Mullet on the fly

Total disaster today.
Up late. Bad head. Missed the shop for the maggots.
Got to the fishing mark to discover that despite a good high tide, there wasn't a fish in sight.
Then 4 lads turned up and started yelling at each other and throwing stones in while they drank beer and practised swearing.
I made about half a dozen casts with my fly rod, with floating fake bread, having waded out, and quit when the amount of scum around me became unbearable.

I guess sometimes you just ain't meant to fish.

Still, I sat on the bank, ate my pasty and tried to enjoy the last of the evening sun.

Mullet Spotting 2

I returned to the scene of the mullet spotting with my decent camera. Using it at full telephoto, with polarising filter, I got some cracking piccys of the mullet.
Just standing and watching them for an hour or so certainly is a lesson in observation and makes you really think about your next fishing trip.
(These pics are heavily cropped, and also tweaked regards color and contrast.)



A friend turned up in his canoe, and drifting alongside the weed, the fish hardly moved. You can see here that they arent small ones :-)
Im guessing they are around 3 to maybe 5 lb.

Mullet Spotting

I had a wander down to the creek this evening, as I was in the area.
This time my time wasn't wasted. I spotted some cracking mullet, about 6 to 8 feet from the waters edge, in only 12 to 18 inches of water.
There was about ten in the shoal, and averaging about 3 to 4lb as far I could tell.
I was about 40 feet above them on the road, but my camera phone did me proud, and with a lot of tweaking in Photoshop, you can just about make out two of them right in the middle of this image, appearing as grey fishy backs an inch or two under the surface in a clear patch in the weed. They seemed to love hanging about right on the edge of the weed, or in the little clear pockets in between.

Ill be going back at the end of the week (if I can) to try for them on the Fly :-)

Mullet / Trout

Sometimes, we get one of those trips that seems to be a failure, only to end up being a little gem.

Last night, I finally got myself out of the house after work, and headed down to a local creek, that feeds into the river Lynher, and then onto the Tamar.

I was told by a work friend who had recently moved down there, that he had seen big mullet (up to about 6lb or so) moving up with the tide in very shallow water.
This was enough for me - I planned to catch the tide just after it started to come in, and target the mullet as they came in with it. I got down there, but soon realised that the tide was too low, and wasn't going to be in till after dark.

Walking back to the car, I remembered the tiny stream that feeds in at the top of the creek. This stream goes down through all the houses gardens in the tiny valley, then follows the road, and goes under the road through a tiny 'bridge' of sorts (more like a small tunnel of about 4ft diameter) then immediacy flows into the creek.

I peeked over the wall next to the car, and saw half a dozen small fish scatter back under the road. I also spotted an 18 inch black eel of about 1lb or so slither away into the darkness.
My trip wasn't over then :-)

I tied on a tiny swivel, then 2ft of 4lb line, then a size 18 barbless hook. I pinched on a tiny pea sized lump of bread, and just peeking over the edge of the wall, lowered it down.

After a while I wandered if I was wasting my time, then I had that familiar pluck on the line. I had several little knocks like that, but wasn't hooking anything, and wandered about hook size and bait etc. Then I clearly hooked into something, and the little fella went mad, but lifting him out the water, he fell off. This happened 3 more times, and I realised that a micro barbed hook would have been a better idea.

With the light failing, I deiced to try the other side of the bridge, to took 4 paces backwards and looked over the edge. It was pitch black. The wall was higher here, about 4 ft, and surrounded by foliage, so I just lowered the bait down and let it trickle under the road to see what would happen.....dink...dink..... hello !
A couple more times, and then the rod plucked and I lifted into it. The exciting fast twiddling coming up the rod told me I was in. I lifted and realised that it wasn't one of the tiny fish Id seen earlier. There was splashing below, and I lifted before he fell off again. Over the wall came a wriggling fish to my hand.

I was very happy indeed. A lovely little brown trout, and a nice way to rescue a spontaneous trip that appeared to have failed.

I slipped him back, smiling like a fool.


I noted that these trout must be very tolerant of brackish water, as the tide comes right up to that bridge, and they cant swim up the stream, as it turns into a very shallow trickle.

Now some fish.

OK, now for some actual fish :-)
These are from some past trips, to kick off this diary....



Here's my first double figure carp. 13lb. Caught from an old irrigation lake that turned out to only have about a dozen carp in it to 20lb.
I was very pleased :-)


First ever rudd, which is more likely to be a goldfish hybrid.




Introducing Mike "two sheds" Mallet, with a beautiful tench and a very lucky picture on my camera phone :-)

Mike again, with the smallest pike weve ever seen, caught on a lob worm meant for perch just as the light was about to go (hence the bad picture quality)




My first and only Mullet to date !



I love the look on this carps face...
"oh god how embarassing, Im caught first cast...."
Stunningly perfect fish though :-)




My best Carp to date. 20lb 2oz :-)




My best Tench to date 4lb 2oz.



Mike being a jammy git with yet another 2lb roach.


Now hes just showing off. A brace of 1lb 8oz roach caught at the same time on both rods ! lol


Lastly, my mates son Alex, with his first carp of 9lb.

The daft grin says it all really :-)