Does anyone ever catch those mullet?

[cimota]

Folk are very squeamish here. If care is taken with cleaning and cooking, they'd be fine. And if you are squeamish, then you should never eat chicken or pork

 

[georgeo]

When you look over the side on a rising tide, more often than not there are a shoal of large grey mullet nosing arround the boats.
Does anyone ever try & catch them, & if so how?
If you do catch one do they taste OK or are they best left where they are?

There is a fanatical section of the angling community who, like the carp fishermen, do nothing but target mullet. I have also caught a few in my time. And boy, do they go.....One way increasingly practised is to try and catch them on fly fishing gear with a 'maggot' fly, though I have yet to succeed in this particular endeavour.
It is a myth about their mouths being softer than any other fish, but a large one will always require netting to get them out of the water.
As for eating, caught from fresh clean water, as opposed to horrible dirty water, I reckon they are not unlike bass. And Rick Stein serves them regularly in his establishment. But the peritoneal cavity lining is black and that puts a lot of people off.

 

[billmacfarlane]

I've caught a few in my time. Bait used was flour and water made into a paste of dough like consistency and moulded on to a hook. Fished with a float about 2' below the surface and a little groundbait around it, I've had some success. You'll need a landing net to get it out of the water as their mouths are very soft. I put the ones I caught straight back as there is no way I'd eat them. I tried one once and it tasted mainly of mud. I've been told soaking them in cold fresh water for 24-48 hrs helps but I've never tried.

 

[blueglass]

Folk are very squeamish here. If care is taken with cleaning and cooking, they'd be fine. And if you are squeamish, then you should never eat chicken or pork

so what do you feed your chickens and pigs with down your way?

 

[Sequoiah1]

When you look over the side on a rising tide, more often than not there are a shoal of large grey mullet nosing arround the boats.
Does anyone ever try & catch them, & if so how?
If you do catch one do they taste OK or are they best left where they are?

Have caught them on bread and old meat in the past, make sure you net them before pulling them out the water. They generally tend to suck their food. Down here they net the shoals in the river and send them to France.

 

[tonijon]

Best way I have found to catch they is by pegging a fine net out at low water and come back the next low tide and with luck you will find a few caught by their gills however I have seen a friend catch one with a rod although he was prettty smart with a net just incase the hook tore out.
Have eaten them many a times slightly muddy flavour like trout if ot cleaned out properly as for them eating rubbish so do cod, pike,eels (as do any bottom feeder) and makeral to a lesser extent but people still eat them.

 

[Petronella]

We caught lots in the anchorage off Culatra, Portugal a couple of years ago. No sewage there and with light coarse fishing gear, small hooks (16s) and fresh bread flake they went like the clappers. Cut into little cubes and fried coated in stale breadcrumbs they were a great hit with a fresh salad.

 

[EugeneR]

Here's my little one - aged four at the time - holding his first mullet.

We used it as part of a lesson about where fish fingers came from. Fortunately the other half is a good cook so it ended up tasting pretty good

 

[Alcyone]

A chap caught one on the pontoon in Dale last summer. He cooked it slowly in the oven with garlic, olive oil and Herbs. It was delicious. I'd definitely eat it again.

 

[CAPTAIN FANTASTIC]

A chap caught one on the pontoon in Dale last summer. He cooked it slowly in the oven with garlic, olive oil and Herbs. It was delicious. I'd definitely eat it again.

I agree, plenty in Dale and Milford. Cooked under a grill with lemon and herbs; the way is cooked in France and the Med. Smoked mullet is even better than smoked salmon. Great for fish soup. Best caught with a speargun.

 

[nortonmotors]

Berthed in Levington a few years ago, small boy to father "Daddy, what are those fish doing under that boat?"
Father " Son, they're eating the weed on the bottom of the boat"
Next morning, we felt obliged to have her slipped and scrubbed.

 

[Cobra]

Easiest way to catch Grey Mullet in Brightlingsea?

About 4 seasons ago, I was rowing over to the boat at about 05.30 on a lovely still July morning. The tide was just starting to make, and I was gently rowing letting the tide do most of the work. I was rowing fairly close in to the shoreline when I was to say the least surprised by a fair size Grey Mullet landing in the dinghy. It was followed about 20 seconds later by another. Once I had got over the surprise of an attack of suicide Mullet I chucked them both back...never had the desire to eat anything that feeds around a sewage outlet!

 

[MASH]

Surprised no one has mentioned throw-nets. That's probably the most reliable way to catch them.

 

[Sneaky Pete]

What type of mullet

I know someone with a mullet on his head who enjoys a cod and chips on a Friday night.

 

[blueglass]

A chap caught one on the pontoon in Dale last summer. He cooked it slowly in the oven with garlic, olive oil and Herbs. It was delicious. I'd definitely eat it again.

I think mullet caught in clean sewage free areas (like Dale?) would be OK, but the ones that have taken up residence in polluted harbours and marinas - no thanks. You are what you eat - I know I am full of cr*p already but enough is enough.

 

[MissIsle]

Might give it a go.
We are berthed in Fareham, & don't tell anyone but the water up there is crystal clear.
A bait digger I met said that the shoals were mixed in with bass, so it can't hurt reallc an it? As long as you don't go far the next day!