Mullet Mission Part Two

Last week I saw my first ever Mullet landed (by Phil) and having watched the battle it put up I had an even greater yearning for one of my own so when Andy suggested a four thirty am start I did not baulk at the idea. We headed for the same marina as last week but this time close to the moorings getting there way before the residents were stirring. 

Armed with a mountain of mashed bread it didn't take Andy long to hook into the first fish of the day and the Mullet gave him a right run around, they just don't know when to give up the fight. 

 Finally he had the beating of it and it was a cracking 3lb 12oz specimen. He followed that up with two more smaller fish before his hunger got the better of him and he went off in search of breakfast.

Not being one to look a gift horse in the mouth I jumped into his swim and finally landed my first ever Mullett, all eight drams of it!! I held it as close to the camera as possible but it was never going to look anything more than a sprat! I have no idea how it managed to get a size six hook in its mouth but it was lip hooked fair and square.

I missed as many bites as I hooked, if not more but thankfully the fish kept coming and did not get spooked by my amateurish efforts as I added another six to my tally. I was having a great time. None of them huge but it seemed like I was getting the hang of it, finally.

They all battled hard (except the sprat) on the light tackle I was using, float rod and four pound line.
By mid-morning the boat dwellers were tramping and trudging along the floating jetty making lots of noise and we knew that that would put pay to the fishing so jumped in the truck and headed down into deepest Wales.

Our destination was the river Tor or 'Towie' as it is called in Welsh-speak. Nothing to do with the crap tv programme! A picturesque venue with some interesting derelict buildings along it's banks.

The river seemed fairly devoid of fish but aided by polaroids I eventually spotted a pod of large Mullet feeding close to the bank and knew that was the area to concentrate on. Sadly the larger ones avoided the bread hookbait that I trotted in the slow moving margins but I did succeed where my more experienced colleagues failed and landed a 1lb 12oz Mullet. The first of the day that I weighed properly so now I had a new official pb.

No more action followed so the three of us ventured upstream and fished within earshot of the Liberty stadium. The Swans were playing at home and it was amusing to hear the songs and chants coming from the terraces and the roars as the goals went in, Swans 2 Magpies nil.

We managed just the one bite between the three of us. I must be getting the hang of this Mulleting malarkey as again I hooked and landed the only fish, and my pb was broken for the umpteenth time that day, 2lb 2oz.

We tried one more final venue, Swansea marina but my heart wasn't really in it. I was about fished out by early evening so sat it out and took in the sights. Stag do's, Hen parties and footy fans in various different states made for interesting viewing!

Mission: Mullet

My fishy bucket list is long and increases by the year as more species come onto my radar but whilst some are possibly unachievable and some reside in distant dangerous places the Mullet is definitely one that I shall be ticking off real soon. I have seen them in many harbours and marinas on my travels but more often than not they have been in no fishing zones.  The ones in Plymouth harbour have really wetted my appetite sauntering slowly around the boats without a care in the world safe from the anglers hook, frustrating to say the least!
So when a couple of experienced mulleteers invited me along for a trip I jumped at the chance. To be honest I didn't think they lived as close to me in central England as they do.
Our mission began on the lower Severn in Gloucestershire. The landscape was peaceful and stunning, wish I could say the same about the fishing, well it was peaceful but not stunning. In an hour and a half we saw two fish, it was needle in a haystack stuff and obviously we blanked.

Plan B was put into action and we upped sticks and headed down to a pretty little marina just south of Bristol. Now this area had much more potential with bait fish everywhere and Mullet topping all over the place. The mashed bread was deposited and with flake on the hook we set about the task of nailing one. Bites were plentiful but mostly the small stuff playing with the bait until finally Phil hooked and landed one of about 2lb. Meat and drink to him as he put it back without taking it's picture but to me the only thing it did was wet my appetite yet further.

To see the vicious battle that this 'little' one put up has made me really want to catch one of my own. Sadly bad light stopped play and it will have to wait until next time and that will have to be real soon!

Nuisance Barbel?!

With the wife and kids away in Yorkshire for a few days I had the opportunity to get back on the bank and retest my Roach/pellet theories to see if last nights success was a one off or a viable method. The weather was a lot more settled and to begin with the fishing was slow but as darkness descended the fish became a lot more active. There was crashing and splashing and fish rolling all over the place including some very big Roach and I knew it was only a matter of time before one would trip up.

A very similar stamp to the previous nights capture weighing only a couple of ounces more at 1lb 6oz. I am sure this is just the tip of the iceberg and am confident there are larger to come from this area. My target has to be a two pounder, that holy grail of river fishing. Somehow I need to improve my catch rate to several fish in a session but I think have a plan to help me succeed, just a slight tweek of the rig and method. Fingers and toes crossed!!

There was plenty of time for more fish after the Roach was released but there was one issue, a shoal of Barbel had found the pellets and decided it was supper time.
Size twelve hooks and four pound line is not ideal for hard fighting Barbel but thankfully the swim I was in is relatively snag free so I was able to land my adversaries.

A five pounder was soon followed by a seven.

I would never describe Barbel as nuisance fish and it was great fun catching them on light tackle but when your targeting Roach they can get in the way a little. Not unsurprisingly there was no more Roach.

The Plan Worked

In certain swims that I have fished of late there have been a lot of twitchy bites, little plucks on the rod tip that have not developed into fish. I suspected them to be Roach picking up the two eight mm pellets but not getting close to the size eight hook on the hair rig. I decided to investigate and tonight just fished one pellet and a size twelve hook to see if I could land one.
The heavens opened early on but once the shower had dissipated the bites started. Frustratingly I lost a good fish to and unseen snag. I suspected it to be a Tench but will never know, the risk of using light tackle. First fish was a small chublet but then just as the light faded my plan cam to fruition and I netted a decent Roach of 1lb 4oz

Maybe there is something in this method as there were a few more plucks on the tip before I ran out of light and retired to the pub.

Sociable Saturday Session

A short Saturday session that was more social than serious, an opportunity for Jeff to catch up with our Tazzy, one of the puppies that was born nearly twelve months ago under his stairs. A daughter to his dog Molly and also a grand daughter to Martin's dog Oscar, quite the family reunion!
Whilst I had decided on a static approach both in terms of swim and method Jeff and Martin roved up and down the river searching out likely looking spots, every now and then dropping back into my swim for a social and to stroke the almost impeccably behaved Tazzy.
Bites were not easy to come by on the clear river and having lost one Barbel to an unseen snag I changed to rolling meat down the swim. Second run through proved successful and I landed an average sized Barbel in mint condition.

With the swim well and truly disturbed I decided to re-employ the legered pellets and sit it out until the fish came back on. About an hour laterI managed to land another well-conditioned Barbel not much bigger than the first.

Martin had come back to join me for a natter when the hat-trick was completed and took some great action shots whilst I played the biggest fish of the day, an unweighed but chunky probable seven pounder.

Come 'ere ya bugger!

Got ya!

Cheese!
The smile says it all, an enjoyable morning spent in good company.

Three Session Catch-up

Friday I managed to get two sessions in, one in the morning on my own and one in the evening spent in the company of Jeff and Martin. Both times it rained and both times I was after Barbel but I only managed one of about seven pounds, however I did land a lot of Chub.

Pellets were the bait of choice and whilst Barbel love them they are not discerning when it comes to Chub, a hazard of the game I suppose. I don't have a major problem with catching Chub, in fact I quite enjoy it but when heavy Barbel gear is employed the fun is definitely lessened.

Rain and cameras are not good bedfellows hence the quality of the photos might not be quite up to scratch but the cygnets below did make pretty subjects.

The rain held off tonight as I once again popped down to the Avon for a bonus session. There was a kind of change of tactics too as I felt like fishing for bites and a bit of fun rather than going all out for just one species. So with that in mind I popped into the tackle shop for a pint of maggots and some hemp. They were deployed on one rod but I still fished pellets on a 'sleeper' rod.

Several small Roach, Bream, and a couple of bonus Silver Bream came my way before as the light faded the sleeper rod suddenly burst into life. An interesting fight ensued that didn't have the all out pace of a Barbel or the short dogged bursts of a Chub but I was still surprised when my unseen adversary turned out to be a river Tench. Not a massive one and really I should have guessed it might be a Tinca as the swim does have previous form but a stunningly coloured example weighing 3lb 4oz.

Chub, Barbel and a Surprise

One of those evening sessions where the fish were just having it! I reckon I could have chucked the bait up the bank and still got a bite they were that turned on! Barbel followed Chub followed Barbel etc.
I had the river to myself surprisingly on such a lovely summers evening, the wind had dropped, the sun came out, the Kingfisher flitted about, it was perfect.
Martin was also fishing but he was about twenty miles further upstream, we kept in touch via text. His reports were uncannily similar, the fish were highly active there too. The conditions must have been right: moon phase, air pressure, temperature? I'm not sure which, maybe all the above but I won't dwell on it, sometimes it happens, just wish it was more often. I have to tailor my fishing times around family and work commitments so even if I could work out what it was specifically there would be nothing I could do about getting bankside. Fishing sessions need to be scheduled in the diary in advance.
I lost count of the number of Chub I landed but in amongst the three pounders there was an unusual hump-backed one of 4lb 12oz and a cracking lump of a Chub that despite being quite flabby pulled the scales down to a pleasing 5lb 8oz. It looks like a fish I caught a couple of seasons back, late summer weighing nearly six pound.

I also landed several Barbel, nothing huge but all in great condition and excellent battlers especially in the crystal clear water where I could see every twist, turn and thrust as they tried to make good their escapes.

All were well rested upon returning them to the water watching them swim away to make sure they were ok but when the last one was about a rod length out I notice it swim nonchalantly past the nose of a large Pike. The predator must have been attracted by the endless commotion but obviously decided this one was too large for a meal. However when the next fish I hooked was a three pound Chub it sprang into action grabbing the unfortunate fish broadside. It had admiral determination and hung on for dear life as it battled me for its supper. I thought it would let go when it saw the net but it didn't and I ended up landing both! Finally in the net it released the Chub. I left the Pike in the net while the Chub was unhooked but it thrashed about and managed to escape before I could take a unique photo. A really long but scrawny specimen that would have weighed well into double figures, something else to target come the Winter. The Chub had been through enough so I released it straight away, missing a few scales but it should hopefully survive its ordeal.
I had one last cast, hooked a better Barbel but sadly the hook pulled denying me the icing on the cake but I still went home(actually to the pub) with a smile on my face.

Chub Saves Blank

Restricted this weekend to a short morning session so ventured to a new section of river I have a ticket for this season. Baited up a likely looking spot hoping for a Barbel but it was not to be. The blank was saved however when a 4lb 2oz Chub took the pellet bait. It put up a really good battle powerfully diving for cover under the willow to the left and then twice into the cabbages at my feet but the stout tackle held firm and in the end it succumbed to the pressure. Best so far this season but it is still early, they are nowhere near prime condition yet. Would like to meet it again in Winter.
Also had a 6oz Roach.

Nice to make your acquaintance again, Tommy.

Another beautiful Summer evening and what better way to spend it than on the bank of the stunning Warwickshire Avon. 

I started the session with two targets in mind, a pellet rod for Barbel and a swimfeeder full of chopped worm for Tench. The area I had chosen has previous form for Tincas, a slow flowing deep swim where they have graced my net before. It is also reputed to be a good spot for Barbel, not prolific but capable of a monster. Sadly I landed neither but it was still a fish-filled busy evening as Perch after Perch mingled in with the odd skimmer were hooked and landed, nothing big but that's not to say I wasn't enjoying myself.

It is 30 years ago almost to the day that I first cast a line on a cold day by the Yorkshire Derwent. 

The only fish I or anyone caught that day was a diminutive Tommy Ruffe and amazingly I have not caught one since. 

As the light began to fail I hooked what I thought was another small Perch but as I swung it in the realisation hit me, this was no Perch but a fish that had eluded me for three decades. My second ever Tommy Ruffe. 

To be honest I was so pleased to make its acquaintance that the camera came out when it had stayed in the bag for all the other fish that evening. I carefully put it back thinking that if it did ever grace the bank again the lucky captor could never be as pleased as I was to land it!!

I recast out to the same spot and could not believe my eyes when the next bite resulted in another one! I had tripled my catch total in the space of minutes, talk about buses! 

The light had now all but gone so I went to the pub to celebrate what felt like finally once again meeting up with an old old friend.

Fly Fishing-the Right Way?

Despite my love of fly fishing I have not touched my fly rod for over six months, holidays and coarse fishing taking up most of my free time of late. This wrong was put right yesterday when Nick and I met up for our annual fishing day. Living 143 miles apart we generally try to fish somewhere equidistant between us but this time we ventured a lot closer to my home as we met at Bushyleaze fishery on the outskirts of Lechlade in the heart of the Cotswolds. I thought I might get a bit of a lie-in but whilst lay in bed I got a text from Nick to say he would be an hour early. Cue panic and rushing around the house gathering gear and flask as quickly and quietly as I could so as not to wake the kids.

I screeched into the car park two minutes after Nick had arrived. On the advice of the nice bloke selling the tickets we made our way to a sheltered bay in the corner of this stunning gravel pit. The fish were there in numbers as 'ticket man' had informed us and we could see plenty of 'bows rushing around in the crystal clear water. 

We cast several damsels and lures at our adversaries but they did not seem interested. 

A pair of brave cygnets came right up to our bank edge having no fear whatsoever of the the pair of funny looking humans waving wands around.

Their parents showed absolutely no concern that their children were right next to us when normally they are much more protective of their young.

An hour or so had passed with no takes so I decided it was time for something different. The Trout were breaking the surface all over the place and having chucked a dry dragonfly pattern at them with only one aborted take I realised they were actually feeding on a hatch of much smaller flies, dark in colouration. I attached a small scruffy looking home-made gnat and within seconds had a take from a battling Trout of about three pounds. It is so much more exciting fishing dry flies than just pulling lures though the water. A proper way to fly fish.

With that Trout despatched and in the bag it didn't take long before I fooled another. In the meantime Nick had also changed to a similar fly and we ended up with a double hook up. The fun had really started and Nick went on to land another two before Lunch.

Whenever we are on one of our fishing days we like to do things properly so we retreated to a local public house and stuffed our faces with 'three cheese' ploughmans(or is the plural ploughmen?) and a couple of pints of Ale.

There were several other anglers fishing the lake and we knew that when we eventually returned our swim would be taken. We were not wrong as there were four anglers crowded into our bay plus two others in a boat. They were all blindly stripping lures and had only had two fish between them. It pays to not have a blinkered approach to any type angling, experiment and you can reap surprising rewards. 

We searched the rest of the lake but only spotted a few other fish and our half-hearted efforts went unrewarded. The lunch had taken its toll and our motivation had seriously waned.

I satisfied myself trying to take photos of flying fish which is not easy but I managed a couple of decent shots.

The BBQ was lit when I arrived home so the Trout were gutted, wrapped in foil with butter, garlic and parsley and chucked onto the hot coals. Fresh Trout, delicious.

Barbel and Bailiffs

Lilly pads, reeds, Canadian pondweed and a fallen Willow tree. A hazardous swim that necessitated stout tackle if I was going to land any sizeable fish. There was only room for one rod but knowing this part of the river well I knew that the second rod would be superfluous and I didn't need to create any more hazards. If a Barbel was going to take my pellet offering this evening then it would be a case of hit and hold(and pray!).
The Chub were first to move onto the bait and the rod tip danced away until one hooked itself. It stood no chance against the strong tackle and was in the net double quick. No point in weighing it, a quick photo, it felt surprisingly warm, and back it went.

It was soon followed by one of its mates again weighing about 3lb-odd. Meanwhile Andy in the swim above me was showing me how it was done landing a succession of Barbel up to 8lb 8oz. The light was fading rapidly and I was beginning to think it was not going to be my night.

The kingfisher joined us on the far bank, grabbed some supper and sped off downstream no doubt to feed its fledglings. A welcome distraction.
I looked back at the rod just in time to see the unmistakeable never-ending tug of a hooked Barbel. I was on it in a flash. The clutch was set as tight as I dare but still it started to scream as the angry Barbel made its way across to the far bank willow. I applied more pressure and managed to turn it. Its next move was upstream exactly where I wanted it to go as there was more open water there. I coaxed it towards me into the slack water but the Barbel realised my plan and set off on a tremendous run towards the lilies flat-lining the rod. Thankfully Barbel don't like snags like Chub do and upon reaching the lilies it poked its head into them and then changed its mind, speeding back off towards the far bank. I began to think the clutch was set a little too tight and again the rod flattened out and the backwinding reel handle wrapped my knuckles. Ignoring the pain from my left hand I turned the fish again back into open water and after what seemed like an age a big mouth appeared. This was my opportunity and I speedily reeled the fish into the waiting net.
"That's a double" Andy informed me peering into the net at the now resting Barbel. "It bloody better be after that battle" I replied. And thankfully it was, 11lb 9oz of stunning Warwickshire Avon Barbel.

There was no point in fishing on, Andy's dogs had eaten the remainder of his luncheon meat while his back was turned and I had a hankering for a cold beer.
we began to pack up and then a very rare event took place. A bailiff appeared and asked to see our licences! I have been back fishing eleven years now and this is only the second time this has happened! Keep up the good work.