Have heard from several boat owners that Mullet can keep you awake at night rasping weed off the hull !

Marina lighting might make a difference .

 

I was just about to comment saying one night when I stayed on the boat I could hear them slurping and sucking along the waterline and hull.

 

Always worth a try me Bab....I have caught early evenings but never as the dawn breaks, it seems they need the Sun or the warmth of the day to get them going.

Mike.

 

Hi mate , we have caught mullet at night , usually fishing on the bottom using a 2 hook set up with bread , stick bread on your weight and pinch some on your line , then hopefully they grab your hook with bread on

 

Ive heard of mullet being caught on bottom on lugworm at night

I would say the feed more at the surface during the day then bottom in darkness

 

Interesting comments. The mark has a lot of artificial lighting which illuminates the water close in. Guess I'll be giving it a shot soon.

 

With Mullet being filter feeders surely they would be a better option than sight predators such as Bass? With that in mind I'd be very confident that they would be rooting about at night

 

@fishlesswonder .. Do Mullet feed at night!!!? That's when the big old girls come out to play.. Have had them off the top on floating bread, swim feeder method and... ledgering bread & Mackerel baits.

On dark stretches with no artificial lights keep bright lights off the water, red lights are the way to go.. fish by touch, hold the rod and feather line between fingers and thumb... if you have the patience for it, it's an amazing way to fish.

 

Done fair bit of mulleting this year in my local estuary when tides haven't suited the bass. My experience this year mullet have been more active in darkness than daylight for me . Far more bites and more hook ups . My best this year coming at night just shy of 4 lb . (Thick lipped)

 

Yes. Had some good fish on fly in total darkness. They feed in the same places and at the same stages of the tide in darkness as they do in daylight.
I once stood in 6 inches of water under moonlight and had a shoal of thicks feeding at my feet. Amazing experience.

 

Two weeks ago went to Town Quay, on a sole hunt, slow night but the sole did show in the end , but 4 am , bringing in my three hook flapping rig to rebait, delicately manoeuvre between my other rods I had a take, drop net placed down the side to bring in a 3 lb Ish thin lip.

I was stunned, but it's dark, how !!!!! So that will be my fishing this weekend, fly fishing in the dark.

 

Like comments above, those big old finicky mullet seem easier to catch after dark. We caught them one night on big baits fished on the bottom from the boat.

 

Mullet 19 Oct 19

• David Boodoo
• Oct 20, 2019

I often fish after work as I live near a marina. This means I'm often fishing at night. And I can assure you, mullet will feed absolutely any time of day or night. You will get long periods of inactivity. Last night, actually, is a perfect example. Having been set up for about 2 hours, I'd only had 3 nibbles. And suddenly (about 11pm), back-to-back, I had a 1-lb and a 4-lb thick-lipped, then nothing for another 90 mins. Another example of "any time day or night", I'd been fishing hours, and my only fish were two at about 1am!

(sliding weight to swivel to 8inch hooklength of 6lb fluro to size 8 Kamasan B980 hook. de-crusted 1/4 slice of bread, pinched onto the line around the hook.)

 

Do you think they would take things like corn if they were in a lake? Or maggots. There's a lake near me that comes off the tamar which is stuffed with mullet so they're effectively trapped in there

 

Matt, I’m no expert but from what I’ve learned they are opportunistic feeders. I once watched a show where a guy took rotting kelp from the beach containing maggots, and threw large clumps into the sea. The maggots would apparently float, the kelp would sink and the mullet would take his maggot-imitation off the surface.

Another common method for mullet is to groundbait your mark 3 or 4 days in succession, then fish using the same bait. If that’s not an option for you, try carp tactics with method feeders and ground bait - the smell of the ground bait may pull them to your mark, and my guess is they’d then take the maggots within the ground bait.

Don’t know about corn for mullet, but again they are known to be opportunistic.

However bread is a known winner with mullet, so if you’re after them id strongly suggest that.

I’ve personally been spicing up my bread hook baits with lug worm oil, and I do believe it has attracted larger mullet than straight bread, especially in the low-clarity water I fish. My belief is that in such conditions, given that bread isn’t exactly a smelly bait, you’re pretty much waiting for a fish to pass near your bait and see it, where as with some smelly oil your area of effect will be much increased to draw them within sight of your hook bait.

 

Cheers David boodoo.
I'm going to give it a go. I'm new to sea fishing but been a match angler/carp angler for 31 years on canals and rivers so going to try my match tactics for them. Aparrently they fight like mad so I'm told?

 

They do give a good scrap... and due to the light tackle they demand, it’s all the more challenging!

While I’m here, might as well also advise you as I have been advised... don’t rush to strike them. They will toy with your hook bait, sometimes disappearing without ever giving a positive bite. But be patient, wait for a real positive bite before gently striking into the fish. That’s how I’ve been doing it anyway - some people don’t think you should strike into mullet but I don’t really agree with the thinking behind it, and I’ve made several solid hook-ups so far using the traditional strike on a solid take.

PS again I’m no expert but I do believe there is potential for a lot of cross-over of tactics from carp fishing to mullet fishing - I think you’ll do well with all your experience!

 

I might try going super carpy and try solid bags with pellets and dead maggots in. I tend to fish with braid so it's very direct. I use it beach fishing and find it very sensitive.
Sea fishing has opened up a whole new experience and a tonne of new species to target. I might try getting out after some mullet on Friday night

 

Send me a message when you do pal, let me know how you get on! I bought some carp bait and pellets to try but haven’t used them yet! Keen to know how you get on.

 

Yeah I'll definitely let you know how I get on. Going to be a lot of trial and error. I have used carp tactics in estuaries and had bites on it so worth a go I think

 

Far from picky at night.

 

Far from picky at night.

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Are they a sub species of Thick Lips Jon?

 

Sweetcorn does work, also picks up the odd sea trout.! :thumbsup:

 

Ive found raw soft prawn to be very good, you don't need much either, two prawns can quite easily result in around 20 mullet catch and release ( burlied with old bread)

 

I'm definitely taking some corn and prawns then. Never caught a mullet before so looking forward to having a go

 

The go to tactic over here at night is feeder rod, cage feeder and two hook flapper rig. baited with what ever seems ok , lug,bread etc. I would be wary of braid as it is very direct and is likely to result in hook pulls , 10lb mono is more than adequate.
Where it differs over here ,is that they wait for the rod to go over, salt version of the 3foot twitch , rather than touch ledgering
Mullet will go at least as comparable as a barbel of equiv size inmho.

On a differing note, I have witnessed decent mullet[ 4+] at night on lug, rag .mackerel and razors over the years ,others can no doubt other baits .

 

Sugar pen hard boddies from the kayak after dark, a deadly lure on many species.