Mullet on a lure - 19th April 2011

As it was a nice sunny evening I headed out for some lure fishing. I went to the same area where I caught three bass on Sunday. I got there about 7.00 pm. I was working my way around a small bay and then spotted a shoal of fish breaching the surface in front of a mass of rotting seaweed at the back of the bay. I wasn't sure if they were mullet or bass but fired out some lures over them just in case. I did feel a few tugs but nothing made a serious attempt to take any of the lures so I realized that they must be mullet.

I moved further around the bay and fished into a few gulleys and off several promontories. But nothing was biting. As the light was beginning to fade I began to move back. I had a few casts off a promontory. The mullet were starting to move back out of the bay at this stage with the dropping tide and I was casting over them. I was frequently changing lures and put on a white Asturie. I had a couple of casts with it and suddenly hooked a fish. At first I presumed it was a bass, it was giving a typical bass fight, but when I had it in very close I realized it was a mullet. I gradually eased it into a narrow gulley, reached down and grabbed it. My first ever Irish Mullet and hooked on a surface lure too!!! It weighed just over 3 lb. It was hooked on the outside corner of the mouth so it looked like the fish made a grab at the lure rather than being foul hooked.

At least now I had confirmation that the shoal of fish were definitely mullet. I moved back to the other side of the bay and had a few more casts but still no bass. The light was almost gone at this stage so I packed up and headed off the rocks before it was dark.