Cork Harbour Tidal Area- The Mullet Hunt

This time of year I would normally be fly fishing for trout, but of course that is now off limits.
However I do have a tidal inlet of Cork Harbour within a 2km walk of my house. This spot only has water in it either side of high tide- the window at which there is water depends on the size of the tide.
I have always seen mullet there, but never targeted them before. That has all changed!

Now note I am a complete novice at this type of fishing so I do not expect success to be fast. I will be using my fly rod because it's the best tool I have for the job , but have no delusions of grandeur- I will use pinched on bread on the bare hook if necessary. This is no time to be a purist!

Day 1

I took a wander down with a couple of slices of bread and started to flick small pieces into spots I had seen mullet last year. Nothing happening. None of the normal signs of fish around (V-wakes, swirls etc)
I decided to take a walk around to where it was a bit shallower (this was a particularly big tide) and saw a few small fish cruising around. I took up station up tide of them and started to flick the bread pieces so they would travel down the current to the fish.

The pieces just all passed by without a touch. I tried to get closer to observe the fish but they spooked and bolted off. Game over for that day

Day 2

I decided to change tack and try and get a bread trail going from one spot and attract the fish to me. To this end I got the last bit of bread I had plus an onion bag. I set up at a nice spot that has a bit of height above the water.
My big issue here was a distinct lack of bread (the supermarket run was earmarked for later).

I put most of my broken up bread bread in the onion bag, tied a length of line to it and threw it out into the gradually incoming tide. I couple of shakes on the line and I could see a pleasing trail of bread soup heading down tide from the bag.
At this point I realised I left my flybox at home (with my work of art bread flies- both dry flies and nymphs!). I found two little bits of bread on the ground and a loose hook in my tackle box- so I was not going to get many chances. I pinched on the bread onto the hook.

I was set up at a good spot.Where I had my onion bag there is a nice bit of weed there also the weed opens up into a little clear bay maybe 10 or 15 feet wide. It was into this bay that I saw the tell tale wakes of a couple of mullet. It was cloudy and the water quite coloured so I didn't see the fish themselves.

I had left my fly rod leaning against a bush just out of reach. I stood up to pick up the rod- bad move! The wakes bolted off. As a trial run I decided to see if I would be able to cast accurately should the occasion arise , and I found I could hit the spot. I left the baited hook in place (under a small strike indicator) and gave the bag a shake to try and get the bread trail going again and hopefully attract the fish back. After a while I checked the bag and saw that my measly amount of groundbait had all dissolved and floated away. As I had no more bread and I had been out a couple of hours it was time to walk home.

Tomorrow will be day three. I have a full white sliced pan ready to rock, I won't forget my flybox and I will be sat rod at the ready so I will make minimal movement when the time comes to cast.

All advice, tips and guidance gratefully accepted in the meantime!

Seems like you aren't doing much wrong that's the way I used to catch them that way only I used a light spinning rod with just a single bread baited hook. They can drive you insane at times but other times they'll take freely. So persevere they're a great scrap!

I've also seen a guy out fish bread using a gold zulu fly the mullet seemed to love it

Cheers glad to know I'm on the right track. I have heard of people catching with all sort of flies: Diawl Bach, shrimp imitations etc. I think I will stick with the bread on the hook (either natural or imitation) because if I start thinking about trying different flies it is just one more variable to worry about.
I think the fight will be great, I am just visualising the fish tearing away across the flat with the ratchet on the reel going like crazy . . . ohh yeah

Thats pretty much what will happen they fight like demons!

I would reckon you'll have to persevere with the bag of bread until the fish discover that it is a ready source of grub. I would also get them used to seeing you. Mullet are not always that spooky. Once they get used to the feed you'll contact with them. It is always better if there are a few fish around as they'll take more aggressively when there is competition.

Jim I'd say you're dead right they are definitely not used to the feed because the first day they ignored the bread completely.

My biggest issue is I can't get down there on successive days so it's going to be tough to build up the confidence. It's Monday since I was last down so I don't know how fast they will be to key into the bag of bread

I find tying bread flies gives you much better control and opportunity to cast and fish with confidence rather than bread flying off a hook when trying to change direction of cast. If you have the onion sack in the water the bread will probably be in the water rather than on top of it. To represent that bread a simple fly tied of rabbit zonker white works well. If they're feeding on something else try fdrift a diawl back if there's a current/flow over them if not cast beyond them and retrieve slowly through them.

Day 3 Friday 17th April

Miserable afternoon- it was raining steadily the entire time with a chilly breeze. There wasn't even a glimpse of a fish, I guess the rain must put them down.

The onion bag of bread is well set up though. I have it on a long length of line which means I can get it perfectly out into the channel and drag it into position. A good tug on the line sends the bread soup down tide which is pleasing. Hopefully the next day I go (probably next Saturday) will be better!