Watch out for those Mullet !

brianhumber

brianhumber

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Feeding one of the Black Swans (migrants from Arundel wildfowl trust?) in Chichester Marina this week, we and it got a big shock when one of the large 4 foot long plus mullet approached with gaping jaws and snapped at the swans foot. She literally gave a startled yep and shot out of the water to retreat a safe distance. Point is when she came back for more food so did jaws and the same thing happened again.
I have not seen monsters this big in the marina before - anybody else seen this behaviour towards swimming feet from mullet?

Brian
 
anything like this one?

mullet.jpg


S x
 
Grey mullet are bottom feeders and we were told not to eat them at the Bristol Cancer Centre. In the early 70's I won a sea fishing competition, junior section, using rag worm and casting near the end of an old sewer outlet. Not sure I would have eaten them! Still got me many bad looks and comments from the other juniors, and a few of the adult section, last time I took part! But I won..........
 
Mullet are bottom feeders? Just look at the photo above. They are quite obviously on the surface. Otherwise you wouldn't see them. Mind you they don't taste great but that's nothing to do with where they live. Pollack feed on the same things as cod but they don't taste nearly as nice. Bass live in estuaries (like mullet) but taste great. Red mullet, now there's a nice to eat fish. Totally unrelated of course.
 
Plaice live and feed mostly on the bottom.
Bass live all over the place.
Feed at all depths.
Cod will swallow just about anything.
Salmon are born in freshhwater
And so are Flounders
Is there anything bout fish
That won't astound us?
Fish swim deep
Fish swim shallow
Tiss their abode
I hope you follow
This crazy rhyme
To it's end
Cos catching Mullet drives Me round the bend! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Seriously tricky characters to catch.
Seriously quite nice to eat.
The scaly bits need to be rid of.
Else cook like a Bass.
OK, They seem to live and breed in brackish muddy waters but are not the worst fish to eat.
"Mackeral, the Scavengers of the Sea" I have heard this misnomer before.
We all like the odd fresh Mackeral though.
Scallops.
Borrocks
Crabs
Dabs
Whiite bait, Sole mate
There aint no Fish I hate
Stuff from the Briney
Will do for Me,
I,ve just had a Haddock
For Me Tea!
On a SCALE /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif of 1 to 10
This has got to be the worst post
The Wrong side of 10 PM
Me if you like
The one fish I won't eat is a Pike!
/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
Around three weeks ago I was sat on the visitors pontoon in Newton Ferrers with my bare feet dangling in the water as I scraped the old varnish off the rubbing strake.
I felt something on my foot and thinking it was a bit of seaweed flicked my foot without looking down, when it happened again I looked down to see 2 ft of Grey Mullet trying to suck my little toe.
You should have seen me jump! /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif
It could have been a Bass, I guess, as the river is a protected Bass spawning ground.
When we got back to Southdown Marina my Daughter and Son spent ages trying to catch the Grey Mullet that come in with the tide, river rods, float and small hook baited with bread but no joy, and no I will not be donating my toe as bait!
Chap in the angling shop suggested a `hydocarbon`? line as its invisble in the water.
 
We see these in the marina in quite big numbers. I'm no expert, and certainly don't know about eating them, but I looked this up to see what size they get to.
I should think a "four-foot long plus" mullet would exceed the British record of 14 pounds. So get your rod out and call the Angling Times. This page suggests a maximum of about 75cm, which is still a fair-sized fish.
 
What puts me off is that the French never seem to try to catch them or eat them, and that is saying something. I had had grand evenings sport and caught a load a couple of years back. Tell your kids to feed the swim with pieces of bread pinched between the fingers, do this for a good half hour towrds the end of the day and get the fish feeding. A the sun gets low introduce your small baited hook on very light line (eg 3/4 lb freshwater style). Do not use a float, let the bait fall through the groundbait as naturally as you can, the fish will almost hook themselves. Keep quiet and low, do not get between the fish and the sun.......used to catch roach on the Rochdale canal like that fifty years ago.
 
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Never eat them, "bottom feeders" are just that, feed off "merde", and taste like it

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Interestingly, all the fine eating seafood live on rotten crap. Prawns are only underwater cockroaches. Oysters sieve diesel and other rubbish through their systems. The good eating deep water species survive mainly on dead rotten material that sometimes takes months to sink down to them. In comparison those predator species like tuna etc, don't taste anywhere as good.

Also there are different national tastes. The British seem to like slimey mackerel were here its mainly used for bait. Some people eat them smoked. Watch a documentary on fish farms in Vietnam before you buy that frozen fish from the supermarket next time.
 
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Also there are different national tastes. The British seem to like slimey mackerel were here its mainly used for bait.

[/ QUOTE ]

Our mackerel tastes different to your slimey mackerel, I seem to recall.

My favourite Aussie fish is Blackfish, caught off the rocks using seaweed as bait.
 
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[/ QUOTE ]

Our mackerel tastes different to your slimey mackerel, I seem to recall.

My favourite Aussie fish is Blackfish, caught off the rocks using seaweed as bait.

[/ QUOTE ]
You must have had an experienced Ghillie.
Or were said piscatorial deilicasies , a Supermarket purchase, perchance? /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
Hi Searush
Before the Hamble river turned into a linear boat park the local kids fished for mullet exactly as you say. They bent the forks of an ordinary dinner fork to spread them apart a bit then tied it to a bamboo cane. Mixed results - mainly due to lack of barbs I think.
 
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