone help, am I right in thinking to fish for mullet in a harbour, you use light freshwater rod and tackle, as I have never tried this before would be very grateful if anyone could advise me on the right tackle ect to use

Hi Andy,

Yes you can use light(ish) freshwater tackle for mullet, I would recommend a 2-2.5TC carp rod and baitrunner, 8-10lb (depending on the amount of snags in the habour), a strong size 12 hook (drennan super special barbel hook for example) and lots of patients.

Surface feed with lots and lots of loose bread then try free lining bread flake on the hook.

Mullet fishing can be nerve racking as you watch them slurping up your free offers but ignoring your hook bait but patience and determination will pay off.

Good luck/forum/smilies/big_smile_smiley.gif

"Mullet fishing can be nerve racking . . . . . "

Yeah, right, tell me about it.

9 hours in a boat, with Ron who lost a good Mullet after about 20 minutes!

Nerve racking?

I've never caught many mullet in my life. The most have been on the wall near Durban harbour many years ago. From that you will deduce that they are found throughout the world.

Most mullet experts, including my friend Jim Gibbinson, use a longish fairly powerful match rod and often a centre-pin reel loaded with 6 lb line.

Hooks are 10 or 12 eyed tied direct with a medium sized waggler float set up. Bait is bread flake using mashed bread as groundbait. Mullet fight like hell. Size for size there is very little in British waters both fresh or salt that can touch them.

How is the nerve tonic going, Peter?

You can fish for mullet with anything from standard roach tackle to the carp gear that Claudia advocates. I know which gets the most bites! The most I've hooked is 36 in three hours which was one of the most frustrating sessions I've fished anywhere; didn't land 36 though...

you will certainly see more bites on lighter gear, and for shoal fish of 2 - 4lbs thee is lttle need generally to go above 4lb line. Bigger fish in tight spots are a more difficult proposition. I prefer to get them feeding on the bottom where they can't see you and tend to feed more confidently. But then what do I know? Only been fishing for them for 36 years...

Thanks to Claudia, Peter and Ron for the advice,I will have to try my hand at catching one, we have a harbour in St Helens here on the Isle Of Wight And When the tide is in, on a warm sunny day there are dozens of mullet swimming around just a few feet from the harbour wall, is it true thay have very soft lips which make it harder to catch them

Hi Mark Thanks for the advise, i just returned to course fishing after 30 years away from it, so not really up on anything yet, have been reading your articles with great interest and have been learning a lot./forum/smilies/big_smile_smiley.gif

Have fun, you WILL GET FRUSTRATED ive tried it and caught a few (only small ) but lost a fair few bites could be a little similar to crucians (i used a match rod and waggler set up)

Ryan

I used to fish with the mullet man on Hastings Pier, now deceased sadly. He used to fish the Cuckmere river in Sussex thus. A small fly spinner with a length of line attached 2-3 inches from hook loaded with harbour ragworms. Whether maggots would do I do not know, probably. he used to also attach a float 4 footabove the spinner and cast to the far bank and let the whole lot swing around on the current. Apparently the mullet would be attracted by the spinner and go for the ragworm. He reckoned this was deadly in clear water. Hope this helps.

Andy, if you have mullet nearby you must have a go for themThey are without doubt the most sporting of our fish and on the correct tackle are superb fighters without equal in British waters.I always get a good few sessions in every year despite being a 100 miles from the sea!

The usual fight of a mullet is of a powerful run,especially in shallow water, as it realises it has been hooked followed by shorter runs similar to a turbo charged tench.Sometimes it takes a few seconds for the fish to realise it has been hooked but watch out the run will come.

If you are fishing in a harbour you will have to put up with boat chains,ropes etc and will need to tackle up appropriately.I would aim for an avon rod with a throughish action to cushion the lunges with an TC of abouut 1lb 1/4 or a 1lb 1/2.Line strength should be a minimum of 6lbs but prefarbly 8lb. In a harbour there is always a balance between good presentation and having tackle strong enough to get them out and the above would be about right. You will lose fish in such places but should get a fair few out too.

In open water or estuiarys then strong trotting gear can be used and line stregth scaled down to 5lb.This is where a strong carp match rod or tench float rod would be ideal.I use a Harrison Stepped Up GTI at 15ft and its ideal.

The hookI use for mullet is the Kamasan B983 which is light in the wire but strong and has a curved point.10 or 12 size is fine but you could down to a 14 if the fish are finicky.Mullet do not have soft mouths and once the hook goes in it stays in in my experience

If you can use a centrepin do, but if not practical a fixed spool with a good drag properly sets fine.

As for float, a crystal type waggler would be fine.Go for a preloaded one so you are not weakening the line by nipping on large shot.A large mullet will test tackle to its limits and you cannot afford any weaknesses.For this reasonI usually fish straight through rather than have any additonal knots in the set up.I'd recommend Silstar Match Team for line.

Legering is very effective and certainly some of the big fish of recent years have come out to legered bread simply link legered.A small cage feeder can be used.Use a quivertip as the bites can be subtle.

I would as Mark suggests try to get them feeding off the deck if the depth allows it although in a harbour the depths may be too great and you will need to fish at midwater or shallower.I would be careful about over feeding with floating bread as too much will simply take the fish away with the current as well as attract the resident gull population.A good technique is to get an onion bag and fill it with stale mashed bread, weight it and lower down the harbour wll after attaching it to a stanchion, railing etc.Every now and again give it a tug to release some fine particles.This should attract fish in to the area and you can get them actually sucking at the bag.

Part 2

Be patient.There may be lots of fish milling about and seemingly ignoring the bait, or even worse just playing with it by pushing it with their nose and the like, but they have a habit of switching on for short periods for no real reason.

Hookbait would be bread as they will be used to it in harbours.I use a meat punch to punch out nice fluffy pills but if using flake make sure it is lightly pinched on or otherwise they will simply suck the soft bit off the hook leaving the moulded bit attched to the hook shank and you will miss bites.

Small fly sppons baited with rag will take mullet but of the thin-lipped variety which tend to be smaller than the thick lips.A good thin lip would be 2/3lb plus where as a good thick, 5lb plus.

Good luck.Once you have had a good one, you will be well and truly hooked.

I am getting out next week for them and maydo a littlearticle off the back of it as given we all will have the tackle to go after them, they are an ideal holiday target and lots of people get put off by thinking they are uncatchable.With a little care and thought they are as catchable as any other fish.

just like to say thanks to ryan, Markg and Nigel for the advise and for giving me there tips, I am looking forward to getting some time off work, and going after a mullet, sounds interesting i think I will try the match rod andwaggler setup first once i get there i will let you know how i get on

Andy no problems.That is what FM is about.

I'd suggest you may be undergunned with just a normal match rod even if the harbour is snag free unless it is of the "power" variety.Mullet are very strong fighters and you might end up playing them for longer than necessary if your rod is not up to it.

I am not a mullet expert but have fished for them for good few years now.PM if me if you want any specific advice.

I've fished for them a couple of times but only managed one of a couple of pounds or so. Agree with previous posters, they are the best fighting fish you'll findwithin these shores, fresh or salt.

There are numbers of them in the estuaries of mid Wales but can you catch them?? Well I couldn't, despite baiting baiting regularly with bread. Maybebaiting over a few days might give some results, I'll find out one day...

Now theres an idea Ric

Ric, "wild" mullet are notorioulsy hard to catch as they are simply not used to feeding on anything other than natural food.I haven't ever had time for a pre-baiting campaign but reading about the experiences of others, they can be switched on to bait but it can take some time.

Nigel,

Modern match rods cope with mulletOK on light gear - in the old days of glass rods it was different though. Balanced tackle is the key. Believe it or not the best hook to stick in a mullet is a 20 which stays in the lip brilliantly though a long time since Icaught them on maggots.

It was never so much the rod as the right arm that wasn't up to it...

Each to their own, Mark andI know you have subdued a few on light gear in your time.I think you'd be there a long time if you hooked one of those Stanpit 8lbers though!Chance would be fine thing.

Down there on the evening of the 19th if you fancy it?

Hi Chaps, this was an interesting read. Does anyone know if any mullet exist around the North Wales coast or Wirral area as I'm based in Cheshire? I fancy combining a trip with a Sunday family outing /forum/smilies/big_smile_smiley.gif. I saw some in Carnavon (a bit too far for a day trip) quite a few years ago and have meaning to try for them ever since.

Cheers,

Stephen.

well after reading all this advise, which rod/reel do you think i would best be suited to use, as i have onlyjust returned to course fishing i only have a

Maver Abyss 12' Match rod with a Diawa Crossfire reel with 4lb or 6lb line or a

2.5lb TC Carp rod with a shakespeare baitrunner reel with 8lb or 12lb line or would i be better off buying some other type of rod, your advise would be most welcome