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- This should have been the year to really put the hours in, and to try to recapture the successes of the past, within the limits imposed by the ever-decreasing number of venues and opportunities (fish) available.
- COVID seemed almost entirely forgotten, the matter of most concern now being the 'floating impaired'... the still-growing plague of paddleboarders...
- Starting on the usual extremely positive note, all of the mullet captured have been released safely. It's worth emphasising again the need for careful handling and not allowing the mullet to roll around in the net while lifting or carrying it, as these measures will definitely contribute to seeing the fish returned in much the same condition as when it was hooked.
- The season started off a little later than usual, with the first fish not until 3rd May, weighing in at 2/15, although I had already spent some time before that chasing thinlips, often on the fly, at venues where the thicklips weren't yet appearing.
- May delivered up a few thicklips, although it was a bit low on trips, and the catch total equalled only the least productive years' numbers.
- June quickly became somewhat demoralising, and after a number of trips in the first half of the month, I decided to give it a rest, to hopefully return refreshed in July.
- July was pretty much a rerun of May, with relatively few trips and even fewer mullet. By now, other anglers' reports of a similar nature were becoming common from across the regions - plenty of effort was being expended for very little reward.
- Things definitely picked up a bit in August, and although I should have put more time and effort in, there were still some very good days, with multiple captures and the welcome sight of more than a few fish moving about - thicklips, thinlips and goldens could be seen. Early starts and very warm days which quite often deteriorated into heavy rains and lightning, but this was much more like it.
- Surprisingly, into September, we were back to '2023 business as usual', with quite a few blank sessions and plagued by bass, although there were still a couple of particularly enjoyable and productive days.
- In October, there were only a few sessions, including a couple of blanks, another trip ending with only a lost fish, and just a couple of captures.
- November was still fairly mild, but another couple of blanks and two 'lost fish' sessions were turning the late season effort into a bit of a grind.
- A final attempt at a late fish in early December offered up no signs of encouragement, and by now, it was getting pretty cold, so that was it. I held onto the idea of another trip for some time after that, even retaining some bread which was well past its best, but in the end, it just didn't happen.
- The season ended on a bit of a downward turn, really, as for some inexplicable reason, five of the last seven hooked fish were able to evade the net, one way or another. The most depressing of these came at the end of a very long day, as it passed into darkness and I continued on, after many 'last casts'. Finally, a hookup, and after all of the hard work was done, it managed to unhook itself on a minuscule piece of anchored bladderwrack in mere inches of water. Looking back, that was pretty much the final straw for 2023, despite four more subsequent sessions and yet another lost mullet.
- Given the lack of successes throughout most of the season, there was never a time when it seemed that a get-together was going to yield some worthwhile sport, and so the currently biennial and much-anticipated event with Phil Watters fell pretty much by the wayside. With the benefit of 20-20 hindsight, it would probably have been OK to have a go in August.
- Dismally, the percentage of productive trips was the lowest since 2011, at only 35% as opposed to the usual 50-60% or thereabouts.
- There were no thinlips caught this year, despite some effort in the early part of the year and opportunities with the fly later on - the main problem being the lack of competitive feeding, making captures difficult to achieve.
- The larger fish were absent again in 2023, although two of the lost fish felt to be of a better calibre - even without an ID on one of those, I had a strong feeling that it was probably a mullet, and not a bass.
- The best fish, on 16/08/23, was one of
4/04 - the same weight as in 2022, fairly typical of recent years, and not in competition with the best years' fish, although it was still an absolute pleasure to have captured it.
- The last productive session was on 12/10/23, with a golden-grey of
1/10, and a
thicklip of
2/09 - a wonderfully mild day for October. This was the earliest 'last fish date' in all of the years since the 'reboot' in 2011, accepting that there were a couple of lost fish after this time.
- As always, there were many truly memorable fishing days, including, but not exclusively so, some of the highlights described here.
- Carried forward again this year, and definitely not an important statistic, but I still haven't captured a 4lb+ mullet on the 1st nor the 28th day of any month, in any year, from 2011.
- The overall 'spread' of fish weights, i.e. the proportion in each weight band, was not so similar to previous years, in many respects, with a quite large and welcome percentage increase of fish in the 3-4lbs category, and a significant fall in the percentage of 1-2lb fish.
- The above translated into a better average weight for thicklips, which was very similar to 2019 and 2020, following on from the most recent lower values in 2021 and 2022.
- Due to the relatively small sample dataset, there were very few additional worthwhile conclusions to be drawn regarding the fish size and presence.
- There were once again a few frustrating periods where there was a total halt in proceedings due to extended spells of unfavourable forecasts, whether wind, most commonly, or rain and wind in combination. There were so many days where the wind was expected to be 40, 50, 60+ mph, and as before, all enthusiasm faded once the wind speeds reached the upper teens.
- There were more trips this year than in 2022, but the number of visited venues remained about the same. Of the 22 locations visited, compared to 23 in 2022, 32 in 2021 and 56 in 2019, only 4 were productive, and none of these were 'new', i.e. venues where I had not fished or not caught mullet before.
- There were 69 locations previously fished that remained untried during 2023.
- Instead of reasonably consistent single captures, the numbers were made up of days with multiple captures interspersed with an unusually high number of blanks, these representing a much larger percentage of the trips than usual.
- There were relatively few lost fish until the latter part of the year, and then a sudden cluster. These were mainly just straightforward and unspectacular hook pulls, although a couple managed to escape by making use of the various structures, which is always disappointing, and a cause for concern.
- Made very little progress regarding some of the other objectives set:
- 2023 produced quite a poor 'top 5' weight for the third year in a row, and the same can be said of the 'top 10', although both were an improvement upon 2022, the 'top 5' by 1lb, and the 'top 10' by 4lbs, approximately.
- None of the fish captured featured in the 'all years top 40' - the largest at
4/04 lies at no. 103 in the list.
- The percentage of totally 'blank' sessions was the highest since 2015, approaching half of the trips; this statistic is usually closer to one third.
- The average number of mullet landed per viable trip was one of the lowest, although the figure 'per productive trip' was the highest recorded, the fish coming in 'clusters' as previously mentioned.
- I was again engaged in a number of largely enjoyable struggles, most of which ended well. There was one particularly nasty moment (there is always at least one) when a mullet swam behind a pontoon, and drastic measures had to be employed. Having charged forward into what can best be described as 'wading mud', I was able to keep the rod high enough to continue to play the fish, at which point I became very badly stuck, and fell over. Lying in the slop, there was nothing solid underneath to push up from, so I focused on the fish, for the moment. A chap in the marina came over to help, and took up the net. I still couldn't get up, so I stuck the rod butt into the mud, with the rod vertical and the fish still pulling at the other end. After an ungainly rolling manoeuvre, pretty much akin to coating a fishfinger in custard, I finally got myself up, and stuff me if the fish wasn't still attached. After that, it was not long before it was in the net, pristine up to that point, with me, not so much, absolutely covered in
mud. At least the waders helped keep it off the lower part of the trousers.
- Footnote to the above... after the fish was embarrassed with the traditional photograph, then weighed and released, it took me about an hour and a half to clean the mud off everything, including all the now-hardening slop that had made its way into the reel and all over the rod. Anything that could be laid out to dry was left in the sun, for the duration.
- There was one significant and memorable disappointment when a mullet (? - unseen) became snagged and a rescue mission had to be mounted, but despite failing to land the fish, it was able to swim away safely, and no waders were filled with water on this occasion. Obsessing about its safety for the next few hours, I returned after the tide had dropped a bit, just to make sure.
- This year, yet again, very little time was expended investigating or trying out new venues.
- Thankfully, there were no problems with dog owners again this season, although that was largely due to the locations being fished. There was an issue with a large, unpleasant and particularly ignorant swimmer, but the less said about that, the better... just a total idiot.
- Despite their best and most determined efforts to the contrary, no time was spent attached embarrassingly and upsettingly to the Great White River Turkey or his chums.
- Other than 'Mudgate', as described above, managed not to fall over or fall in again this year, which is always a bonus. To be fair, the episode stuck in the mud was enough drama for a whole season, anyway.
- Walked approximately 62 miles carrying all the gear in 2023, compared to 38 in 2022, over 127 miles in 2021, and 91 miles in 2020. It has occurred to me that since COVID and the removal of some venue-adjacent parking options, there's now much more walking involved to visit the same locations, which has definitely contributed to the degree of fatigue that is felt, and the consequent 'earlier than usual' end of some of the fishing days.
- Still haven't revisited all of the targeted venues - to be continued in 2024.
- The one real take-away from last season appears to be the worrying lack of fish and successful trips, not just for myself, but for many / most of the anglers that I have frequent contact with. Although there was definitely an improvement in the latter part of the season, catches remained down on previous years, which is also borne out by the catch report summaries produced by NMC, the National Mullet Club. I'm looking forward, albeit with some considerable concern, to seeing the final 2023 catch report summary which Vince Granata will deliver in February.
- To end on a real positive, looking again at the wider national catch reports, 2023 saw the capture of a number of truly spectacular thinlips, including a new NMC record, at 7/06, and there was also Tim Whiley's outstanding golden-grey, also a new club record at 3/10, exceeding the current UK record of 3/08/08 by 1½oz.
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