After Brian's challenge, it took me four attempts to finally catch one of the River Torrige mullet. I've caught them in the estuary before but never from the river. After another customer advised me where to fish, my first trip was little more than a viewing exercise, although I did get twitchy bites. That was at low tide in the evening when the fish were swimming all around the pool left by the receding tide.
My next trip resulted in really fast bites which I missed by a mile, but it soon became clear that the fish would drop the bait on encountering any resistance.
My third trip was at low tide in the middle of the day, and there were no fish, nor was there any evident activity, totally unlike the evening sessions. So my fourth trip with my son Lee, was in the evening. I started with bread flake, using liquidised bread as loosefeed. The rig was a simple paternoster, thereby ensuring that the fish wouldn't feel any resistance from the lead.
My first cast resulted in a quick "pluck" as I set the rod down. Again, the resistance on feeling the rod caused the fish to drop the bait. I cast again but this time left a slack droop in the line, which you can just about see in the photograph. Shortly afterwards, the line twitched and as I was confident that the fish had felt no resistance I continued to wait. After a few twitches, the line started to run steadily. I struck and saw a mullet leap from the water and throw the hook. I was getting closer all the time.
The next time I cast, I used the same technique but reduced the drag on the fixed spool to a minimum. Shortly afterwards I felt a similar bite. This time I struck and the fish was on. I'd been told how hard mullet fight but this one just wouldn't give in on the light drag, eventually netting my mullet. I'd done it, my first river mullet and I was 'over the moon.'
Sadly, Lee had forgotten the middle section of his coarse rod and as we only had a cane fly rod in the boot of the car, he'd little choice but to use that. After catching my fish, we moved up-river to watch the surface activity. We didn't think these were mullet as the style of feeding was different, but we're both novices at sea angling and are really at the bottom of a learning curve.
Lee managed to catch a small fish which turned out to be a bass, his first, and he was delighted to catch it on light tackle.
Two days later we returned in a grudge match, Lee fishing for bass and I was fishing for mullet - the prize was a Mars bar! I asked Lee to pick up the loaf whilst I worked in the shop which he did, a BROWN one, totally useless for light presentation on a hook but good for the diet!
I dropped in the same swim as previously and crouched down to keep my profile hidden. Lee decided to stand next to me and touch-leger with worm for bass. He quickly had his first fish, and then "realised he was scaring my fish away" so moved (with a little verbal persuasion!). At this point a herd of cows decided to join me and waded in for a drink of water right where I was fishing! As I lifted the rod to wind in I had a fish tear off, ripping the line from my reel before shedding the hook. It was a mullet and because I hadn't struck, I lost the fish.
Moving about 100 yds along the bank to try my luck again, Lee appeared just upstream of me and decided to long- trot with maggots, loose feeding them as his float trundled through my swim. A few expletives later, he moved back to my original swim which had settled down and proceeded to catch another 4 bass and 2 eels.
As the sun set, a mist descended on the fields and drifted over the water, creating ghostly light in the almost full moon. It was time to head home. Lee was still expecting a Mars bar, even though he'd used every underhand tactic to ensure he caught fish and I didn't. Next time he's going in the river!