More Magic! Mullet sessions on Strangford Lough - August 10.
Mon Aug 23, 2010 5:00 pm
People: Me & K2 (and others – see report below)
Duration: Over 7 days
Tide: Various depending on location fishing
Bait: Bread
Method used: Float set-up
Weather: Mixed
Results: 8 Mullet
Report
Day 1 – Wednesday 11th August 2010 (2 Mullet)
K2 headed to Strangford Lough for another mullet session. He fished at 2 different marks today.
Mark 1 – He fished the first mark for approx 40 minutes, before high tide. On arrival he scanned the water and could only see a few fish about, which was poor in comparison to how many there has been here over the past few weeks or so. 15 minutes into the session, he came into contact with and hooked his fish. It gave him a good scrap before he landed it. It took his bait that was sitting slightly under the surface, this is where they where feeding more actively during this short session. He returned his fish back in and continued fishing for abit. Nothing much happened after that and so he packed up his gear as high tide approached and set off on the road to the second mark of the day.
Mark 2 – When he arrived here he could see some fish milling about on the surface of the water. He threw some ground bait in and in no time the fish started feeding well on the bread. About 30 minutes into the session he got a good bite, his float was buried and another fish was on! Again, it put up a good fight and after a few minutes he netted and landed it. He then unhooked it and returned it safely. He baited up again but it became apparent very quickly to him that the rest of the fish that had been present had gone, they had obviously been spooked by the other fish being caught and had moved away. He stayed on and fished for another short while to see if they would make an appearance but they didn’t and so with that he packed up and headed for home.
Day 2 – Friday 13th August 2010 (1 Mullet)
Friday the 13th if you’re superstitious is supposed to be an unlucky day but for K2 it proved not to be the case. He went back to Strangford Lough and caught another mullet while out on another session there. He arrived at the mark after meeting up with me for lunch and began fishing. There was a good number of fish about and they where feeding quite well on the bread he threw out to them. He was down for approx 5 minutes or so when he caught his fish, giving him a reasonable scrap on the line before again he landed it successfully. A man who had been watching him and who had seen him catch it kindly offered to take a picture for him, which he did and then the fish was released back in by K2. That was it for today’s session. He fished on for a short while and then went home.
Day 3 – Monday 16th August 2010 (2 Mullet)
With the tide now being abit later today, I was able to join K2 on today’s session. However, the rain came on very, very heavily on our way over to the mark and by the time we got there it was torrential. That made my mi d up and I decided to stay in the car instead and watch from there. Chicken I know!! The rain didn’t put K2 though and he went down and fished. We he got down there was already 2 other people fishing. Almost straight away he could see large shoals of fish swimming about in front of him, he baited up and got cast his rod out without delay. On nearly every cast he was getting bites, before finally managing to hook into a fish. It gave him a good fight, running up and down in the water stripping line from his reel trying to get free. It eventually tried and one of the other guys that were down kindly netted it for him. K2 then unhooked it and a quick picture was taken and it was put back in. By this stage the tide was on move back out and fish good numbers of fish where moving back out with it. It wasn’t long before K2 caught his second fish of the session, hooking it as it took his bread from underneath the surface. It was landed, unhooked and released again after another quick picture was taken. The rain continued to come down very heavily and after fishing on for a while K2 and the other guys all decided to call it a night and headed back up to the cars and for home to dry out! An action packed night which K2 enjoyed very much. On the way home thoughts of his next session was already on his mind.
Day 4 – Tuesday 17th August 2010 (1 Mullet)
K2 and I both went out again tonight for a mullet session. The weather was much better and so I fished this evening too. When we arrived there was no-one else there, but shortly after 3 more guys arrived and fished along with us for the mullet. As the tide flooded the fish made an appearance and so we all began fishing, taking our places along the bank. I got bites right away, we all did. I managed to hook a fish but it got off seconds later. K2 was getting bite after bite too and it wasn’t long before he showed me again how it is done. With a large splash his fish was on and so I got ready with the net. It gave K2 an almighty fight which lasted 11 minutes or so before it tired and K2 guided it over to me and into the net it went. I took a quick picture and it was released. After that I hooked into another fish but the same thing happened and it threw the hook and got off on me much to my frustration! K2 then hooked into his second fish but like me just before him, after a good scrap it got off. We all continued to get bites but nothing more was caught. Things started to go quite quiet and with the light fading and the tide beginning to fall quite quickly we all just packed up and headed for home.
Day 5 – Wednesday 18th August 2010 (2 Mullet)
We returned to the Lough tonight to fish. We arrived and no-one else was there but not very long into our session starting, we were joined by Dawsey which was great and the craic begun.
K2 and I got plenty of bites tonight and so did Dawsey who seemed to be enjoying himself out on his first mullet session for a while. I didn’t manage to catch any fish tonight however, either did Dawsey despite our best attempts but that can’t be said for K2 who again showed us up by catching another 2 fish on the night both on two different areas/sections. Both fish gave him yet again another good fight before I netted them for him. Again, I took a couple of quick pictures and they where released. Dawsey left before us but there wasn’t much action after he did and so with it getting quite dark by this stage we left for home shortly after him.
Day 6 – Thursday 19th August 2010
K2 and I arranged to meet up with Rob, a keen fly fisherman who K2 met a couple of weeks previous to tonight. The forecast didn’t look good but we went anyway and when we arrived Rob was already down at the mark ready to start fishing. There were a few fish about and we all got into the action, K2 using our float gear while Rob opted to have a go at the mullet on the fly rod. We had a few bites and Rob had a couple of takes on his rod but none of us caught anything this evening. It rained on us during the whole session and so with the dark clouds coming overhead making it get dark quite early on just after an hour and a half of starting we all decided to pack up and go home to dry out!! It was great to meet up with Rob and fish with him and to watch him fly fish for the mullet, I think I will have to give it ago myself very soon myself, it looked fun.
Day 7 – Sunday 22nd August 2010.
Not much to report on today. We met up with Rob again and a short while later Dawsey joined us. There weren’t too many fish about and any that where there opted to stay down low feeding on the bottom. Despite us throwing bread in to try and entice them up very little fish showed an interest today in feeding and not very many came up to the surface the whole time we were there. A couple of groups of fish came down and hit the top of the water on their way out but they weren’t that interested in us or our bait. Rob had a couple of fish turn on his fly, looking at it but again he never managed to actually land/catch any. He had fun trying though! I got a couple of half hearted bites on my float set-up but that was it. We fished for 4 hours, from low tide up to high and back down to low again. Our session was hampered by wasps trying to attack us constantly which didn’t help our concentration much. I then got a major tangle in my line which I just made worse as I tried to get it out and so that put an end to my session. Once the tide fell down to almost its lowest point and with not no more fish present, we all decided that that was it for the day and we set off for home. A good day was had with plenty of banter but sadly no fish caught.
Below are some photographs taken from the sessions for you to have a look at.
Duration: Over 7 days
Tide: Various depending on location fishing
Bait: Bread
Method used: Float set-up
Weather: Mixed
Results: 8 Mullet
Report
Day 1 – Wednesday 11th August 2010 (2 Mullet)
K2 headed to Strangford Lough for another mullet session. He fished at 2 different marks today.
Mark 1 – He fished the first mark for approx 40 minutes, before high tide. On arrival he scanned the water and could only see a few fish about, which was poor in comparison to how many there has been here over the past few weeks or so. 15 minutes into the session, he came into contact with and hooked his fish. It gave him a good scrap before he landed it. It took his bait that was sitting slightly under the surface, this is where they where feeding more actively during this short session. He returned his fish back in and continued fishing for abit. Nothing much happened after that and so he packed up his gear as high tide approached and set off on the road to the second mark of the day.
Mark 2 – When he arrived here he could see some fish milling about on the surface of the water. He threw some ground bait in and in no time the fish started feeding well on the bread. About 30 minutes into the session he got a good bite, his float was buried and another fish was on! Again, it put up a good fight and after a few minutes he netted and landed it. He then unhooked it and returned it safely. He baited up again but it became apparent very quickly to him that the rest of the fish that had been present had gone, they had obviously been spooked by the other fish being caught and had moved away. He stayed on and fished for another short while to see if they would make an appearance but they didn’t and so with that he packed up and headed for home.
Day 2 – Friday 13th August 2010 (1 Mullet)
Friday the 13th if you’re superstitious is supposed to be an unlucky day but for K2 it proved not to be the case. He went back to Strangford Lough and caught another mullet while out on another session there. He arrived at the mark after meeting up with me for lunch and began fishing. There was a good number of fish about and they where feeding quite well on the bread he threw out to them. He was down for approx 5 minutes or so when he caught his fish, giving him a reasonable scrap on the line before again he landed it successfully. A man who had been watching him and who had seen him catch it kindly offered to take a picture for him, which he did and then the fish was released back in by K2. That was it for today’s session. He fished on for a short while and then went home.
Day 3 – Monday 16th August 2010 (2 Mullet)
With the tide now being abit later today, I was able to join K2 on today’s session. However, the rain came on very, very heavily on our way over to the mark and by the time we got there it was torrential. That made my mi d up and I decided to stay in the car instead and watch from there. Chicken I know!! The rain didn’t put K2 though and he went down and fished. We he got down there was already 2 other people fishing. Almost straight away he could see large shoals of fish swimming about in front of him, he baited up and got cast his rod out without delay. On nearly every cast he was getting bites, before finally managing to hook into a fish. It gave him a good fight, running up and down in the water stripping line from his reel trying to get free. It eventually tried and one of the other guys that were down kindly netted it for him. K2 then unhooked it and a quick picture was taken and it was put back in. By this stage the tide was on move back out and fish good numbers of fish where moving back out with it. It wasn’t long before K2 caught his second fish of the session, hooking it as it took his bread from underneath the surface. It was landed, unhooked and released again after another quick picture was taken. The rain continued to come down very heavily and after fishing on for a while K2 and the other guys all decided to call it a night and headed back up to the cars and for home to dry out! An action packed night which K2 enjoyed very much. On the way home thoughts of his next session was already on his mind.
Day 4 – Tuesday 17th August 2010 (1 Mullet)
K2 and I both went out again tonight for a mullet session. The weather was much better and so I fished this evening too. When we arrived there was no-one else there, but shortly after 3 more guys arrived and fished along with us for the mullet. As the tide flooded the fish made an appearance and so we all began fishing, taking our places along the bank. I got bites right away, we all did. I managed to hook a fish but it got off seconds later. K2 was getting bite after bite too and it wasn’t long before he showed me again how it is done. With a large splash his fish was on and so I got ready with the net. It gave K2 an almighty fight which lasted 11 minutes or so before it tired and K2 guided it over to me and into the net it went. I took a quick picture and it was released. After that I hooked into another fish but the same thing happened and it threw the hook and got off on me much to my frustration! K2 then hooked into his second fish but like me just before him, after a good scrap it got off. We all continued to get bites but nothing more was caught. Things started to go quite quiet and with the light fading and the tide beginning to fall quite quickly we all just packed up and headed for home.
Day 5 – Wednesday 18th August 2010 (2 Mullet)
We returned to the Lough tonight to fish. We arrived and no-one else was there but not very long into our session starting, we were joined by Dawsey which was great and the craic begun.
K2 and I got plenty of bites tonight and so did Dawsey who seemed to be enjoying himself out on his first mullet session for a while. I didn’t manage to catch any fish tonight however, either did Dawsey despite our best attempts but that can’t be said for K2 who again showed us up by catching another 2 fish on the night both on two different areas/sections. Both fish gave him yet again another good fight before I netted them for him. Again, I took a couple of quick pictures and they where released. Dawsey left before us but there wasn’t much action after he did and so with it getting quite dark by this stage we left for home shortly after him.
Day 6 – Thursday 19th August 2010
K2 and I arranged to meet up with Rob, a keen fly fisherman who K2 met a couple of weeks previous to tonight. The forecast didn’t look good but we went anyway and when we arrived Rob was already down at the mark ready to start fishing. There were a few fish about and we all got into the action, K2 using our float gear while Rob opted to have a go at the mullet on the fly rod. We had a few bites and Rob had a couple of takes on his rod but none of us caught anything this evening. It rained on us during the whole session and so with the dark clouds coming overhead making it get dark quite early on just after an hour and a half of starting we all decided to pack up and go home to dry out!! It was great to meet up with Rob and fish with him and to watch him fly fish for the mullet, I think I will have to give it ago myself very soon myself, it looked fun.
Day 7 – Sunday 22nd August 2010.
Not much to report on today. We met up with Rob again and a short while later Dawsey joined us. There weren’t too many fish about and any that where there opted to stay down low feeding on the bottom. Despite us throwing bread in to try and entice them up very little fish showed an interest today in feeding and not very many came up to the surface the whole time we were there. A couple of groups of fish came down and hit the top of the water on their way out but they weren’t that interested in us or our bait. Rob had a couple of fish turn on his fly, looking at it but again he never managed to actually land/catch any. He had fun trying though! I got a couple of half hearted bites on my float set-up but that was it. We fished for 4 hours, from low tide up to high and back down to low again. Our session was hampered by wasps trying to attack us constantly which didn’t help our concentration much. I then got a major tangle in my line which I just made worse as I tried to get it out and so that put an end to my session. Once the tide fell down to almost its lowest point and with not no more fish present, we all decided that that was it for the day and we set off for home. A good day was had with plenty of banter but sadly no fish caught.
Below are some photographs taken from the sessions for you to have a look at.
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Re: More Magic! Mullet sessions on Strangford Lough - August 10.
Mon Aug 23, 2010 5:02 pm
More pictures..........
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Last edited by KERRY1 on Mon Aug 23, 2010 5:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: More Magic! Mullet sessions on Strangford Lough - August 10.
Mon Aug 23, 2010 5:02 pm
Last pictures! 
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Re: More Magic! Mullet sessions on Strangford Lough - August 10.
Mon Aug 23, 2010 5:06 pm
amazing session again, I'm made up for you and green with envy 
Had to entertain my little one over the weekend, ok it was her birthday
so I couldn't get out further than the lake with the usual embarrassing results 
.
Booked into a boat trip on Thursday to cut the blanking, hope the weather gods have mercy this time
Had to entertain my little one over the weekend, ok it was her birthday
so I couldn't get out further than the lake with the usual embarrassing results . Booked into a boat trip on Thursday to cut the blanking, hope the weather gods have mercy this time
Re: More Magic! Mullet sessions on Strangford Lough - August 10.
Mon Aug 23, 2010 5:10 pm
Great report & pics cant wait to get out a catch another one, this Mullet fishing is very addictive:wink: roll on the next one!!
cant wait to get out a catch another one, this Mullet fishing is very addictive:wink: roll on the next one!!
Re: More Magic! Mullet sessions on Strangford Lough - August 10.
Mon Aug 23, 2010 5:28 pm
Had a good laugh and enjoyed the company and these two really know how to fish for mullet and the advice I got, you couldnt pay for. Cheers rob
Re: More Magic! Mullet sessions on Strangford Lough - August 10.
Mon Aug 23, 2010 6:59 pm
pookie5488 wrote:Had a good laugh and enjoyed the company and these two really know how to fish for mullet and the advice I got, you couldnt pay for. Cheers rob
know what you mean, that's what's it all about, fish&fun
Re: More Magic! Mullet sessions on Strangford Lough - August 10.
Mon Aug 23, 2010 7:45 pm
well done paula and norm
Re: More Magic! Mullet sessions on Strangford Lough - August 10.
Mon Aug 23, 2010 9:27 pm
great report paula and a big well done to norman thats some amount of fish in a few days
Re: More Magic! Mullet sessions on Strangford Lough - August 10.
Mon Aug 23, 2010 9:43 pm
looks like you guys have mastered the mullet fishing, hope we cross paths some day and you can show me how you do it. no shortage of them round here and there monster mullet 
Re: More Magic! Mullet sessions on Strangford Lough - August 10.
Mon Aug 23, 2010 9:55 pm
great fishing well done
Re: More Magic! Mullet sessions on Strangford Lough - August 10.
Tue Aug 24, 2010 10:09 am
Great report & great pictures. Well done
Re: More Magic! Mullet sessions on Strangford Lough - August 10.
Tue Aug 24, 2010 10:40 am
well done.. i seen ya's down there when passing
Re: More Magic! Mullet sessions on Strangford Lough - August 10.
Tue Aug 24, 2010 3:49 pm
great camera job paula, another super session guys well done
Re: More Magic! Mullet sessions on Strangford Lough - August 10.
Tue Aug 24, 2010 11:15 pm
Well done
Re: More Magic! Mullet sessions on Strangford Lough - August 10.
Wed Aug 25, 2010 12:06 am
inspiring post..... 
Re: More Magic! Mullet sessions on Strangford Lough - August 10.
Thu Aug 26, 2010 10:23 am
The Austrian wrote:amazing session again, I'm made up for you and green with envy
Had to entertain my little one over the weekend, ok it was her birthday
Booked into a boat trip on Thursday to cut the blanking, hope the weather gods have mercy this time
Thanks Martin
I hope the father duties over the weekend didn't cause you too much heartache, I hope your wallet survived!! I hope the boat trip goes well for you, although I'll not hold out much hope of the weather being decent, we are in Ireland after all!! FisherKing wrote:Great report & pics
Thanks Brian, I'm sure your still smiling after getting your first one. Your right, it's a very addictive type of fishing indeed.
pookie5488 wrote:Had a good laugh and enjoyed the company and these two really know how to fish for mullet and the advice I got, you couldnt pay for. Cheers rob
Rob, what can I say. It was a pleasure to meet you, the banter was mighty and the fishing was too. See you at the weekend mate
Re: More Magic! Mullet sessions on Strangford Lough - August 10.
Thu Aug 26, 2010 11:22 am
KERRY1 wrote:Thanks Martin
as long as they are happy I'm happy Paula
unfortunately I was forced to call off my participation in the trip, loads of work coming in since Monday morning, all regulars, can't let them down either, JW wasn't too impressed I can tell you he even said he's not going to book me into any of his trips in the future 
oh well, you can't please everybody 
that's life, such a pity, weather conditions today are superb and I'm stuck here with all these banjaxed Computers 
Re: More Magic! Mullet sessions on Strangford Lough - August 10.
Thu Aug 26, 2010 1:07 pm
The Austrian wrote:as long as they are happy I'm happy Paula
Jes', could you have a word with K2 and get him around to that way of thinking please Martin!
Re: More Magic! Mullet sessions on Strangford Lough - August 10.
Fri Aug 27, 2010 10:21 am
saving private brian wrote:well done paula and norm
Thanks Brian
Have you tried for them yet or do you still think they are just stupid mullet and not worth the bother tight lines wrote:great report paula and a big well done to norman thats some amount of fish in a few days
Thanks tight lines. Norman has done brilliantly this year at them , it’s a pity I couldn’t say the same myself.
Although it has to be said while K2 is going for quantity, I’m going for quality!!
Lolplumster wrote:looks like you guys have mastered the mullet fishing, hope we cross paths some day and you can show me how you do it. no shortage of them round here and there monster mullet
Thanks plumster, you just have to keep going at them and not let them beat you. Monster mullet you say
we’ll be crossing paths quicker than you think telling me things like that!