He strikes again!! Hooked on the Mullet in Strangford Lough

People: Me, K2 and Tom H

Date: Wednesday 7th July 2010.

Duration: 2 hours

Tide: Low up to high

Bait: Bread

Method used: Float set up (very light tackle)

Weather: Cloudy, dry with virtually no wind

Results: 2 thick-lipped mullet for K2


Report

With the tides for the end of the week becoming later and later it meant that K2 and I wouldn’t be able to fish one of our favourite marks in Strangford Lough any night for the rest of the week and so we decided that we would make the most of any chance we did have to go and headed out for a couple of hours.
It was another fine night and with a couple of hours of daylight left and after what was a bad day at work for me what more of an excuse or reason did I need to go out for a spot of fishing to clear the mind.

We fished the same state of tide that we have been over the past few times down at this particular location from low water on the rise up to high and with a bigger tide forecasted for the night we were hoping more fish would be pushed in and up with it and that was the case with a good number moving up as the tide flooded.

A mate of ours Tom H had contacted us earlier on in the night to see if we were going out for a session – err.....”Stupid question!” I said to myself with “Yes, we’re on our way over now” being the answer. When K2 and I arrived Tom was already there and so without hesitation we all took our places along the bank and waited patiently for the fish to make an appearance.
Conditions were ideal/perfect, and with hardly a breath of wind the water was like a mill pond. If any fish broke the surface or made a movement under the water we were going to have no problem spotting them tonight.
We didn’t have to wait long before we spotted bubbles rising to the top of the water along with some mullet that came up for a look too.
That’s all we needed to get us moving into position and so without further delay we baited up and got down to business in hand.

Like the few nights previous, most of the fish stayed down deep with only a few coming up and taking the bread that was floating on top of the water.
We got them feeding well and so it looked very promising. I got a few bites during the session and Thomas had quite a few early on in the night but then like for me, at the end for about the last hour things went quiet with not much action to report.

The same can’t be said for K2 who again, as always seemed to have the magic touch where the mullet are concerned.
Not long into the session he hit into what was to be his first fish of two caught on the night. It took his bread that he had sunk below the water hitting it hard as it flew by like a torpedo and from the battle was on!! As K2 played his fish, I ran over to Thomas who was beside us and asked him if I could borrow his net as our one was around the corner on another bank and I didn’t want to risk going around for it incase K2 needed a net quickly.
The fish gave K2 a good scrap, going on a couple or really big powerful runs trying to get away. After approx. 7 minutes (which felt like to me more like 7 hours) the fight was over and K2 guided the fish towards me slowly and carefully for me to net it. Once it was safely in the net we walked over to the bank, unhooked it, took a quick picture and it was released unharmed but perhaps a little daunted from its journey into outer space!!

The tide had started to flood nicely at this stage and so we moved to a different section of the bank that is just around the corner abit where a few fish had moved up to.
Within 10 minutes of fishing here, and on only his third cast in K2 hooked into his second fish of the evening
It was again caught using the same tactics as before, with bread that was sunk underneath the surface where the fish were feeding. In almost a repeat of the first time, the fish gave him a good old scrap before it tired out enough allowing me to net it successfully. Another quick couple of pics were taken and the fish was released back in by K2.

We all continued to fish on for a while after that until it started to get so dark that we weren’t able to see our floats very well anymore and so we called it a day and made our way back up to the cars and headed for home.

Yet again, I had another really enjoyable night out fishing and with both great crack and great company what more could I ask for..........apart from to have caught a fish myself that is!! Next time!!

To be continued.............

Below are a few pictures of our session for you to look at.

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well done on your mullet Norman.

Well done ,,,,,,,,,excellent report and piccies Paula,,,,stormin Norman strikes again

fair play guys "STORMIN NORMAN" does the buisness again . it must be your turn for a fish by now paula . tell him to let you into that corner instead of hogging it all to himself

nice 1 good fishing

nice 1 good fishing

Another fine Mullet,well done Norman you'l get your one soon paula hopefully a specimen I was trying them again yesterday but no joy,but will be back again soon!!

Brilliant fishing and a lovely looking venue....................NICE

sweet fish norman,and nice pics paula,your normans lucky guillie!

Well done on the mullet Norman. Yours will come soon enough Paula.

Looks like a very nice mark you's were fishing there Paula, would you chance a seatrout from the area, i reckon if the mullet travel up it than the trout should also be around,

Great pictures and a enjoyable report

well done on your mullet Norman.

Thanks Thomas, it was an enjoyable night out fishing despite us both not catching anything ourselves That Norman one is just greedy!! Cheers for the lend of your net

Well done ,,,,,,,,,excellent report and piccies Paula,,,,stormin Norman strikes again

Thanks Dave I think that name might stick ''Stormin Norman'' He is certainly stormin ahead of me with the mullet that's for sure!

fair play guys "STORMIN NORMAN" does the buisness again . it must be your turn for a fish by now paula . tell him to let you into that corner instead of hogging it all to himself

I'll get another one soon enough Al, I am trying but it's not easy as you know yourself, "Stormin Norman" just makes it look that way

nice 1 good fishing

Thanks Alan, good luck yourself

K2 and myself went for a drive around Strangford Lough at the weekend and we did a spot of mullet fishing while we where there of course!
This gave me a chance to try out my new digital camera that I bought last week and so I took a few pics with it. A few can be seen below.
One of the pictures below shows you the problems that you come accross when out fishing for mullet. Instead of groundbaiting with bread and feeding the fish we ended up feeding half the seagull population of Strangford Lough instead!!

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Another fine Mullet,well done Norman you'l get your one soon paula hopefully a specimen I was trying them again yesterday but no joy,but will be back again soon!!

Thanks Brain A specimen would be nice but one of any size at the minute would be great too!
Have you lost your sanity yet yourself fishing for them.......if you haven’t it won’t be too long until you do! Keep at it, you’ll get one soon and when you do you’ll be glad you did when you experience how hard they fight. Great crack!
Are they showing any interest in your bread/bait that you are using?

Brilliant fishing and a lovely looking venue....................NICE

Thanks fishboy, it’s a great venue to fish alright making it popular and therefore it can get quite busy/crowded at times. But that's o.k, the more bread being thrown in the better!

sweet fish norman,and nice pics paula,your normans lucky guillie!

Ha Noel, tell me about it, I am Norman’s lucky guille alright........as well as his net minder, photographer etc. I am going to start charging him if this keeps up. What do you think – a fiver for every fish netted and photographed. I might as well make abit of money out of it!

Well done on the mullet Norman. Yours will come soon enough Paula.

Thanks Tom I hope you are right (but sure you always are, ha!ha! )

Looks like a very nice mark you's were fishing there Paula, would you chance a seatrout from the area, i reckon if the mullet travel up it than the trout should also be around, Great pictures and a enjoyable report

Thanks mann. And yes, you are right, there can a good run/presence off seatrout in that area I am fishing. A few boys fish for them all the time there using several methods such as worm, spinning and fly-fishing. I’ve yet to try it myself but I intend to very soon just to give myself something else different to target for a change. Hopefully I’ll have more luck with them compared to what I have had so far with the mullet.

great report again Paula, cracing pictures well done Norman on your mullets nice session

Another fine Mullet,well done Norman you'l get your one soon paula hopefully a specimen I was trying them again yesterday but no joy,but will be back again soon!!

Thanks Brain A specimen would be nice but one of any size at the minute would be great too!
Have you lost your sanity yet yourself fishing for them.......if you haven’t it won’t be too long until you do! Keep at it, you’ll get one soon and when you do you’ll be glad you did when you experience how hard they fight. Great crack!
Are they showing any interest in your bread/bait that you are using?

Love the new pics Paula, I was free lining bread for them but they weren't to interested & even tried a small Limpet for the craic as I rember my Father catching one a good few years ago on Limets couldn't belive it must have been very hungery Mullet

great report again Paula, cracing pictures well done Norman on your mullets nice session

Thanks grady It was a great session for K2 again anyway, not so much for me blanking again I was kept busy however carrying out my normal duties of netting his fish, taking the photo’s and writing the report. I seem to be better at that than I am at actually catching the mullet for myself!!

Love the new pics Paula, I was free lining bread for them but they weren't to interested & even tried a small Limpet for the craic as I rember my Father catching one a good few years ago on Limets couldn't belive it must have been very hungery Mullet

Thanks Brian, it was good getting out for the chance to take the extra pics as it meant that I was able to test out my new camera to see if I liked it or not. I do so I am keeping it. There’s just so many buttons on it, you’d need a degree to know all what they do!
Stick at the mullet fishing mate, I know you’d love to get one and you will eventually. Keep going down to the mark where you have seen them hanging around and keep throwing bread in at them. Hopefully eventually that will get them used to it and they will start feeding better for you. It’s just maybe going to take a while for you to get them feeding as it does with the mullet but the way to beat them is to just stick at it. Getting them to feed in the first place can be a real challenge, once you’ve cracked that part then your well on your way to catching one. I hope you do They can be fussy wee buggers, one day they will show an interest in your bread, the next they won’t even look at it. Every day is different when you go fishing for them and just when you think you have them sussed out they go and prove you wrong and change their feeding habits just like that meaning you have to suss them out all over again. The slightest wee thing can put them off the feed. That’s why mullet fishing can be so frustrating sometimes, they would drive you mental! Keep your tackle as light as possible as they are very easily spooked. If your float, line or hooks are too big or stand out to much in the water then they will not come anywhere near you.
Good luck and remember, stay calm....don’t let them get to you although it’s easier said than done!