HOME

Local Accommodation Les Glycines B&B Angling Permit and Guide Information Contact Us Fishing Licences Fishing Guide Rates About your Guide FAQs Sheet Fishinista Trophy Gifts on sale Seabass Lure Fishing Articles in Finistère, Brittany Irish Angler May '10 Irish Angler June '10 Irish Angler July '10 Tackle Test Articles   Shimano Jigging test Shaky Cam Fishing Video Clips Rainbow on Fly David's Rainbow Photo Galleries Coare fishing gallery Seafishing gallery Rainbow trout Atlantic salmon Allis shad Sea basses on fly Pike,zander,perch Fly and Lure  Fishing Selector Sea bass fly fishing Autumn sea bass Shad fly fishing Mullet fly fishing Wild brownies Mackerel & Jacks Salmon fishing Reservoir rainbows Estuary rainbows Pike fly fishing Bleak on the fly Black bass on the fly River Coarse Fishing Selector Steve's River PBs Bream fishing Paul's Bream Dream Carp fishing Roach/other coarse Fishing for kids Predator Lure Fishing Selector Pike fishing Zander fishing Perch fishing Lake Guerledan Beach and Boat  Sea Anging Selector Shore fishing Sea bass fishing Pollack fishing Wrasse fishing Gilthead sea bream Sea bream fishing Squid & Cuttlefish Professonal Fly Casting & Fishing Tuition Tying the Perfection Loop knot French to English Fisherman's Glossary

Many anglers from all backgrounds whether it be fly, lure or bait, have experienced those 'blank days' or 'skunks' when there are simply no fish about even though you have all of the right gear, tactics and flies/lures. Now let's reverse this situation imagining that you have just arrived at a body of water to see hundreds possibly thousands of fish seemingly laughing at you because you don't have the right gear, tactics, or flies. Well you're not imagining it, it's real. Welcome to mullet fishing for the uninitiated, and sometimes, the experienced angler as well. Full-length view of the gorgeous Golden Mullet. Notice the splash of gold on its gill cover giving it its common name. This fish was caught on a red variant of Sam's Breton Crevette fly   Fishing for Golden-greys Fishing for Golden-greys is different from fishing for Mr. thickie lip grey in Brittany as you will need to fish beach and estuary areas which are on the front line of tidal changes. Unlike their thick-lipped cousins which can float around lazily in very low flow water courses, golden-greys prefer more clearer flowing water or beach areas with good wave flow in which to hunt their prey, e.g. crustaceans like shrimps, as well as vegetable matter. Rugby mad Ben Turner with a lovely harbour golden-gray caught on fly tackle Since 2006, Sam has created and improved on his original Breton Crevette flies (see sample below) to catch many of these previously-elusive fish. The large Golden-grey Mullet pictured above was caught on an red variant of the Breton Crevette fly. Armed with an 8 weight outfit fitted with 8 weight floater with tapered leader and fluorocarbon tippet (combined length of 10 to 15 feet), the mullet fly angler can gain an advantage by wading beyond the wave-break area into deeper water (if conditions allow). From this position cast towards the beach on top of the breaking waves under which small or large shoals of golden-greys are basking or hunting for their prey meals. Golden-greys are skittish by nature, but it appears that they are more wary of what is coming off the beach than what is already beyond them in the deeper surf. An alternative method is to 'dap' for big GG mullet which are feeding on the surface while wading or quietly from a small boat. For those of you who are familiar with fishing Irish loughs or loch-style fishing, lightly dapping the fly is a good way to target individual fish without making long casts. Make sure that you have attached a long (12 to 15 ft), leader to your fly line to which you attach as thin a diameter of fluorocarbon tippet as you are confident to use. A long rod, e.g. 10 foot in length, is also advantageous. Sight your mullet then cast your line where only the tippet/leader lands near your fish with the fly landing even closer. A fly can consist of a small shrimp, maggot, or piece of seaweed. Once the fly has landed you can employ various retrieves to get the to take including: simple figure-of-eight alone or mixed with other types of strips, or one of my favourites, sweeping the fly along as if you are going into a roll cast. If the fish hits during this movement you can snap the rod forward to set the hook, however, if you have enough tension on the line you can simply fly your wrist and set the hook during the roll cast movement. Keeping the rod tip high during this movement improves hook-ups as you have less fly line in the water with which to unstick during the strike. Olivier (with Ned) holding a lovely GG mullet caught while using the 'dapping' fly fishing method   Golden-greys are also know to take small spinners especially when there is a large congregation of active feeding fish. See pic below. Ben Turner with a specimen Golden-Grey caught on with a small spinner A word about tidal coefficients. Instead of looking a tide heights, the French use a different percentage system known as the tidal coefficient. By looking at this number you can grasp immediately whether or not you have a short (weak or neap) tide or long (strong or spring) tide. When you grab a tide table from Sam or a local tackle shop look for tidal coefficient ratings of below 40 for your target month. The lower the better as it will bring out many more golden-greys and concentrate them in higher number along the beach or estuary mouth. As these shoals build in number the fish become less wary as they roam the wave ripples for food. From Sam's experience the golden-grey is great for the fly rodder as they can be caught without resorting to chumming an area. Conversely, like horse mackerel, golden-grey mullet can be caught at night on the fly rod with some light chumming consisting of fresh ground mackerel and bread. Good fishing! Sam's Breton Crevette (size 6) fly in orange livery catches both sea bass and golden-grey mullet. Preferably downsize for mullet fishing When you go fly fishing for sea bass in the Brittany's beaches, especially in late Spring, Summer and Autumn, you will inevitably find huge shoals of grey and golden-grey mullet lurking about just sub-surface. In fact, its always good to cast to a shoal of mullet as sea bass tend to swim just below them in the breakers. You only have to surf the web or read fishing magazines to realise that mullet fishing is gaining popularity with new flies and tactics being introduced to entice those hardened fly anglers to try catching these torpedoes with fins. Sam with a specimen Golden-grey mullet which was released. Sam later found out  that it was eligible for consideration as an IGFA World Record--next time then! Full-length view of a Thick-lipped Striped (Grey) Mullet.  This lovely  fish  was caught by Ray Stonell on an olive variant of Sam's Breton Crevette flies Well-laid casts followed by Figure-of-Eight retrieves can sneak your fly into a shoal without spooking these wary fish, but don't forget that they can also bang a fly when stripped quickly across their nose. They key is getting your depth right so you can keep your fly in the 'feeding zone'. Although bread crumb is used to attract Grey mullet to feed, this is not necessarily true for the Golden variety. Watch this space for loads more mullet-catching details will be added at the end of Summer. Overhead view of hundreds of big thicklipped Grey Mullet lazily swimming  below the town weir at Châteaulin during the summer at high tide   © 2011 Fishinista.com (all rights reserved)