Fly Fishing For Mullet Part 2
"Fishing tide in near a small river bottom along a coastal mark"
I sincerely hope many of you enjoyed and to some degree benifited from reading the last article "Fly fishing for Mullet part 1". That article was wrote, admittedly in a typically safe manner, because the tactics within have proven time and time again to be one of the most simple and effective ways of getting to grips with the Grey Ghost, and generally speaking is how many people percieve as "the only way possible" to catch a Mullet. One of the main points within was to give newcomers to the sport not only a solid insight into the basic approach and setup, but to also highlight the groundwork that should be done regarding the marks where Mullet frequent, simply meaning, taking the time to observe what happens with respect to the current tide and how it affects the fish..
To attempt to further this topic, for any man to speak and write about the Thick Lipped Grey Mullet in a universal and somewhat "absolute" manor would simply be crazy, because upon speaking to many Mullet anglers up and down the Uk who have contacted me following the last article, you wouldnt believe the variations of flies and tactics that have actually been used to successfully land fish. Whether or not these were simply isolated incidents in a chuck and chance event one afternoon, or happen with regular occurence, is not my question to ask, However I do respect the fact that people did take the time to contact me with thier story and each time I thoroughly enjoyed applying thought as to how and why they caught that fish the way they did, if....... that is, the angler did not elaborate.
All said and done it is always great to hear of a man catching a Mullet, especially if it is his first...... The recount of the battle is always the same... the shock and disbelief as the line tightened, the enduring tug of war following the first run, premature thoughts of early victory, then that unbelievable second, third and even forth run, until the angler eventually finds himself kneeling exhausted at a fish he has seen many times before, however never this close up and personal. To stare fuzzy headed at a creation of such beauty lying on the ground, then to feel the jagged roughness of those armour plated scales as you unhook her, only to then watch as she swims back to join her friends without missing a beat makes you want to repeat that experience time and time again. The high from a captured Mullet can last for days...
May I please state at this point before I go any further, and to quote words from a freind regarding his learnings of another species of fish "my education is nowhere near complete"... I do not think for one moment that I have "Cracked" my local mullet, and I do not want persons to think that this is so after reading this, I am closer then most anglers locally and enjoy reasonable success from time to time, yet im simply here presenting myself as just another dedicated mullet angler out there amongst many, although as one who is simply prepared to put his experiences into words.
What I would like to do with this article is to simply give anglers a few further ideas to try, based on a broader outlook on some of my experiences during the Mullet season "the time I simply regard as when they come close enough to take with a flyrod". The following is what has worked for me up here at times, and of course your marks will be different, but by taking what might prove to be pertinant from this article, applying some thought to your own location, and if possible, by using "very carefull" powers of observation if the conditions allow it, one might be able figure out to some degree what seems to be quite a reasonably set routine in the Mullets feeding patterns and movements, and of course knowledge of this will eventually put the angler on the way to near "Cracking" his local Mullet when veiwed through the eyes of associates.
The hard work involved points to the ultimate goal, that of the potential for consistent fabulous sport that could be experienced daily, and the self satisfaction of achieving even a small part of this along the way.
Remember is is quite possible to enounter and fish for Mullet once, twice or even for twenty four hours a day if an angler who knows their movements wishes to do so....
Mullet have in the past been described as fish that can be "educated" over a fairly short period of time, and this I do not doubt. The angler who has in the past spent time stuffing womens tights with Mackerel fillets and Bread to be weighted down and stratigicaly placed in specific locations for the mullet to find "and over a period of time, eventually seek" will testify this. However it is possible to learn for yourself the wheres and whats of some of the Mullets natural feeding pattern, as like most fish they appear for only a few reasons, the main ones being, to feed and to spawn, and we know that Thick Lipped Mullet do not spawn inshore in freshwater or estuaries.
Mullet usually first appear in the local estuaries in early April, It is worth mentioning that in such locations at such times of year, the timing given is an aproximation because the sport can still prove to be impossible if any prolonged cold spells see that the water temperature is still too cold, and the fish are simply not there yet, however when the water has warmed to around the 10c mark, the Mullet "should" begin to appear. I write "should" because a contradictory observation was noted this year which further challenged this information. Following what was a constant four weeks of easerly winds and low air temperatures this year in April, this saw that the Mullet did not actually appear inshore until THE ACTUAL DAY these winds subsided and swung round due South West, even though the water temperature has been 10c for at least 2 weeks. I have seen Mullet appear in late March when the water warms and conditions favourable, however this lesson has taught me No More April Fishing for me ever again in such Easterly wind directions, iresspective of water temperature, chances are they could not be there....
The shoals that do come in when conditions are regarded as favourable are generally percieved as smaller Mullet which hold in slightly deeper water, and fish of which have no real inclination present themselfs as the active fish they are regarded to be when seen larking about during the summer months, this has led them to be percieved as fish which are very difficult to tempt "as if they wernt already!". The Mullet during these early times hold in what appears to be a huge black bait ball at station midwater and far out in the slowest of currents. They are there for a reason, even if compared to the summer months the conditions may not be the best, and examination of the food items that are present and possibly on the Mullets menu at that time of year up here have concluded with weed which is begining to grow back from the stunting coldness of winter, and small invertibrates such as the one pictured below within the weed.
When the conditions have been favourable "none east winds" I have enjoyed success in April with the use of a line which never sees the light of day during summer fishing for Mullet, and that is the Clear Intermediate. The tactic may not be everyones cup of tea, and in this location, unfortunately beyond the reaches of an angler who is unable to cast a full line with ease. I do apologise for this statement, however as wrote earlier I did state that the fish hold up further out in deeper water at this mark, in what is the wider and slower part of the channel, and it MAY be the same at your home mark. In this mark the distances involved can range from 80-100ft, and for this reason my frustrated fishing buddy was pestering me at the time for the loan of my TCR, shooting heads for his rod, and afternoons spent working on his double hauling technique...
The ploy here is to position yourself downstream of the holding mullet so that you will be casting up towards them at an angle of approximately 30 degrees "this further adds to the final distance needed to cast" and aim to pitch the fly upstream of the schoal by about 20ft. By the time the rod has been placed under your arm in preparation for the retrieve technique i am about to describe, the line will have sunk slightly and will now have some slack in it to. Begin to retrive with a fast hand over hand "rolly polly" technique to bring the fly down towards and across the front of the schoal at breakneck speed. The trick here is not to rip the fly unsympathetically through the schoal to snatch a poor fish, but to see the fly head momentarily towards the schoal, then break away along down the side of them. Like the odd fish that MAY rise to a couple of pieces of bread at this time of year when the majority stay where they are mostly uninterested, what we are targeting is that lone "stupid" fish which has had his attention averted and fancies a shot at this tiny bright thing wizzing past downstream....
A bright April Mullet, Keep very low as you bring the fly in fast, watch out for the wake of a chasing fish, very exiting..!
With
the weather now thankfully improving we do get to see the numbers of
Mullet increase in the
estuaries, and more importantly the size of them present to seems to
increase also. Here if the anlger wishes he can get to work "teaching" his mullet
the delights of bread offerings, and trick them that way with a Bread Fly, or
we can spend a little time seeing what is actually
kicking about in the flood plains and river bottoms, even the most
barren of sandy beaches and tidal channels must habour a feast if
Mullet are present.
Looking out towards the Irish Sea on a beautiful summers day.
Looking out towards the Irish Sea on a beautiful summers day.
One
of my favourite marks, very close to my home offers fantastic oppertunities
for the Mullet angler.
The fish hold station in a low water channel until the tide begins to
run "bread fly tactic teritory", at which point "again if the wind is
not blowing easterly" they begin to move in, right on the front of it,
heading their way eventually to a river bottom in preparation for full
tide. Both here and at marks along the coast, a small shrimp pattern
fished on a floater, twitched back in front of incoming crusing fish
can induce a chase and take in these channels now filling with tidal
spill. It has been observed that when tides are generally falling or
lowest either side of springs the Mullet can be quite spooky and very
reluctant to take using this present tactic, however should the tides
be climbing each day onto the peak heights reached on full/new moon
tide weeks, the mullet again become very exited, maybe by the prospect
of the newly covered land and food that they are about to explore, I
dont know.. But they have taken well in such circumstances.
Moving more inland now, keeping ahead of the fish, we see them beginning to que up at the river bottom, and this scenario has been covered in the first article, yet I would just like to add that during this time can also be good for fishing a team of deep nymphs if the angler gets ahead of the fish and remains low and static. I am not prepared to discuss actual "specific" patterns as this will be left to yourself to discover when you venture out, however I do have anglers trying out various patterns in different marks to try and establish some consistency. The following fish was caught on a fly dressed by a very good freind, and isnt to disimilar to what we were already using. The tactic was not to disimilar to that of Czech Nymphing, cast uptide into any available flow and allowed to be carried along dead drift.
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As the river reaches maximum height at full tide, and contrary to what I wrote earlier as to why they appear, the Mullet seemingly become temporarily uninterested in feeding.
For the days when the tides are right, my daughter Millie insists that I take her to "Mullet Club" after school, so she can feed the fish with cheap bread from the local market. This when I am not fishing for them gives me fantastic opertunities to observe aspects of their behavour. At full tide the fish exhibit a playfulness that Millie once described as them "playing tig". This sees a fish scoping out a certain region of the river bottom but not actually feeding, only for another Mullet to come up from behind at speed and rub its side onto the back of the first fish and then head off at speed, seeing the first fish then chase after it. This playfulness is just another delightful aspect of observing these fantastic fish, and fishing for them at this time has many times proven to be best rested, please dedicate a little time to see if you can watch this game. At "actual" full tide, I am prepared to confidently further write that any food thrown in for these fish at this mark is simply allowed to sink to the bottom, as the fish go about in their own business described above.
Like all playtimes, they must come to an end, and its here where we as anglers should be quick, especially when we notice the wet high tide mark begin to appear on the stones. The fish that was scoping out his area before he was rudely interupted by a playfull mate now returns to the exact area he was scoping out and begins hoovering up the bottom quite frantically as the water now receeds, also during this time, the bread that was thrown in and ignored is also hurriedly engulfed, as will any surplus thrown in. For these periods of time I am prepared to fish for these fish using either bread or weed flies, however their numbers will dwindle all the while the tide receeds, and the problem lies in that you generally do not see these fish dissapear because they head back out of the river fairly low down in the murky water. So to summarise we were treat to the sport encountered at low water in the channel, as they came in, then a little show of them messing around at full tide, and some sport which can be good as the tide receeds, but now is time for one of my favourite aspects of fishing this mark.... The flats, and that entails a change of location, and a further change of tactics and flies!
Mullet soup
Once out of the river the Mullet head for the shore line and can be present in what is only a few centimeters of water. The uppermost point of the Dorsal fin sticking right up out of the water as they grub about in the sandy bottom for the above invertibrates. This proves to be one of the most pleasurable ways to fish for these fish because we are away from what can sometimes be the weedy gunge associated with river bottoms, and are now looking out over a beautiful tide filled estuary, with small waves lapping at your knees, with Mullet feeding like those Bone fish in far flung Cuba, a priceless equivalent for the everyday angler on an everyday budget. If you dont mind Jelly fish, and the day is warm enough, shorts and sandals need be the only atire, as we wade out "further" than the fish, to cast and fish back towards the shore. The tackle in calm conditions will entail casting a lightline and long leader on something like a 5# rod, pitching the flies slightly ahead of tailing fish to see that they sink back toward her as the tide receeds. The ability to curve a cast or reach out so we dont line a fish is a very useful ploy here, however once again, this period of feeding can be quite intense and should a fish be disturbed, it isnt generally long before its head is down and is taking in food again. This period of feeding lasts right up until the estuary becomes nothing more than the channels we fished prior to the tide running, and if you have the heart you can fish into the next cycle and do it all again if you wish.....!
Moving more inland now, keeping ahead of the fish, we see them beginning to que up at the river bottom, and this scenario has been covered in the first article, yet I would just like to add that during this time can also be good for fishing a team of deep nymphs if the angler gets ahead of the fish and remains low and static. I am not prepared to discuss actual "specific" patterns as this will be left to yourself to discover when you venture out, however I do have anglers trying out various patterns in different marks to try and establish some consistency. The following fish was caught on a fly dressed by a very good freind, and isnt to disimilar to what we were already using. The tactic was not to disimilar to that of Czech Nymphing, cast uptide into any available flow and allowed to be carried along dead drift.
Moving on to what occurs at full
tide when they are actually in the river, is one of those times where
the Mullet leaves me shaking my head in disbelief..
game on....!
As the river reaches maximum height at full tide, and contrary to what I wrote earlier as to why they appear, the Mullet seemingly become temporarily uninterested in feeding.
For the days when the tides are right, my daughter Millie insists that I take her to "Mullet Club" after school, so she can feed the fish with cheap bread from the local market. This when I am not fishing for them gives me fantastic opertunities to observe aspects of their behavour. At full tide the fish exhibit a playfulness that Millie once described as them "playing tig". This sees a fish scoping out a certain region of the river bottom but not actually feeding, only for another Mullet to come up from behind at speed and rub its side onto the back of the first fish and then head off at speed, seeing the first fish then chase after it. This playfulness is just another delightful aspect of observing these fantastic fish, and fishing for them at this time has many times proven to be best rested, please dedicate a little time to see if you can watch this game. At "actual" full tide, I am prepared to confidently further write that any food thrown in for these fish at this mark is simply allowed to sink to the bottom, as the fish go about in their own business described above.
Like all playtimes, they must come to an end, and its here where we as anglers should be quick, especially when we notice the wet high tide mark begin to appear on the stones. The fish that was scoping out his area before he was rudely interupted by a playfull mate now returns to the exact area he was scoping out and begins hoovering up the bottom quite frantically as the water now receeds, also during this time, the bread that was thrown in and ignored is also hurriedly engulfed, as will any surplus thrown in. For these periods of time I am prepared to fish for these fish using either bread or weed flies, however their numbers will dwindle all the while the tide receeds, and the problem lies in that you generally do not see these fish dissapear because they head back out of the river fairly low down in the murky water. So to summarise we were treat to the sport encountered at low water in the channel, as they came in, then a little show of them messing around at full tide, and some sport which can be good as the tide receeds, but now is time for one of my favourite aspects of fishing this mark.... The flats, and that entails a change of location, and a further change of tactics and flies!
Mullet soup
Once out of the river the Mullet head for the shore line and can be present in what is only a few centimeters of water. The uppermost point of the Dorsal fin sticking right up out of the water as they grub about in the sandy bottom for the above invertibrates. This proves to be one of the most pleasurable ways to fish for these fish because we are away from what can sometimes be the weedy gunge associated with river bottoms, and are now looking out over a beautiful tide filled estuary, with small waves lapping at your knees, with Mullet feeding like those Bone fish in far flung Cuba, a priceless equivalent for the everyday angler on an everyday budget. If you dont mind Jelly fish, and the day is warm enough, shorts and sandals need be the only atire, as we wade out "further" than the fish, to cast and fish back towards the shore. The tackle in calm conditions will entail casting a lightline and long leader on something like a 5# rod, pitching the flies slightly ahead of tailing fish to see that they sink back toward her as the tide receeds. The ability to curve a cast or reach out so we dont line a fish is a very useful ploy here, however once again, this period of feeding can be quite intense and should a fish be disturbed, it isnt generally long before its head is down and is taking in food again. This period of feeding lasts right up until the estuary becomes nothing more than the channels we fished prior to the tide running, and if you have the heart you can fish into the next cycle and do it all again if you wish.....!
