Phil the Fish

Due to the original ISP (UKOnline) closing down as of 20th Dec .. I have been forced to move the 'Aquarium Project' after 12 years - it can now be found at: http://www.uk-fish.info The site needs a major update having been neglected for several years .. but I guess this may just be the spur to dust down my webmastering skills and update all my sites ( hangs head in shame)..... If any one still has links to the UKOnline version of the site (or indeed if anyone even remembers that it's out there) please feel free to update to the link above. Phil

PMSL ... way to go Davy and gratz on the new species to add to your list phil

... yup can be, never felt that way myself - honest >> cough cough :D :D Have to say I wish I could go fishing almost out of the backdoor of my house rather than having to drive 60 to 90 miles to get to the little blighters, although I'm sure they are very pleased about that arrangement Just out of interest Davy I saw the float gear behind Linda - so are you fishing next to a breadbag or just throwing out the groundbait? Phil

Gratz Davy on the PB ...... much better than those nasty old skate Phil

Decided enough was enough and that I really had to get out and do some fishing .. dusted down the Mullet Gear from the last time I used it -- late August last year me thinks ..... went down to Littlehampton .. saw a few nice fish early on just before low water ... rest of the day was rather quiet until around 12.30pm ... when I managed to hook and land a nice 21" thicklip that came in at 4lb-10oz .. so one pleased Bunny here .. nice way to start the session even if I do say so my self ... Phil ps.. and I was .. float fishing with a 2 swann stick float using a size 10 hook about 16" under with bread flake

Nice one Patrick .. welcome to the wonderful world of medway Mullet Phil oops .. sorry .. guess (although it's not easy with mullet - high variation with length / girth) 4lb to 4.1/2lb +/- something in that sort of order

your going to need a bigger boat leon .. and just be careful what comes in after those mackerel .. doesn't it just want to make you take up Kayak fishing Phil

well its not Weymouth but I thought this thread would do Went down to Littlehampton today .. hadn't really decided where I was going ... Folkestone.. Rochester.. or Littlehamptoon ... but the weather and the tides decided for me... Got down around 6am .. fishing the ebb by 6.30 .. and stright into a 5inch bass!!! uuuum!!! Saw a few mullet around the pontoons but either out of range or had the flow against me... still nice to know the little buggers are about though, sort of lifts the spirit some. The forecast was right.. and the heavans opened .. but I was fairly snug wrapped up in waders and a waterproof top .. just had to keep the hook bread dry.... Fished on the mud once the tide had dropped.. and could see mullet upstream .. had thought about getting to them but the way my feet started to sink in the harbour mud suggested otherwise .. so i gritted my teeth and hoped they would join me I was trotting down a large eddy pool just after 8am and I was just about to retrieve at the end of a run when the float shot under .. hit home and into something a little larger than the micro bass of earlier .... turned out to be a hard fighting mullet of 3-07lb 45cm (snout to fork) The mullet to my left had grown bold ans were splashing around in no more than 8" of water and feeding off the algae on the pontoons .. but still too difficult for me to properly target .. I did have a couple of bites but missed them with the slack line due to the direction of flow - ie they were up stream .. so I settled back to trotting in my eddy pool in front of me. Around 9.30am and at my feet almost -- a mullet starts swirling in the groundbait cloud I've just flicked out .... retrieved the tackle .. rebaited and popped it just up stream for it to come bobbing down past the mullet .. no second invitation was required .. I watched as the mullet took the bait (some 16 to 20" below the surface) and my float shoot under at a crazy angle ... struck hard and hit home.. and stayed attached even with the subsequent head shaking ... actually apart from the head shaking the mullet seemed to put up no resistance... and I thought I was going to have it bagged within the minute .... NO ... the mullet saw the net... about 20cm away from netting it.. and it was off like someone had put a firework up its bottom ... it crash dived into the main flow taking line as it did so ... tried to slow it down with my thumb on the rim of the centre-pin .. result - one burnt thumb!!! After a while I managed to get the upper hand and just decided to bully it on the basis that if it went too far down stream I was going to loose it.... turned out to be a slightly larger fish of 3-10lb (48cm snout to fork) Took pix and popped it back... Swim died a bit after that ... could still see the mullet upstream so knew all was not lost. Started getting a number of missed bites and just after 11am pulled up 3 small bass (under 10") on the trot ... the float went down yet again around 11.30am.. and I thougth it was going to be an other bass .. but no .. this had a bit of uumph to it .. small mullet of over a pound I guess .. took at pic after measuring it (35cm) and popped it back.. and I was forced off the mud by the now rising tide.. Had some more small bass and missed bites to keep me occupied, but I couldn't see any mullet. Decided to change depth to 5ft rather than 20 odd inches from the surface... 1.05pm .. Float shot under and I struck home.. into something that didn't like it.. and zoomed off towards the fast flowing main part of the channel and at depth.... again i decided it was best to bully rather than loose the fish to the pontoons or by having the flow and its weight combined (trust me.. the flow is very strong once its started to run).. well to cut a long strory short I battled, the fish fought... but I managed to hang in there and eventually net it ... and as luck would have it another nice mullet.. better than the previous ones 52cm snout to fork - 4-08lb Again took some quick pix and craddled it in the water until it was ready to move off ... Fished for another hour .. again missed bites and a couple more tiny bass .. largest being all of 11"!!! Drove hope with a big smile Phil

I'll stick my neck out and say .. sounds like classic mullet behaviour to me. Mullet have an inquisitive nature and will follow a lure -- indeed its not unknown (puts hand up ) to think that the "bass" chasing ones lure was in fact a nosey mullet .... only thin lipped mullet however are normally caught using small spinners. If you're used to carp fishing then sure you should certainly try the surface crust/bread either free line or with a small surface controller (or similar suitable method).. not spooking them today may not be the case tomorrow - mullet have more moods than some peoples wives (mine not included) ... and you may well have to "educate them" to the fact that bread is a yummy food to be eatten rather than just nudged or ignored!! Phil

no problem Jeff, I'm sure we'll catch-up at some stage... I'm going to try my best to come along to a couple of the remaining NMC fish-ins later this year... I think if I added all my little tiddlers together they may have just about been the same size as your single Yup it was an aggresive take and I did indeed think at first it was yet another little bass ... mind you it was a nice shade of green rather than the dirty brown of Leon's avatar Phil

well I did go down this morning.. in the wind and rain .. but it cleared up within 10 mins of me parking my car Fished from about 5.45am onwards ... had a handful of tiny bass again .. I'd have been very happy if the inches were pounds .. even with the 4" pint size one!!! That was capped off by a shanny .. what it was doing in the mid-flow and 2 foot from the surface I have no idea .. maybe it just found the bread too tempting and had to swim up from the depths!! lol Had a couple of nice mullet splashing around in the shallows next to me ... could see their dorsal and tail fins .. reminded me of samon spawning ... no way were they interested in my bread offerings either free or on the hook I finaly hooked and landed a mullet around 9am.. only problem .. it was all of 27cm from snout to fork After this the flood seemed to kill everything .. didn't see any more fish .. and not a single bite .. even the school bass had gone on holiday .. after 2 hours of nothingness I decided to go home for lunch... cats were happy to see me .. and the wife even more so .. I'd managed to put her packet of ciggies down in the kitchen and she'd been climbing the walls trying to find them - I shall blame you Leon .. you got me into this mulleting madness in the first place - Hello Elton .. nice to see things have progressed well here for you - Hiya Jeff .. you'll be pleased to know that even before I picked up my rod .. I'd downloaded and sent off my NMC subs Did you manage to get out.. did you fair any better ... I'm sure you did - Hi Norm ... if I remember right your mulleting stomping ground is pompy .. hope you had some luck too and your training your grand daughter in the fine art - And a thank you to Janet Phil

I looked in my little fishing note book the other day whist clearing up one of the rooms in the house ... last entry for me fishing was late August 2006!!! God knows where the time goes .. too much work, lack of money, apathy.. and online gaming all seem to have resulted in a lack of participation of that which is very dear to me .. drinking beer .. oops no wrong chat area .. I mean fishing.... So I dusted down my mullet gear ... and went off down to Littlehampton this friday ... nearly killed me getting up at 2.30am ... in order to sort myself out.. drive down and to start fishing around 5am... I was starting to remember where the apathy came from.. Had a great time however - had a handful of tiny school bass (not what I wanted but that's life) ... I also had 4 mullet that I hooked and lost very rapidly - again not quite the plan .. but was wonderful seeing the fish in the surface waters all morning hitting the surface where the swan feathers where floating by and zooming in on the ground bait being thrown in .. and eventually just as the tide was pushing me off my spot I hooked and landed one of 3-06lb Packed up and drove home for lunch and a long afternoon sleep.. I'd washed the landing net but I still had that distinctive smell of mullet in the car all the way home to remind me of my sucess.. I wasn't going to .. but i've had a look at the forecast and I think I'm off to the shops to go buy some bread for tomorrow (Sunday) .... uuum ... I may have the mullet bug again Phil

Well done Matt ....... a rather long summer for you, but well worth the wait for such a good fish... Phil

Yer its a small world ..... Leon taught me, I taught Chippy, and Chippy taught you............. and on it goes.. The last two weeks on Jersey were poor with a lot of 8 to 10" mullet, poor weather / wind / tide combinations, and the fact that I slipped over and smashed my knee up so didn't really feel like doing too much rock-hopping..... so I'll write those days up as and when - along with a whole load of others from the past couple of years!!!!!.... Did manage to take Karen down to Shoreham today, but the 10" mullet I caught looked a lot like those from Jersey..... think I'm doomed to catch small fry until next year the way things are going!!!!! Phil

Really Dave ...... http://web.ukonline.co.uk/aquarium/pages/hagfish.html although I do need to sort a description out sometime... Phil