Mullet fishing from shore and/or kayak

[Coral Sniper]

Most of the mullet I shoot down here are in habour waters, But they must be ok to eat .

I have seen some rare versions of mullet down here, some with yellow tails and a black spot on the tail, and one other kind that was blueish.

I saw these fish out in some remote areas.

[Mr. X]

I came across a group of medium sized mullet in clear, shallow water last year, in a patch of string grass, amongst large boulders. Perhaps attracted by tiny silver bait fish.

On first encounter, I was caught by surprise & unable to make a shot. Figuring, they were unlikely to come back, I circled round the rest of the small bay exploring (perhaps a 50m radius circle). Not finding anthing else, I returned to the same spot, carefully. This time there was a single larger mullet in the same spot, fired & missed. Repeated the circle again, still no other fish. Returned to the same spot again, even more carefully, this time another group of medium sized mullet were there (perhaps the original group) but there were skittish & already took off when I fired and missed. I think I did it one more time & then started the long swim back -- as I obviously wasn't hitting anything.

I haven't had the opportunity to try this out again, to see if it might be a technique worth developing or just pure chance, or perhaps due to the presence of those tiny silver fish. Might be worth trying though. Several times, I've come across a group of mullet twice in the same general area (I don't think I've ever encounter the same group more than twice though - despite looking).

[strangelove]

I would have done somewhat different (I am not sure if the result would be any different – but just something else to try), if I have come to spot where I have see the fish, I would just stop at that place and I would do dives down where I would just hide myself and wait. In fact normally I don’t have the luxury of seeing the bottom (in Alaska and Brazil) , even tough my gun has a reel I also haul a float with a 1 lb weight, so when I dive down and see the fish I sometimes don’t even shot, just drop the weight to mark the place. On the dives down I would have my back to current and try to be as stealthy as I can and just wait for the fish to comeback. The waiting position is really important, you want to have the fish swimming in front of you gun, not at your back, the main reason you definitely want to figure out the current.

I have try flashers on my float line, it did not make a difference in Brazil (the water is never that clear). The flasher does attract the rock fish in Alaska.

Just something else to try, that is normally how I fish for mullets, since you’ve asked for input, again it is just another way.

[Mr. X]

Interesting, I'll give that a try. The situation I described was a little odd, in that the water was very shallow, not much more than 1m deep, so no need to dive & not easy to hide. Also, the clearing with the fish had 3, maybe 4 main entry routes and I think I probably came in the same way as the fish (I might be wrong) between two large boulders sitting in deeper water (maybe 2-3m). I could probably hide behind/near the big boulders although, as I said, that might be the way they enter the clearing.

[strangelove]

X

Some places inside that bay the water is just 1 to 3 meters deep, but we still catch mullet and shook, we all have two weight belts on the boat so we go in in those shallow places with a lot of weight so we can stay at the bottom without effort. Probably the main difference is the water is really murky (2 meters max)

[James T]

X - my experience with Mullet is actually quite similar to Bass. Quite often I will not take the first shot when I see one or more Mullet as they will be spooked and shoot off. I immediately take a dive and lie on the bottom and in most cases the scared fish come straight back to take a look. In my limited experience the amount of time between scaring the fish and my dive seems to make a difference. The further the fish are away by the time you dive it seems like the less likely they are to come back - this might just be my imagination but it is almost like the pressure wave of my descent gets them curious and this over rides their initial flight reflex.

I even do this in 3m of water quite often with similar results.

Who knows whether this is right or not but this pattern of behavious has happened for me very frequently and I use it as a last resort if I miss the fish on the first go.

[mundial]

hi guys

long time was away

but

sometimes
i am taking this fish

mostly eaten in grill
when it is fresh its got a good taste

as a rule i am spearfishing only in a natural sea
not marina or harbor zone or places that are mostly dirty
all fish got a batter taste
some pics of last fish dinner
mullets as a plate between 500gr-800gr





last week catch

[Mr. X]

Is the other fish a grouper?

[spaghetti]

Yes it is, and it looks quite young. Must be a 2 years old mediterranean brown grouper, "Epinephelus Marginatus".

[Mr. X]

Originally Posted by spaghetti

Yes it is, and it looks quite young. Must be a 2 years old mediterranean brown grouper, "Epinephelus Marginatus".

It's an ugly looking fish - puts me in mind of our exotic looking ballan wrasse. Good eating?

[MCerieiro]

Hi guys,

Well i eat mullet and i like it very much, of course they have to be caught in clean waters (like any other fish IMHO), over here i spear them mostly in agachon or indien.

And i cook them in several ways...bbq, fry, cooked in a pan with pasta and tomato souce


here some pics of mullet:

[Mr. X]

I have some follow-up to my previous posts, above. I returned to the same spot at the weekend and had a very similar experience (for details see the Omer XXV thread), albeit with considerably more success this time. The critical factor was, I think, my new shorter, lighter gun, an Omer XXV 75cm with 18mm bands. On entering the chamber I saw the rear of a large mullet disappear round a boulder. When I followed, gingerly letting the speargun lead the way I encounter 2 medium size mullet (the larger fish had disappeared). I took one fish. Then I circled round but saw nothing the second time. However, I figured there were at least two mullet nearby, so I explored some nearby string-weed & was happily surprised to see a large mullet tail through the weed. I shot through the weed just as it was about to glide slowly behind a boulder. Another hit, probably a clean spine shot as it didn't struggle much at all.

Not sure what the morale of the story is. I'm tempted to say a smaller gun is the thing to use in shallow water conditions such as these (I certainly found my longer gun awkward there). However last year I hit a huge mullet in similar conditions at a different location with my bigger gun (90cm with 20mm rubbers) & the spear just bounced off the gill plate. Both the fish & I were stunned with surprise and stayed put for several seconds afterwards not knowing quite what to do.

BTW my larger fish this week was about 54/55cm about the same length as a 4lb fish I got last November. However, this fish weighed only 2.5lb. The head is quite large, so I am thinking this one might still be depleted after the hardships of winter.

[Mr. X]

I find the usual rule of thumb for locating a fish's brain doesn't seem to result in the quick kill that I would normally expect for mullet. I've often wondered if mullet's brain is further forwards or backwards. After looking at the head of the last mullet I speared, it looks to me like the brain is quite far back (maybe a further 1 or 2 cm) and high in the skull. So a normal stab would miss (in front) & a diagonal stab back from the same place would too (below). I haven't confirmed this yet but it would explain what I've seen.

[Mr. X]

I tried the circle trick at a new location yesterday. It worked again, albeit in a different way. After spooking a fairly large mullet that was resting/sunning itself on a flat open flat bottom right up against a bed of short stringly weed (v. similar situation to the one I found sunning itself on top of a reef a few weeks ago). I fired but it was too quick (again). So I re-loaded and circled round. This time I encountered a large mullet (probably the same one) as I had just got beyond half way round the circle. It dithered & succumbed to the spear, 6" from the tail -- not the best location to spear a feisty mullet!

After stringing that one on my new belt stringer, I spooked a bass which appeared and disappeared in front & beneath me before I could react. I gave chase but lost track of it (do others give chase -- I know SA spearos do from the Len Jones book but never heard anyone mention else it). Then returned & encountered a fast moving mullet that appeared confused (perhaps seeing the strung mullet?) and succumbed to the spear. This one was smaller than it first appeared but still a decent fish.

The 75cm Omer XXV is working well on mullet but has yet to take its first bass (had one difficult bass shot yesterday but missed). BTW I am currently using a double wrap of spear-line, of which half is 3mm bungee. It was unnecessary for the fish taken so far but might have been necessary for the missed bass. Might try a single wrap but with half bungee next.

BTW I was bored at one point on the other side of the bay, before encountering the above fish, and decided to clear my mask while on aspetto by blowing air into my mask, which caused large, noisy bubbles which to my surprise quickly brought in large wrasse & small pollock rushing to see what was about (perhaps used to fisherman dropping lobster pots or cleaning fish?). Unfortunately no bass or mullet though.

[phishfood]

Hi everyone, new to this site so i just thought
id post some of my experiences spearing for
mullet in the west of ireland. i spear them off the end
of a breakwater at a nearby harbour. it runs onto a beach
that is blueflag so i reckon it must be clean enough certainly
they taste great!! which everyone who tries them seems
to find surprising.

i have the main spot down to about a 3m patch in about 3m of water,
i can pretty much guarantee they will be there. i find that if i spook
them and circle around they will be back so your circling technique
is definitely the way forward Mr.X.

reckon the thin one you speard may have just spawned. think they
spawn at a similar time to bass which is may and june. in ireland
you are not allowed keep bass at this time.

i tend to dispatch them by breakin the neck. grab in under the
gills and force the head back, seems to be quick and also lets
out a good bit of blood. so no need to bleed. they do however
have nerve twitches for ages after, had one on tuesday dead &
gutted 40mins and still spasmed as i filleted it. felt kinda creepy

great reading everyones tales of spearing the humble mullet!!