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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. 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.
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!
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Sam's Breton Crevette
(size 6) fly in orange
livery catches both sea bass and
golden-grey mullet |
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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 but Sam later found out
that it was eligible for
consideration as an
IGFA World Record!
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. Email Sam if you have
specific questions about catching mullet, or if you want to discuss
your experiences with catching them.
Overhead view of hundreds of big
thicklipped Grey Mullet lazily swimming
below the town weir at
Châteaulin this Summer
©
2007Fish&Fun Brittany
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