Sunday, 11 August 2013

Hooked on Mullet on the fly..

After a couple of weeks in Cornwall I finally achieved an aspiration of mine of catching Mullet. Having now got it wired on a fly rod I am slightly obsessed with this wonderful fish. Crazy fighting fish on light tackle - who wants to pay thousands for Bonefish in the tropics when you have these little beauties to target in the UK's coastal shallow water. I have tried for years to hook these on the estuaries around Cornwall and after catching a few on light float gear to start I have now mastered a few on the fly. I even used my trusty Fladen 3 weight with just a 4lb tippet - although I knew after surveillance the location where I was fishing wasn't going to produce anything over a couple of pounds. The fish I caught ranged from 0.5lb to about 1.5lb and even at that size on my light tackle they gave great sport. I used bread flies so not quite as sporting as using a nymph or shrimp pattern but I was pleased nevertheless. The key was to get the fish confidently feeding and cast the fly amongst the feeding fish - the more competition the better. Takes were vigorous and I kept a very slow retrieve to keep in contact with fly at all times - slack line meant no hook up. Size 10 hooks were the order of the day. I am now keen to try my skills closer to home and have already located Mullet some 20 minutes from my door - now how can I get them feeding?