rigs for mullet

fly fishing with the maggot fly on the side of the weed banks isnt as great as it sounds, it is hell trying to keep the line free of weed, then when you get them you often get huge clumps of weed on the line resulting in a lost fish. also, i fid you can use this method any time of year if you have warm weather(which you often get in early spring if your lucky).

i have, however, had good sport on small white streamers stripped back very fast with a sinking line. you get some really explosive takes like this. the only problem is finding the right spot. it has to be no more than 2 feet deep over clean sand, and very calm.

one other thing to all aspiring mullet anglers, ignore all this rubbish about small hooks only. the minimum size i use is a short shank size 6, and i often use size 4. in doing this you will also realise that the mullet dosent have that soft a mouth, just soft lips. try to strike sideways so the hook gets the corner of the mouth where there is little chance of the hook pulling out. the only exception to this rule would be fly fishing where it is sometimes nececesary to use small hooks.

since im on the subject i might as well say what i use. i tend to use a 12ft greys greyflex "bait" rod, which has a soft tip and a very through action. i match this to a medium size spinning reel with 10 or 8 pound flurocarbon. this is usually attached to a weighted float(like steve was saying) then 3-6 feet of 6lb flurocarbon leader. if the mullet are close enough and its very calm i will do away with the float and freeline.

i seem to have rambled on a bit but i hope some of that might be useful.

Alex

one other thing to all aspiring mullet anglers, ignore all this rubbish about small hooks only. the minimum size i use is a short shank size 6, and i often use size 4.

agree

fly fishing with the maggot fly on the side of the weed banks isnt as great as it sounds, it is hell trying to keep the line free of weed, then when you get them you often get huge clumps of weed on the line resulting in a lost fish. also, i fid you can use this method any time of year if you have warm weather(which you often get in early spring if your lucky).

i have, however, had good sport on small white streamers stripped back very fast with a sinking line. you get some really explosive takes like this. the only problem is finding the right spot. it has to be no more than 2 feet deep over clean sand, and very calm.

one other thing to all aspiring mullet anglers, ignore all this rubbish about small hooks only. the minimum size i use is a short shank size 6, and i often use size 4. in doing this you will also realise that the mullet dosent have that soft a mouth, just soft lips. try to strike sideways so the hook gets the corner of the mouth where there is little chance of the hook pulling out. the only exception to this rule would be fly fishing where it is sometimes nececesary to use small hooks.

since im on the subject i might as well say what i use. i tend to use a 12ft greys greyflex "bait" rod, which has a soft tip and a very through action. i match this to a medium size spinning reel with 10 or 8 pound flurocarbon. this is usually attached to a weighted float(like steve was saying) then 3-6 feet of 6lb flurocarbon leader. if the mullet are close enough and its very calm i will do away with the float and freeline.

i seem to have rambled on a bit but i hope some of that might be useful.

Alex

one other thing to all aspiring mullet anglers, ignore all this rubbish about small hooks only. the minimum size i use is a short shank size 6, and i often use size 4.

agree

couldn`t agree more.owner pint hook size 6 everytime

sometimes mullet are not that quick to take off the surface but will take off the bottom. Try a feeder rig with the lead removed from the feeder so its not as splashy. Mix up some fish and fish oil in the feed and try a piece of fish on the hook or mix the feed with bread and steep some bread a bit inthe mix and place it on the hook. Can be a good tactic around shaded structures where you can just lower the rig tight to the structure.

one other thing to all aspiring mullet anglers, ignore all this rubbish about small hooks only. the minimum size i use is a short shank size 6, and i often use size 4.

agree

couldn`t agree more.owner pint hook size 6 everytime

dunno any mullet iv had so far have been on 12s and 14s and missed one on a 10.

the way i see it is if you have a shoal of mullet who are only going for tiny scraps so you have to use tiny hooks, chances are they aren't that hungry and that means you have less chance of a fish taking the bait properly, therefore less chance of hooking up properly.

try going to your local mullet spot next summer and bring lots of head and guts of mackeral with the backbone attached. once the mullet start feeding on this and are starting to tear bits of the carcasses, i can assure you they wont hesitate in taking quite a large chunk of mackeral on a size 6 or even a size 4. even when fishing with bread, if the fish aren't hungry enough to take a proper chunk of bread on a size 6 i dont bother fishing.

this is just me now, im sure davy and others have different reasons/justifications for using bigger than usual hooks.

evr'1 has their own set ups that work for them.

the way i see it is if you have a shoal of mullet who are only going for tiny scraps so you have to use tiny hooks, chances are they aren't that hungry and that means you have less chance of a fish taking the bait properly, therefore less chance of hooking up properly.

try going to your local mullet spot next summer and bring lots of head and guts of mackeral with the backbone attached. once the mullet start feeding on this and are starting to tear bits of the carcasses, i can assure you they wont hesitate in taking quite a large chunk of mackeral on a size 6 or even a size 4. even when fishing with bread, if the fish aren't hungry enough to take a proper chunk of bread on a size 6 i dont bother fishing.

this is just me now, im sure davy and others have different reasons/justifications for using bigger than usual hooks.

my reasons for a size 6 hook are pretty much the same alex.the first year i fished for mullet i missed more fish than i caught and i was using size 12-10 hooks.the next year the owner of clon tackle told me to use the size 6 owner pint hook and my hook up rate has trebled.
the way i see is that if you are using bread and the mullet are feeding well then they wiil usually be taking the larger pieces of bread and ignore the smaller one`s,so you`ll need to use a big piece of bread for the best chance to connect with a fish.
if you have a small hook inside a big piece of bread then there is a good chance that when you strike the hook will just get pulled out of its mouth and not connect with its lip or lower jaw.a bigger hook increases the chance of pricking somewhere in its mouth when you strike.
the good thing about the hooks i use is that they are so light the bread will stay afloat for ages and when the mullet are being picky and only taking small pieces of bread they are light enough to stay afloat for a while with a thumb nail size piece of bread.
roll on next year,all this talk of mullet is doing my head in

roll on next year,all this talk of mullet is doing my head in

davy how early do they start showing up your way??

brian

I have fly fished using a silver lure from a mackeral trace.

The Mullet followed it everytime. I was sure one was going to take.

That's for Mikes fishing diary. I would imagine tipping it with lug would work.

roll on next year,all this talk of mullet is doing my head in

davy how early do they start showing up your way??

brian

i had my first mullet of the year on the 14th may that was also my first session of the year and there was very high numbers around by then. a few were starting to show from april but i never had a chance to get after them.
i recon that if there is a decent spell of good weather you could be fishing from the end of march or the start of april.im sure they are around before that but just not in targetable numbers.it`s very hard to find 2 or 3 fish in such a huge area like strangford lough.
im going to get quite "geeky" about it next year and keep a close check on water temp and when they start showing up.

I have fly fished using a silver lure from a mackeral trace.

The Mullet followed it everytime. I was sure one was going to take.

That's for Mikes fishing diary. I would imagine tipping it with lug would work.

mullet are very inquisitve and will come over to look at anything thats floating nearby or passing infront of them.im sure im not the only mullet nut who has caught them while reeling in to put fresh bread on after your hook bait has sunk.
colin c had a nice mullet on a sea trout fly earlier this year and we had loads of plucks on all sorts and colours of flies while retrieving.im going to try a flicker spoon next season and see what happens.

im going to get quite "geeky" about it next year and keep a close check on water temp and when they start showing up.

you mean you werent geeky about it last year?

[quote="fishinmidget"]
i have, however, had good sport on small white streamers stripped back very fast with a sinking line. you get some really explosive takes like this. the only problem is finding the right spot. it has to be no more than 2 feet deep over clean sand, and very calm.

Fishinmidget,

I know a spot exactly like this. Its in an estuary and at times when you walk into the shallows theres just a sea of mullet takin off out of the way. If you think you will be down waterford way some time I can pm you the location.

shoreking

You guys are killing me!! Mullet season is too far away.

You guys are killing me!! Mullet season is too far away.

well said i think all mullet talk should be put on hold until april `09

not a chance boyo. the only solution would be to take a roadtrip down to galway.

not a chance boyo. the only solution would be to take a roadtrip down to galway.

must start building up browie points again

not a chance boyo. the only solution would be to take a roadtrip down to galway.

very very tempted i`d love to get a run down there but i`ll have to go cold turkey for a couple of months maybe see how im coping by march before i drive for 5hrs to catch a mullet