Mullet Fishing 2016: Fishing Days

Latest:  22/10/16: 2lb 1oz - didn't know it was going to be the last of the year, at the time

21/10/16: 3lb 5oz - had to lean on this one, close to boats and pontoons. Used its weight to good effect and pulled the rod right around; fortunately, despite the pressure, the hook held

06/10/16: 4lb 2oz - perfection? Having been dragged away from nearby snags, this one gave it (very) 'large' in open water, and the eventual outcome was an enormous relief

02/10/16: 2lb 6oz - another one from amongst the pontoons - many thanks to BobC for getting it smartly into the net at the first opportunity that presented itself

20/09/16: 4lb 14oz - gave me some truly nasty moments before ScottG stuck the net under it. Carrying it up the bank, fell over in the dark, in the mud - lagged, cut my arm open, but still very pleased with this one, equalling my previous largest fish of 2016

11/09/16: 3lb 1oz - a fish feeding in the first third of the channel caught my attention, and I was soon having a disagreement with this ill-tempered fellow

10/09/16: 4lb 9oz - good to hook one in relatively open water, for a change, but still did its very best to give me as much grief as possible - excellent

04/09/16: 4lb 9oz - hairy stuff, with plenty of pontoon drama, and then later, 3lb 0oz, in less confined circumstances

03/09/16: 3lb 12oz - you could pretty much set your watch by this one, which turned up at almost exactly the optimal tidal state, then crashed about deep down for a while before grudgingly letting me help him / her into the net

28/08/16: 3lb 3oz, 2lb 0oz - and a couple more of the same - a very good day was had

27/08/16: 1lb 10oz - first Devonshire mullet

21/08/16: 4lb 6oz - fishing in an extremely confined space, with multiple submerged ropes causing concern, but on this occasion, all ended well, despite this strong fish getting a 'right strop on'

14/08/16: 1lb 15oz - another new location, which I fished to kill time, waiting for a particular tidal state at another venue

11/08/16: 1lb 14oz, 1lb 3oz

08/08/16: 4lb 9oz - an open-water fish that still made every effort to reach the nearby pontoons and mess up my morning - a memorable fighter

07/08/16: 1lb 14oz

05/08/16: 1lb 12oz, 1lb 8oz - two fish from a new venue - a good day, despite dropping an unidentified third fish at another location later in the afternoon

31/07/16: 3lb 13oz - bites at every location fished, but no hookups. Was starting to look a bit unlikely, until this excellent chap made a bit of a pig of himself towards the end of the day

24/07/16: 1lb 8oz - the first fish from a new venue

20/07/16: 2lb 12oz - grabbing bits of bread off the surface and made a critical mistake by scarfing down my sinking bait, then 3lb  1oz further upstream, which couldn't decide which of two sunken wrecks to snag me in. Having tried both and succeeded briefly, it finally realised it wasn't going to shake the hook and ploughed about bad-temperedly until I dragged it through some bladder wrack and into the net

18/07/16: 3lb 13oz - being at the right place at the right time brought me some real excitement when this strong fish made it into the current at a very (time /) tide-critical location

16/07/16: 1lb 9oz

02/07/16: 2lb 13oz, 3lb  9oz, 3lb  0oz - moved from one venue to the next upstream, then to the next, with one fish at each. All gave me the usual maximum amount of enjoyment, and it was definitely a very good day to be at the river

12/06/16: 1lb 15oz golden-grey, which ended up being the only one of the year, for me

11/06/16: 2lb  0oz, 3lb  4oz, which made for a very good day, despite losing my first mullet since 29/08/15, a straightforward hook pull earlier in the session

04/06/16: 4lb  0oz - this one didn't waste any time at all taking me straight under a barge and the adjacent pontoon and into the next channel, but managed to keep the line submerged below the snags, and all ended very well

29/05/16: 4lb  0oz - the optimal tidal state arrived, and the float almost predictably thumped under. The usual drama ensued, as this strong fish put the tackle through its paces 'with extreme prejudice'

28/05/16: 3lb  3oz, 3lb  2oz - two venues, two almost identical fish, in terms of weight, yet dissimilar in appearance; both excellent - magic

21/05/16: 4lb 14oz - that's more like it. Saw the bronze / gold flash of its flanks as soon as I struck, and then didn't see it again for some considerable time

08/05/16: 0lb 12oz - yet another very small mullet

07/05/16: 3lb 12oz - despite a plague of bass and weed, this one put in a very welcome appearance

24/04/16: 1/04 - another young 'un

23/04/16: 3/03 sea trout - when the float dived away, I thought I'd thumped into a mullet - for about 0.00001 milliseconds. After a short, lively but unimpressive fight, this was in the net briefly, before being sent on its way to irritate someone else...

03/04/16: 1/05 - nine days earlier than the previous 'earliest fish' (12/04/14), and 113 days since the last mullet (12/12/15).