I have chosen recently to wind myself up targeting mullet again. It's like winding back to my teenage years, chasing girls who I know in the end will just reject me, it's bloody agonising! I will get the better of these fish eventually, but I'm not expecting miracles. Luckily enough I have had some small successes targeting other species too, which keeps the spirits up. This post is about them.
Ellie is originally from Leicestershire and last Thursday I finally got to meet her extended family. We had set aside a day to try some fishing too, targeting zander and pike. Staying in Hinckley, I found out that the Ashby Canal nearby was free fishing and had a population of 'zeds', so figured it was worth a try. We soon learned why it was free fishing, the canal is the colour of rich brown soup, churned up constantly by boat traffic. We didn't feel confident. After blanking for two hours in a couple of different spots we left it and had some lunch with Ellie's grandparents instead. A much more worthwhile endeavour.
After more entertaining family greetings (and fantastic home made indian food!), we decided to give a stretch of the the River Soar in the east of Leicester a go (after asking advice in a local tackle shop, always a good idea when you don't know the area). It was early evening and if there was any time we could potentially get a zander it was then. We arrived at a very inviting stretch, where a marina inlet caused a fork in the river. Though it was weedy it looked like a great fish holding area, and so it proved to be. I was using my LRF gear, casting a five gram jig head with a Crazy Fish Vibro Worm in peach and custard colours, it looked fantastic in the clear water. On my third retrieve I saw a pike miss my lure then snatch it at the second attempt. It went off like a rocket, diving in and out of the weeds, taking line. I've had pike on light tackle before but, even though this wasn't a large fish, it pulled like few pike I've ever had the pleasure of hooking. After about a minute of adrenaline fuelled action it was in the net, at between three to four pounds, not a monster, but certainly my favourite pike of the year so far. The funniest part was, in Ellie's excitement to get the net, she had reeled in her rod quickly and netted my fish, it was only when we put the fish on the landing mat, that she realised she had caught a pike too! On the end of her plug was a pike only just bigger than it, she quickly put it back in the water, feeling terrible she hadn't realised she had hooked it. We got the pictures of both though and they swam away fine, we both laughed at how we had a double hook-up without even realising it! After that entertaining start we were hoping for more, but as is often the way in fishing, those proved to be the only fish of the evening. We didn't mind though, we were truly knackered after a long day and headed back to the hotel in fine spirits.
I certainly would like to try around the Leicester area again, it has some fantastic fishing available, but money, time and the reality of a full time job are always against me unfortunately, but I was happy with the result of a cumulative of three hours fishing that day.
My next trip was after those dastardly mullet again. I know there's probably somebody reading this who's really adept at catching mullet of both types, I'm not there yet, but with all this practice I hope to soon be. One thing I've taken away from it so far is location is everything, spinning for thin lips is much easier if you can see the groups of them and is in slightly deeper water, where they are more confident. Whilst thick lips just require patience and a large amount of groundbait.
Ellie has been desperate to catch a schoolie bass, not even a big one, just a schoolie, apparently she just loves the name. I knew exactly where to take her, Kingsbridge. It turned out to be a good idea, as baited spinners proved lethal for them, Ellie caught one on her first cast and as the tide came in we must of had nearly forty by the end. Only tiny fish really, but it ticked off the schoolie bass for her and it was great fun, even if the strong winds made casting sometimes very difficult. I also managed to hook a thick lipped mullet in the back accidentally in the shallows, it then did its best impression of a bonefish as it shot off, I managed to get it in eventually but as I reached for it in the mud, it snapped my line! Completely my own fault, I left my net with Ellie and rushed it, at least I could feel better that the hook was barbless and would easily fall out of the fish. I cursed myself for being an impatient idiot though, a rush of blood to the head happens to everyone at some point I suppose. Catching bass after bass got a little monotonous in the end and we had one last try at the top of the creek, where I watched a large thin lip bite the end of my ragworm but miss the hook... After a couple more bass giving me false hope, I decided I had tortured myself enough and it was time to head home.
A couple of days later I fancied winding myself up some more. I figured Tamerton Creek in Tamerton Foliot could have some potential for mullet. I arrived near high tide to find the place pretty much deserted, only a few small fish cruising around. I float fished some bread for a while but realised I was wasting my time, somewhere else had to be more fruitful. Millbay would be my next target, usually there are hundreds of mullet there. When I got there though I couldn't see one! These fish don't play by any rules. There were quite a few anglers about float fishing and chucking feathers and I figured I could always try on the bottom for a flatfish or gurnard. I had a spinner set up for mullet just in case and a few ragworm (that mostly were a little too big for the tactic), so I decided to try along the bottom, using the spinner as an attractant for the trailing live ragworm. Finding a quiet spot I quickly caught two hard fighting pollock, no great size but they really go well on LRF tackle. A young lad came along asking for advice so I stopped for a bit to help him out, he was after mackerel, he only stayed for about fifteen minutes though and as soon as he left they arrived! Baitfish leaping clear of the water as they chased them to the surface. I cast to them and immediately had a fish on, only a small one but I love the way they zip around even at that size. Unfortunately with the mackerel there it didn't take long for the feather chuckers to start casting over my head, a couple of them were pretty decent guys who were very interested in the technique I was using, but another seemed to be trying his best to stamp all over my gear, which as you can imagine got annoying quick. He soon left though and the other guys stuck around with some decent conversation. I was very slowly dragging the spinner along the bottom, stopping occasionally. It really worked well and I had a fish nearly every cast including a couple of new ones for me, The usual suspects were there, pollock , rock goby, and ballan wrasse, but some surprised me like a small silver eel (luckily it was easy to unhook), a couple of small whiting (which I was completely unexpecting) and a fish I have been trying to catch for a while now, a dragonet. When I caught the dragonet I probably looked quite silly in front of the guys, getting very excited about such a small unassuming fish, but after targeting them a couple of times I had caught one, which felt great. It had turned out to be a very productive hour or so, seven species, still no mullet, but there's always next time.
Totals after that are:
Ben - 37 Species - Perch, Roach, Gudgeon, Rudd, Bream/Roach hybrid, Mirror Carp, Pike, Rainbow Trout, Common Blenny, Corkwring Wrasse, Tompot Blenny, Ballan Wrasse, Rock Goby, Common Carp, Ghost Carp, Black Goby, Pollock, Goldsinny Wrasse, Golden Rudd, Golden Orfe, Blue Orfe, Golden Tench, Crucian Carp, Sand Smelt, Giant Goby, Long Spined Sea Scorpion, Lesser-Spotted Dogfish, Bull Huss, European Eel, Topknot, Common Minnow, Three Spined Stickleback, Sea Bass, Mackerel, Bronze Bream, Whiting & Dragonet
Olly - 25 Species - Perch, Rainbow Trout, Pike, Rudd, Roach, Mirror Carp, Common Carp, Pollock, Ballan Wrasse, Goldsinny Wrasse, Common Blenny, Shore Rockling, Corkwring Wrasse, Golden Rudd, Blue Orfe, Golden Tench, Sea Bass, Giant Goby, Bull Huss, Gudgeon, Crucian Carp, European Eel, Ghost Carp, Poor Cod & Mackerel
Ellie - 25 Species - Golden Rudd, Rudd, Roach, Gudgeon, Perch, Pike, Corkwring Wrasse, Pollock, Mirror Carp, Ghost Carp, Black Goby, Tompot Blenny, Long Spined Sea Scorpion, Ballan Wrasse, Common Blenny, Golden Tench, Golden Orfe, Bronze Bream, Crucian Carp, Common Carp, Giant Goby, Bull Huss, Three Spined Stickleback, Mackerel & Sea Bass
Will - 14 Species - Rudd, Roach, Gudgeon, Pike, Tompot Blenny, Corkwring Wrasse, Common Carp, Mirror Carp, Common Goby, Ballan Wrasse, Dogfish, Golden Rudd, Golden Tench & Golden Orfe
Shane - 14 Species - Rudd, Roach/Bream Hybrid, Crucian Carp, Pollock, Shore Rockling, Common Carp, Mirror Carp, Roach, Bull Huss, Lesser-Spotted Dogfish, Corkwring Wrasse, Common Blenny, Mackerel & Giant Goby
Robbie - 13 Species - Perch, Mirror Carp, Roach, Rudd, Eel, Ballan Wrasse, Topknot, Crucian Carp, Common Carp, Golden Rudd, Blue Orfe, Pollock & Mackerel
Head over to www.fishingtails.co.uk for quality articles and fishing reports.
As always, thanks for reading.
Ellie is originally from Leicestershire and last Thursday I finally got to meet her extended family. We had set aside a day to try some fishing too, targeting zander and pike. Staying in Hinckley, I found out that the Ashby Canal nearby was free fishing and had a population of 'zeds', so figured it was worth a try. We soon learned why it was free fishing, the canal is the colour of rich brown soup, churned up constantly by boat traffic. We didn't feel confident. After blanking for two hours in a couple of different spots we left it and had some lunch with Ellie's grandparents instead. A much more worthwhile endeavour.
After more entertaining family greetings (and fantastic home made indian food!), we decided to give a stretch of the the River Soar in the east of Leicester a go (after asking advice in a local tackle shop, always a good idea when you don't know the area). It was early evening and if there was any time we could potentially get a zander it was then. We arrived at a very inviting stretch, where a marina inlet caused a fork in the river. Though it was weedy it looked like a great fish holding area, and so it proved to be. I was using my LRF gear, casting a five gram jig head with a Crazy Fish Vibro Worm in peach and custard colours, it looked fantastic in the clear water. On my third retrieve I saw a pike miss my lure then snatch it at the second attempt. It went off like a rocket, diving in and out of the weeds, taking line. I've had pike on light tackle before but, even though this wasn't a large fish, it pulled like few pike I've ever had the pleasure of hooking. After about a minute of adrenaline fuelled action it was in the net, at between three to four pounds, not a monster, but certainly my favourite pike of the year so far. The funniest part was, in Ellie's excitement to get the net, she had reeled in her rod quickly and netted my fish, it was only when we put the fish on the landing mat, that she realised she had caught a pike too! On the end of her plug was a pike only just bigger than it, she quickly put it back in the water, feeling terrible she hadn't realised she had hooked it. We got the pictures of both though and they swam away fine, we both laughed at how we had a double hook-up without even realising it! After that entertaining start we were hoping for more, but as is often the way in fishing, those proved to be the only fish of the evening. We didn't mind though, we were truly knackered after a long day and headed back to the hotel in fine spirits.
I certainly would like to try around the Leicester area again, it has some fantastic fishing available, but money, time and the reality of a full time job are always against me unfortunately, but I was happy with the result of a cumulative of three hours fishing that day.
My next trip was after those dastardly mullet again. I know there's probably somebody reading this who's really adept at catching mullet of both types, I'm not there yet, but with all this practice I hope to soon be. One thing I've taken away from it so far is location is everything, spinning for thin lips is much easier if you can see the groups of them and is in slightly deeper water, where they are more confident. Whilst thick lips just require patience and a large amount of groundbait.
Ellie has been desperate to catch a schoolie bass, not even a big one, just a schoolie, apparently she just loves the name. I knew exactly where to take her, Kingsbridge. It turned out to be a good idea, as baited spinners proved lethal for them, Ellie caught one on her first cast and as the tide came in we must of had nearly forty by the end. Only tiny fish really, but it ticked off the schoolie bass for her and it was great fun, even if the strong winds made casting sometimes very difficult. I also managed to hook a thick lipped mullet in the back accidentally in the shallows, it then did its best impression of a bonefish as it shot off, I managed to get it in eventually but as I reached for it in the mud, it snapped my line! Completely my own fault, I left my net with Ellie and rushed it, at least I could feel better that the hook was barbless and would easily fall out of the fish. I cursed myself for being an impatient idiot though, a rush of blood to the head happens to everyone at some point I suppose. Catching bass after bass got a little monotonous in the end and we had one last try at the top of the creek, where I watched a large thin lip bite the end of my ragworm but miss the hook... After a couple more bass giving me false hope, I decided I had tortured myself enough and it was time to head home.
A couple of days later I fancied winding myself up some more. I figured Tamerton Creek in Tamerton Foliot could have some potential for mullet. I arrived near high tide to find the place pretty much deserted, only a few small fish cruising around. I float fished some bread for a while but realised I was wasting my time, somewhere else had to be more fruitful. Millbay would be my next target, usually there are hundreds of mullet there. When I got there though I couldn't see one! These fish don't play by any rules. There were quite a few anglers about float fishing and chucking feathers and I figured I could always try on the bottom for a flatfish or gurnard. I had a spinner set up for mullet just in case and a few ragworm (that mostly were a little too big for the tactic), so I decided to try along the bottom, using the spinner as an attractant for the trailing live ragworm. Finding a quiet spot I quickly caught two hard fighting pollock, no great size but they really go well on LRF tackle. A young lad came along asking for advice so I stopped for a bit to help him out, he was after mackerel, he only stayed for about fifteen minutes though and as soon as he left they arrived! Baitfish leaping clear of the water as they chased them to the surface. I cast to them and immediately had a fish on, only a small one but I love the way they zip around even at that size. Unfortunately with the mackerel there it didn't take long for the feather chuckers to start casting over my head, a couple of them were pretty decent guys who were very interested in the technique I was using, but another seemed to be trying his best to stamp all over my gear, which as you can imagine got annoying quick. He soon left though and the other guys stuck around with some decent conversation. I was very slowly dragging the spinner along the bottom, stopping occasionally. It really worked well and I had a fish nearly every cast including a couple of new ones for me, The usual suspects were there, pollock , rock goby, and ballan wrasse, but some surprised me like a small silver eel (luckily it was easy to unhook), a couple of small whiting (which I was completely unexpecting) and a fish I have been trying to catch for a while now, a dragonet. When I caught the dragonet I probably looked quite silly in front of the guys, getting very excited about such a small unassuming fish, but after targeting them a couple of times I had caught one, which felt great. It had turned out to be a very productive hour or so, seven species, still no mullet, but there's always next time.
Totals after that are:
Ben - 37 Species - Perch, Roach, Gudgeon, Rudd, Bream/Roach hybrid, Mirror Carp, Pike, Rainbow Trout, Common Blenny, Corkwring Wrasse, Tompot Blenny, Ballan Wrasse, Rock Goby, Common Carp, Ghost Carp, Black Goby, Pollock, Goldsinny Wrasse, Golden Rudd, Golden Orfe, Blue Orfe, Golden Tench, Crucian Carp, Sand Smelt, Giant Goby, Long Spined Sea Scorpion, Lesser-Spotted Dogfish, Bull Huss, European Eel, Topknot, Common Minnow, Three Spined Stickleback, Sea Bass, Mackerel, Bronze Bream, Whiting & Dragonet
Olly - 25 Species - Perch, Rainbow Trout, Pike, Rudd, Roach, Mirror Carp, Common Carp, Pollock, Ballan Wrasse, Goldsinny Wrasse, Common Blenny, Shore Rockling, Corkwring Wrasse, Golden Rudd, Blue Orfe, Golden Tench, Sea Bass, Giant Goby, Bull Huss, Gudgeon, Crucian Carp, European Eel, Ghost Carp, Poor Cod & Mackerel
Ellie - 25 Species - Golden Rudd, Rudd, Roach, Gudgeon, Perch, Pike, Corkwring Wrasse, Pollock, Mirror Carp, Ghost Carp, Black Goby, Tompot Blenny, Long Spined Sea Scorpion, Ballan Wrasse, Common Blenny, Golden Tench, Golden Orfe, Bronze Bream, Crucian Carp, Common Carp, Giant Goby, Bull Huss, Three Spined Stickleback, Mackerel & Sea Bass
Will - 14 Species - Rudd, Roach, Gudgeon, Pike, Tompot Blenny, Corkwring Wrasse, Common Carp, Mirror Carp, Common Goby, Ballan Wrasse, Dogfish, Golden Rudd, Golden Tench & Golden Orfe
Shane - 14 Species - Rudd, Roach/Bream Hybrid, Crucian Carp, Pollock, Shore Rockling, Common Carp, Mirror Carp, Roach, Bull Huss, Lesser-Spotted Dogfish, Corkwring Wrasse, Common Blenny, Mackerel & Giant Goby
Robbie - 13 Species - Perch, Mirror Carp, Roach, Rudd, Eel, Ballan Wrasse, Topknot, Crucian Carp, Common Carp, Golden Rudd, Blue Orfe, Pollock & Mackerel
Head over to www.fishingtails.co.uk for quality articles and fishing reports.
As always, thanks for reading.
