What a buzz!
With lots of patience, Keith Harris seeks out and lands mullet
I had been targeting mullet, my species number 30 for the year, in Southampton Water for a couple of weeks, with all the frustrations that go with it.
I’d seen my bait being sucked in and spat out until the hook was bare, fish in plain sight cruising past my bait, and fish to the right of me in six inches of water that I know would spook if I moved.
I fished a waggler float and cheap white bread, but my bait presentation was initially wrong – the size 10 hook too covered, which I am sure lost me my beginner’s luck bites – and the line too heavy and dragging the float away from the desired spot.
I landed one around 2lb, but it shed the hook. I managed to flip it up the beach, but it slid back and was away. I’ve had others that have taken the hook and shed it when jumping and fighting. These fish are amazing. Usually, when you think they are ready for the landing net, they lunge and start another line-stripping run.
Ten days later I managed to get out for a couple of hours, armed with half a loaf and some salted rag and fresh lug. I fished over low water again near a barge where there seemed to be more fish lurking. I stood on a slippery bank, set up my usual waggler float rig and aimed to cast under a structure, while avoiding the bushes behind me to get the float out far enough for it to drift to the barge. The idea is to have the bread just below the bottom of the barge to entice the mullet out.
DIFFICULT CASTING
The tidal movement does not always play ball, and it requires a lot of re-baiting and difficult casting. In a couple of hours, I had seen a couple of dips of the float, but no mullet or swirls and was expecting it to be a frustrating session.
I had a 7ft Sonic LRF rod, so clipped on one of my species rigs and swapped the weight for a feeder stuffed with bread and small bits of salted rag. There was no interest on it, so I left it out and continued with my float-fishing. After a while I brought in the species rig, re-baited with bread and chucked it out again.
Again, I picked up the float rod and continued fishing. Suddenly, the LRF rod bent over. I wondered if the rod was not going to be up to the job because it was difficult to gauge the size of the fish. I had to tighten the reel’s drag and started to play the fish by holding the rod high to absorb the lunges. Even though it is light, the rod had enough backbone for me to gain control over the fish and put my landing net into the water.
The fish stayed deep and, after several lunges and runs, it broke the surface and I could see it was a fatter fish than my last thin-lip. It was off again, staying deep, then ran to the right to the structure, and in doing so wrapped the line round my float rod line. I had to ignore the other rod going and managed to coax it to the net. I now had a mullet with two rods and lines connected to it. I decided to bite through the float rod line and eventually lifted the fish out and could see it was a thick-lipped mullet. It was soon unhoooked and on the scales weighed 3lb 12oz.
That little rod did well and certainly added to the excitement. A week or so later I was fishing for black bream at Studland beach and managed to land a red mullet. For its size, it certainly made itself known. They are not strictly mullet, being a goatfish, but it works for me! Now where am I going to get a golden grey?