Calling all you mullet nuts !!!

[shamoo0804]

Looking for a few pointers.

Was out lure fishing a north dublin bass rock mark last night (no bass ), and saw mullet swirling around.

It was kind off odd, I could see boils of fish 100 yards to my right, and they made there way right past me, then a few mintues later another boil to my right which subsequently passed in front of me, then another....you get the idea.

I'd say in 1 1/2 hours there were probably around 10 boils that passed me, each boil judging on the size of it were likely to only be 5-10 fish max.

I chucked a variety of lures in front of them, but no interest, so I was planning on giving them a go on float fished bread.

Now a few questions

Would it be unrealistic to target such a small number of mullet to actually catch one (or more ) ?

Would ground baiting hold the fish in that area for a longer period ?

The mark I was fishing, I was looking directly into the sunset, so seeing any potential bites may prove difficult.....any suggestions (I have polarised glasses) ?

Maybe I should just fish there during 1st light instead of sunset

Tactics-wise, I was just thinking a nice basic bubble float set-up, with a 6lb berkley vanish hook length, size 6 hook and bread flake....does that sound ok

Any help gratefully appreciated, thanks in advance

[dunner]

Sometimes they "switch on" to the bait ..chop up some skinned squid bits and add that too..
Then hooking them is another story!
Its white like the bread and has a scent..
To be fair ...mullet need a bit of work!
but i would give it a go.....

[shamoo0804]

Then hooking them is another story!

For sure, but I want to give myself a fighting chance atleast

I'll try the squid idea, thanks for that dunner.

Would squid on the hook work aswell then ?

[Davy Murdoch]

have you noticed them hitting anything on the surface maybe a feather or the like???? if yes then they should be easy enough to get switched onto the bread....

i would bring bread down and keep throwing it infront of them as they pass,it might take a few sessions to get them switched on to it but worth a try.
be careful you dont have too much bread floating around or over feed them as it`ll be difficult to get them to take or even find your bread...
i like spots where the tide/current carries any excess bread away where the seagulls will clean it up.that way you wont have 2 loaves of bread floating around infront of you..

what sort of ground is it?? mud? bladder wrack?

if its mud they will prob be feeding on the bottom but if its weed they could be feeding on the tiny shrimp!!!
a few of our marks are full of shrimp and its not unusual to have mullet hit a bare hook when reeling in slowly.
i recently lost a big mullet which hit my bare blue hook it took off 100 yards plus before i got it turned,it was almost in the net after 15 mins when the knot at the hook broke just 12 foot from the net
i`ve since tried retrieving a bare hook and had loads of hits and a few more lost fish.. they are a nosey fish and will hit all sorts of wet flies that pass infront.colin has had some luck using sea trout flies so could be worth trying.
if they are balling together in groups cast a fly just beyond them and retieve it slowly through the group.it just takes one to have a go...

try some small shrimp or nymph patterns while you wait for them to switch on to the bread..


hope this helps

[dan]

i find mashed up bread and fish flesh works really well, if you have some mackerel mash it up with bread, even mix some sweetcorn or maggots into it.
hookbaits- bread or maggot have been best for me. when baiting up feed about 5 balls at the start and then 1 or 2 balls every 20 minutes.
hook sizes- any hooks between a 6 and a 14 will work depending on the size of the fish, a 10 or an 8 is a good starting point.
floats- most floats work well, bubble floats or coarse floats work best, if there is sunlight hitting the water use a darker tipped float.
hooklengths- 4-8lbs are ideal
mainlines- not too heavy, but make sure it is heavier than the hook length.
make sure you keep your reflection off the water, if u can see mullet they can see u.
dont put any split shot near the hook, u want ur bait either on the surface, or sinking very slowly through the water.

I hope this help.

D mcminn

[shamoo0804]

have you noticed them hitting anything on the surface maybe a feather or the like????

They seemed to be messing abojut on the surface, but the light was fading so it was difficlut to see clearly, would they be feeding on flies/bugs on the waters surface, as there was plenty around

i like spots where the tide/current carries any excess bread away where the seagulls will clean it up.that way you wont have 2 loaves of bread floating around infront of you..

Yeh, there is a reasonable tide, so that shouldnt be too much of a problem.

what sort of ground is it?? mud? bladder wrack?

Its patchy sand and bladderwrack.

they are a nosey fish and will hit all sorts of wet flies

Dont have any fly gear yet unfotunately.

Many thanks for the tips though Davy.

Cheers Dan, I'll put some of those tips into practise over the next week or 2.

Thanks again ladsd, wish me luck

[dan]

I wish you good luck

[shamoo0804]

Right lads,

Gave the mullet a go for an hour and half yesterday evening in Howth harbour, and it has raised a few more questions

The fish were not there in any numbers, it seemed like there was the odd 3 or 4 fish cruising by my spot every so often....it is still feasible to target them?

I presume properly ground baiting would help to draw them in and hold them in the area, but this was a rather spur of the moment session, so I wasnt best prepared.

I was plagued with ducks stealing the bread I was throwing in, anyway to stop this happening?

How long do you leave your bait out there, before changing it?

I had 3 takes, but each time the bait had been out a while, and hence it was easy for the mullet to suck it off the hook.

As the sun was setting and the tide filling, the fish seemed to disappear, there was no activity on the surface at all.

Any more help would be great.

Thanks

[Davy Murdoch]

it sounds like you`re doing everything right,its the mullet that wont play the game
mullet a very fond of mouthing at the bread making it fall of the hook,or they will nudge it so it sinks or falls off the hook..

i would leave my hook bait out for as long as poss.i`ll even cast it out a few times if im fishing somewhere with a decent flow cos if i want the bread to come up to the surface all i`ve got to do is stop the float drifting and the bread will rise up.if the mullet are only taking bread from the surface i`ll change it every 2 cast so its as bouyant as poss..

how are you putting the bread on the hook??
i use a piece about the size of a 50 cent coin.
then rest the bread in the bend of the hook and pinch the bread round the eye of the hook and the knot leaving plenty of "fluffy" bread around the hook point..

always try to keep the line from rod to float straight and tight so when you strike you wont be dragging a big bow of line through/across the water.

if you are always fishing around the last couple hours of light try getting a session in around mid day/early afternoon if the tide suits

good luck

[pete the plug]

I recently found a large "mullet nest" near ballinskelligs (kerry), the info that I've read here will help alot.
I have a friend from U.K.arriving on the 21st who wants to catch a few.
The main problem I can forsee is Distance, they seem to stay about 70 yds out.
Iwas thinking about using a bubble on the end of the mainline and then tying a dropper of about 5lb a few feet in behind this .
Has anybody tried this method , or got a better idea.
Pete.

[dan]

we have problems with gulls at millisle when targetting mullet, will buy myself a shotgun for next year maybe.

[KERRY1]

I recently found a large "mullet nest" near ballinskelligs (kerry), the info that I've read here will help alot.
I have a friend from U.K.arriving on the 21st who wants to catch a few.
The main problem I can forsee is Distance, they seem to stay about 70 yds out.
Iwas thinking about using a bubble on the end of the mainline and then tying a dropper of about 5lb a few feet in behind this .
Has anybody tried this method , or got a better idea.
Pete.

Sounds good to me I am down near that area in another few weeks time for 12 days of fishing and I was planning on giving the mullet a go during the day before fishing for the bass at night.
The mullet down there are huge a friend of mine has already caught loads of 5 & 6 pounders this year both on the fly rod and using float gear. I am looking forward to it.

[shamoo0804]

how are you putting the bread on the hook??
i use a piece about the size of a 50 cent coin.
then rest the bread in the bend of the hook and pinch the bread round the eye of the hook and the knot leaving plenty of "fluffy" bread around the hook point..

Yeh, thats exactly as I was doing. I was a course angler when I was younger, and quite often fished bread on the surface for carp.

i`ll even cast it out a few times if im fishing somewhere with a decent flow cos if i want the bread to come up to the surface all i`ve got to do is stop the float drifting and the bread will rise up.if the mullet are only taking bread from the surface i`ll change it every 2 cast so its as bouyant as poss..

I noticed if the bread had sank, it would come back to the surface if I retrieved a small amount of line, but I was trying to get enough fluffy bread on mt hook to mean it would float.

Is it then possible to catch them sub-surface, if so how do you see the bites and know when to strike ?

Alot of the bread I fed out as ground bait was sinking, so I kind of presume they may be feeding on this on the botom, which is kind of muddy anyway.

Would it be feasible to bottom fish for them, say with a standard ledger rig, and rag tail, maddies or small sandeel as bait, and just retrieve it very very slowly?

Finally, howth harbour is a working fishing port and quite a big one at that, would this mean that maybe there is too much easy food for the mullet, and they may be very lazy feeders with having soo much easy food around?

Should I try somewhere that doesnt have such an easy source of food for them?

Thanks again for the help folks

[shamoo0804]

Forgot to add, I did notice just how inquisitive the mullet were, they were nosing at feathers, froth and allsorts on the surface.

[Davy Murdoch]

how deep is the water?? if its only 5-6 foot at most,you could try fishing over deep with a small sliding float and a couple of shot 1 foot from the hook to get the bread down and keep it on the bottom.dip any free bread in water then mash it up and squeeze all the water out so it sinks.dont mash it up too much or it`ll end up like a liquid...
this works well at Rosscarbery..

if its alot deeper then you could mabye try ledering!!!

worms could work but if its a working fishing port then try mashing up a day old mack with a loaf of bread and use a tiny piece of mack on the hook.
maybe below a float or henry gilbey style,dangling over the harbour wall...