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- This has proven to be the second most productive season since I restarted mullet fishing in 2011; it might have been possible to exceed last year's
total if the weather had held and other factors had not played a part in curtailing visits to the river
- In terms of fish numbers, there have been a number of venues where mullet continue to appear more scarce each season. Given that these species are
often highly visible, this is a real concern. In the first year fished, 2011, there were frequent and alarming splashes as large fish broke surface, either
in open water or adjacent to pontoons and pilings; there were also a couple of venues when floating bread would induce significant numbers of fish to
feed at certain times of the tide. Sadly, in 2018, there were very few occasions when these indications became anything close to a reality
- In terms of the larger fish, this has been a fairly typical year, the heaviest being a single six pound late-season fish -
6lb 1oz on 02/11/18, plus a number of 'fives' -
5lb 7oz on 14/08/18, another at
5lb 10oz on 30/08/18, and a third, 5lb 2oz
on 24/09/18. This is not the first year when a 'six' was the very last fish - again, certainly a very good one to end on
- The overall 'spread' of fish weights, i.e. the proportion in each weight band, was again different to most recent years, with a very distinct
spike in the 1 - 2lb range, which was also noted by other anglers
- There were reductions in each of the 'middle' size bands, as follows: 4/00 to 4/15 - down 25%, 3/00 to 3/15 - down 35%,
2/00 to 2/15 - down 40%
- Cumulatively, there were fewer fish as follows: 4lbs to 6lbs - down 3.5%, 3lbs to 6lbs - down 10%, 2lbs to 6lbs - down 23%
- I was unable to start catching mullet earlier in the year than in 2017, with the first fish a surprise golden-grey on
15/04/17, but this was only an additional eight days further into the season, and still a very positive start
- The ability to be more selective about fishing days was again a major factor in determining this year's successes, being able to choose to fish
weekdays instead of weekends, and also having the ability to capitalise upon the most advantageous tides and weather
- There were many truly wonderful fishing days to be enjoyed, especially - but not exclusively - the capture of the better fish described above, and a
totally excellent visit to Devon, to fish with
Phil Watters in early July. There were also a couple of sessions where the number of mullet landed surpassed all previous
recent endeavours, with five fish landed on 30/05/18, and six on 20/07/18
- There were two periods where there were four consecutive trips without a fish, the first in early May, and the second in late September / early October
- Not exactly a vital statistic, but I landed my first four pound plus mullet on the 27th day of any month / year, a
4/09 on 27/07/18; there now remain two day numbers still without a 'four' - the 1st and 28th of any month
- There were again no real periods where the river water was overly coloured, and so fishing remained uninterrupted. I can recall very few days where
there were the sudden or prolonged downpours which were a factor in previous years
- As usual, a major factor this year was the wind, which the forecasters still never seem to get right - neither the direction, nor more importantly,
the wind speed (which is always greater than predicted, and sometimes markedly so). I've been using a different weather site, but that doesn't seem
to have improved matters
- My best continuous 'run' of mullet landed without a lost fish was fourteen, in May. For some reason, a significantly higher proportion were
lost in June than in other months. There were a number of sequences of nine trips with a fish hooked and / or landed each time, in June, August, and late
August / early September
- Achieved only some of the other objectives set:
- The 'top 5' weight was the fourth highest, a pound lower than last year, and about two pounds lower than the two best years
- The six pound fish landed in 2018, at 6/01, features in the 'all years'
top 10 - the 7th best weight overall. There have still been no 6lb fish landed earlier than August
- The average weight per fish was the lowest of the last eight years, at a sizeable 1lb 2oz less than the mean of the 2011 and 2012 averages, the first
two years fished
- The proportion of successful trips was marginally lower than in 2017, reduced somewhat by the number of unproductive trips in November and December,
hoping for a late-season fish
- The average number of mullet landed per successful trip showed a small increase over last year, and was consistent with the best previous percentage
recorded
- Spent time fishing several new venues in 2018, including several productive sessions in West Sussex and some in Devon
- I was able to exceed the last and best year's monthly catch figures in the early part of the year, from May to July, and landed a respectable
number of mullet in August, despite this total being significantly fewer than the two best years (2014 and 2017). September through to November saw fewer
fish in evidence, and there was a small deficit in each month. Compared to 2017, totals were:
- April -2, May +3, June +7, July +5, August -14, September -3, October -4,
November -1
- Landed a significantly better percentage of the mullet hooked than in 2017, although, like last year, experienced a particularly poorer set of outcomes
at one point in the season, this time in June rather than October. There were no fish lost to knot failure, almost certainly attributable to the robustness
of the carefully-tied and pre-tested Palomar knots used throughout
- I was again engaged in a number of epic fights, most of which ended well. Sadly, there were a few occasions where all the power of the fish
and the proximity of the pontoons and other snags made for a few nasty moments and then the inevitable slack line
- There were thankfully no occasions this year where fish became snagged and a rescue mission with the inevitable dunking was called for
- Caught mullet at eight new venues, two of which I visited regularly, and which proved to be reasonably productive
- Finally caught a thin-lipped mullet on a
baited spinner, whilst down in Devon
- Continued again to expand upon knowledge of the most productive states of the tide that can be fished, including the new venues
- Learned a good number of new techniques and improvements - many sincere thanks to MarkS for his generosity, regarding both venues and tips, and for his
excellent company, and KeithG for all the same reasons, and to no lesser extent
- Idiotic dog owners were the main culprits for generating misery in 2019, usually oblivious to any need to keep themselves and their ghastly pets well
away from anyone stupid enough to be standing in the mud holding a 13' twig.... In another moment of unfathomable and totally unfunny comedy, there was a
very large slobbering mutt that ran around like a mad thing with my hookbait loaf in its gob, although the owner truly surprised me, offering to get me
another one. As Warsash was a mile away, I thanked her and declined the exceptionally kind and thoughtful offer
- Haven't revisited all of the targeted venues - to be continued in 2019
- Maybe I will see if I can improve on the modest thinlip
during 2019; there are a couple of venues where there often seem to be some quite good specimens, which may offer some excellent sport
- Although I didn't actively target golden-greys in the manner that I had planned, there were a number of occasions where I remained at a venue through
parts of the tide where a golden-grey might have been on the cards. As usual, they just seemed to turn up fairly randomly, or not; the best was a surprisingly
determined and highly entertaining 2/09
- Sadly, there was one fish which did not survive being caught. I can only speculate that it went into shock; uncharacteristically for a thicklip, it
produced an incredible amount of slime, and although lively on the bank, became subdued immediately upon being returned to the water - definitely a
statistic not to be repeated in 2019
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