A medium sized freshwater fixed-spool reel is first choice. Go as light as possible with the weight to minimise splashing and disturbance. These are much better than screwing a quivertip into the end of your float rod, which is too long for effective leger fishing and not up to casting heavy feeders.

Mackerel strip, squid, rasher rind, rag-worm, banana, cooked prawn, macaroni, maggots, chicken skin, sweet corn and crab flesh are all traditional Mullet baits but I find bread will out-fish them all on the east coast. You need to use hooks as small as sizes 8 and 10 on line as light as 4-6lbd.8-2.7kg). Coming from a coarse fishing background I've a few tweaks that will hopefully help you catch more Mullet. There are no hard and fast rules about how deep you should fish. Groundbaiting is often necessary to wean mullet on to your bait. They ride a swell well yet remain reasonably sensitive because of their fine stems. WISHBONE RIG FOR MULLET It pays to experiment with the length of the tail. At other times, the fish are browsing on the bottom and a short tail results in spectacular lift bites.

Mullet are slow-growing and increasingly threatened by commercial fishing. Mullet are found all along the Irish coastline but harbours, marinas and river estuaries are the best places to target them. This rig isn’t new in fishing but adapted in this way is deadly for Mullet, remember you have 2 baits so leave your rig out there until the bites fizzle out…. Mullet will feed at all levels of the water and so the following techniques are all worth trying: Ledgering a bait on the seabed is an effective technique. You stand a good chance of your hook bait being hit if they are competing with each other as they throw caution aside to get to the bread first .

One of the best places to fish for mullet is where locals feed the birds  stale bread on a daily basis; this would be where I look first when arriving at a Mullet mark. SEA FISHING GUIDE TO NORTHUMBERLAND: Fame Islands to Warkworlh, Ken Robinson and the red spots of Cumbria. A slow sinking bait can prove deadly as it appears more natural, this method has caught me some of my biggest Mullet. Sorry, comments are closed for this post. Thick-lipped grey mullet are among the commonest fish in British coastal waters. Some quivertip rods come with interchangeable tips to allow for different strengths of flow, which is handy if you fish a variety of venues. In this article I will share how I fish for them and what I have learned over the few years I've been targeting them. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. . Also look for places where fish waste or drains are entering the water, this is where Mullet will be accustomed to finding food items which us anglers can then use as bait.

Compromising by using a tail of about 45cm (18in) is rarely successful. Some anglers favour a short tail a few centimetres long, so that the fish hook themselves against the weight of the feeder or bomb the moment they pick up the bait. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. Earthworms, maggots and harbour rag-worms are very effective baits in some places, near useless in others. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! The hook snood should be around three feet in length and made of flurocarbon line under 10lb breaking strain. A paternoster can be lowered into the water and suspended at any depth. occasionally the second hook does go into the fish but we use micro barbed hooks so as not to damage the fish.

One set up for float fishing the surface and one for ledgering. From spring to autumn you can find them almost anywhere – from rock marks and shallow bays to estuaries and tidal rivers. In weaker flows you can be confident of fishing over your groundbait using a small bomb. Fish overdepth where the bottom is clean, and slightly under-depth where it is snaggy. If the water is murky, you just have to experiment. I do however bring two rods with me. The hook point will always face down and when you get a take, wait for the fish to turn and 9 times out of 10 you'll nail him in the corner of the mouth on the strike. Combine this baiting technique with tying your hook on with a knotless knot and you've got a highly effective rig. As bread flake floats it can be adjusted by letting line out to just sit below the surface. Small pieces of bread should be fed little and often, usually a slice broken up at a time. They give a dogged fight to the end and produce immensely powerful runs that will have your heart in your mouth. The short, stiff and insensitive rod once used for ledgering was poor for detecting bites. Most cities and towns are located on river estuaries so fishing in these zones can prove worth-while as human food washes in from drains and people feed the ducks and swans here.

A… Once you have the Mullet taking off the top, which is easier said than done, be quick as it doesn't usually last long. As the tide rises the Mullet will push up into the estuary to forage on the gravel / sand banks which have just been covered by the incoming tide. Avoid tippy match rods (which can pull out hooks from light holds) in favour of more through-action, Avontype rods. I've come up with my own way of cutting this down to a minimum. Mostly you catch mullet on float tackle, for which you need a rod at least 12ft (3.6m) long – to cast light rigs easily, to hold the line away from marginal rocks and weed, to keep hooked fish away from the same, and to pick line up quickly on the strike. By tearing a small strip of bread about 4cm long and 1cm wide, pinching the middle, then place the pinched section along shank of hook, folding it upwards and moulding the bottom into a dough around the curve of the hook it, which gives you a well presented bait (see pic). Fishing estuaries is a bit different, it requires a bit more roving around. In general, you catch most regularly on or near the bottom – where most of your groundbait ends up. WISHBONE RIG FOR MULLET This Wishbone rig is used in shallow water spots were mullet are very spooky, it gives you two chances of a take so you don't recast to often, occasionally the second hook does go into the fish but we use micro barbed hooks so as not to damage the fish. Some people believe Mullet can't be caught due to their "soft mouths" which is totally untrue . And make sure it has a smooth drag, since a big mullet takes a lot of line at considerable speed on its first few runs – sometimes faster than you can backwind. A weight can be added to the rig by using a small swivel link clip behind the rig onto the mainline. At rock marks, try filling rock crevices with groundbait or samples of hookbait at low tide. Here's a few setups for those new to this sort of fishing. They scrape algae off stonework, filter microorganisms from mud, and swim open-mouthed along the top of the water, sampling the surface scum. Mullet are one of the most frustrating sea species you are likely to encounter in Irish waters, as you usually can see them plain as day ignoring your bait and swimming on by. "I just watched the brilliant touch legering film on Sporting Fish and I'm … If the water is clear and you can see fish near the surface, it’s obviously best to fish shallow. Alternatively, fish a mark that is already groundbaited for you. Food dumping from harbourside restaurants, fish waste dumping from trawlers, and pipes discharging raw sewage all attract mullet. The main problem with hooking them stems from their natural feeding habits. Today, purpose-built ledgering rods are available which incor-porate a fine tip to improve bite detection greatly. This Wishbone rig is used in shallow water spots were mullet are very spooky, it gives you two chances of a take so you don’t recast to often, Trebles are used in certain situations/conditions. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! Fancy shotting patterns are rarely necessary, but it’s worth experimenting with the distance between the dropper (bottom) shot and the hook. Small cubes of fish or meat are a good choice if you use these in your groundbait.