Mullet Fishing 2023: Fishing Days

Latest:  12/10/23:  1/10 golden-grey, 2/09

22/09/23:  Just a small but perfect golden-grey.

15/09/23:  2/06, 3/04

11/09/23:  2/12, 3/09, 3/05, 4/01 - so, here we were again, a month on, and now in September, at the venue that had delivered up a thrilling five-fish session in August. Hoping that the day number '11' still had a bit of magic in it, while not believing in the slightest in any superstitious nonsense, I set at it with more than the usual degree of anticipation. I couldn't really have expected what happened next, when after just 10 minutes, I was already getting some grief from a moderately-sized but determined mullet. As is more often the norm, it went quiet after that, until about an hour later, and it was 'round 2', this time with a larger fish. All going very well here, I was thinking, but then, it suddenly seemed devoid of fish. I waited a while longer, but then made a short move, now fishing at the limits of my casting distance up against some pontoons. There was a brief flurry of activity, which suggested that a surface bait might be called for - always a bit of a problem when casting this distance. Anyway, the bread stayed on, and to cut to the chase, so did the next mullet. The second high tide peak came and went, and as the water started to drop, I had been throwing a feeder towards the pontoons. A bit of bravado on my part, and miraculously, I managed to land the next cast actually underneath the gap between two pontoon floats. No sooner than the rod was in the rest with the line tightened, the tip pulled round alarmingly, and we were into number four, which turned out to be... er... a 'four'. An attritional fight once I got it into open water, and the strong fish gave me one of the most memorable 'five minutes' of the whole season. Not too shabby - another great day.

01/09/23:  0/12 - just a nipper.

24/08/23:  2/05, 3/07

22/08/23:  Three golden-greys - 1/14, 2/07, 2/05

18/08/23:  3/07

16/08/23:  4/04

11/08/23:  3/07, 3/05, 2/14, 2/02 golden-grey, 2/05 - an unprecedented session, in terms of activity. A few fish had clearly parked themselves in what they thought was a good spot to feed, and totally ignored all disturbances, including a family fishing with cast nets. The first fish was onto the hookbait very quickly, and was soon posing for a photograph, while the collection of onlookers looked on. Despite the commotion, the second fish soon followed, and I was soon politely refusing entreaties to borrow my rod for a while (unbelievable). I had to wait an hour for the third mullet to make its biggest mistake of the day, but it was rapidly turning into the most enjoyable and productive session for quite a long time. The fish were getting smaller, but I wasn't bothered - this was great. Almost another hour passed, and I noticed something going on in open water, where some bread scraps had drifted. I was soon into a lively and skittish fish, and it came as no surprise when I saw the gold spot. It was now nearly low tide, with very little water left, and so the activity inevitably subsided. It was such a good day to be out, I stuck at it through low tide, and as the water level began to rise again. There were very few encouraging signs until almost three hours later, and then an unexpected bite, and the fifth of the day was testing my nerves, always a little too close to the pontoons for comfort.

07/08/23:  3/12- the comedy highlight of the year, and I'm not even sure if I actually deserved this one, unless stupidity and idiotic persistence are a virtue, where mullet fishing is involved. After a short initial tussle, this one soon dived behind the nearest pontoon, and it was a disaster from then on. Having charged forward into what can best be described as 'wading mud', I was able to keep the rod high enough to continue to play the fish, at which point I became very badly stuck, and fell over. Lying in the slop, there was nothing solid underneath to push up from, so I focused on the fish, for the moment. A chap in the marina came over to help, and took up the net. I still couldn't get up, so I stuck the rod butt into the mud, with the rod vertical and the fish still pulling at the other end. After an ungainly rolling manoeuvre, pretty much akin to coating a fishfinger in custard, I finally got myself up, and stuff me if the fish wasn't still attached. After that, it was not long before it was in the net, pristine up to that point, with me, not so much, absolutely covered in mud. At least the waders helped keep it off the lower part of the trousers.

Footnote to the above... after the fish was embarrassed with the traditional photograph, then weighed and released, it took me about an hour and a half to clean the mud off everything, including all the now-hardening slop that had made its way into the reel and all over the rod. Anything that could be laid out to dry was left in the sun, for the duration.

19/07/23:  1/15

17/07/23:  3/06

05/07/23:  3/00

25/05/23:  2/01

16/05/23:  2/10

03/05/23:  2/15 - a later start than usual, but very good to have one on the bank, briefly.