It's a small world.

Having not been out fishing since I got back from Spain two weeks ago looking at the weather forecast for my days off last week I wasn't going to bother going out but on Tuesday afternoon I decided to throw caution to the wind with some float fished bread flake as well for good measure. Golden grey mullet were the target and conditions weren't ideal with a bit of swell rolling into the gully where I prefer to try for them to the right of Torness Power Station's outflow area. After a while, and having introduced a few generous handfuls of groundbait, there was no sign of any mullet and I had all but given up so I took a break and got talking to another angler. I could tell from the tackle he had and the lack of a postal worker's shoulder bag that he wasn't one of the regulars there. It turned out Nathan had driven up from the North East of England to try to catch a bass for a species hunt he was taking part in. As we chatted it became apparent that I had watched a YouTube video he'd uploaded recently of a session he'd had along the coast beneath Fast Castle that my mate Dimitrios had sent me a link to only a couple of days previously. It's a small world! Anyway, trying to be helpful I suggested he fish a soft plastic rigged weedless close to the bottom instead of fishing metals and hard lures as he had been and he went off to try it. I decided to hang around and see what the sea state was going to be like when the tide came in a little further to find out if it would be worth trying for mullet again. To pass the time I amused myself with the resident blennies.

Not sure what the collective noun is for blennies. It should be a gang because despite looking rather cute and innocent here they are in reality a vicious bunch of nasty little hooligans. Bass would probably call a group of them breakfast, lunch and dinner!

Nathan wades out onto the submerged rocks and tries for a bass on a soft plastic that looked fairly close to a blenny being long, slender and brown. He caught one on his third cast. It's always nice when advice you offer helps another angler catch fish.

Once there was enough water in front of the sea defences I put in some groundbait and pinched a flake of bread onto my #10 hook. By this point Nathan had joined me on the rocks and when my float went under and I hooked my first mullet of the day he grabbed my net to help me land it. This was slightly premature however as despite my patience playing it with a soft tipped rod and a loosely set drag, the fish threw my hook. I wasn't surprise as my experience catching them means I've come to expect roughly a fifty percent success rate in landing them. Really it just depends on how well they are hooked. After loosing a second fish Nathan netted the third which was well hooked in the corner of its mouth.

Third time lucky. Mullet really are great fighters.

Thick lipped grey mullet are the only UK species that have the pronounced nodules on their very thick upper lip. They also sometimes have a faint golden area on their gill plate just to confuse. Also note when their mouth is closed the maxillary bone is very visible (the small white diamond shaped structure at the corner of the mouth).

I asked Nathan if he would like to borrow a float to join in the fun but he declined saying that he would prefer to try and catch one on a lure. After helping me land a second thick lipped grey mullet I remembered that I had a modified Mepps in my bag and he had a go with that, threading a piece of Isome onto the small hook on the short piece of fluorocarbon tied to the back of it where the treble once was. It had been grey all day but the sky eventually opened and it rained for a while. My float kept going under briefly but I didn't hook anymore fish for a while. Nathan didn't have any luck slowly spinning the Mepps/Isome rig and after watching me briefly hook and loose a couple more fish he decided to head off, wishing me luck with my search for a golden grey mullet as he went. I carried on fishing away and was just about to call it a day when my float disappeared again, staying under and taking up the slack line a small mullet was soon thrashing about just under the surface. It fought a little differently and when I first got a look at it I got a bit excited as it had a slightly different profile to the other two fish I'd caught. Now on my own I grabbed my net but just as I was about to slip the fish over it a wave rolled in and lifted the fish away from the net, dropping it down in between the rocks I was standing on. A brief heart in my mouth moment followed but dropping my net and slowly lifting the rod up much to my relief the fish was still on and I gently swung to hand my first golden grey mullet of the year.

Another angler kindly came over to take a photo for me. The spray from a wave breaking on the rocks soaking me as he did so couldn't stop me from smiling. This was my forty second species from Scottish saltwater this year.

Golden grey mullet have a much more vivid golden gill plate marking. They lack prominent teeth on their upper lip and their maxillary bone is small and almost completely hidden when their mouth is closed.

Mission accomplished I packed up and headed home to dry off. Having nearly not ventured out I was very happy that I had. It was nice meeting Nathan and catching a few mullet is always great fun. As well as moving another species closer to my target of fifty, catching the golden grey mullet also means that I won't have to visit the outflow again in a hurry either which is good as there are so many other places I'd rather go fishing.

Tight lines, Scott.

Thirty eight.

I turned thirty eight last Thursday. I didn't get a chance to do any fishing but the following day looking at the evening's forecast I spotted an opportunity to have another go for the mullet at what can be Scotland's least pleasurable mark to visit, Torness Power Station outflow area. I picked up my mate Nick at 19:00 and off we went to fish the last few hours of the flood into dusk. There weren't many other anglers fishing when we arrived and with no boats or netters around either we didn't have to watch undersized fish being targeted and taken illegally on the same disgusting scale we had to during our last visit. Things were slow to begin with but small groups of mullet did start turning up to munch on our groundbait before heading off again. The odd fish nosed our bread flake hook baits but not in a really positive way. Once the tide had flooded enough to cover our favourite spot sufficiently we moved over to the rocks next to it and it didn't take long at all for the mullet to "switch on".  This saw us hooking nine and landing six in fairly short period. The three we lost were down to us both tightening up our drag too much to bully hooked fish away from the gaps in the rocks we were standing on. As ever the fight the mullet put up was quite something else and it was a real pleasure catching them. 

Even fairly small thick lipped grey mullet have incredible stamina requiring a patient approach to playing them out.

Each fish I caught got progressively smaller. This had me hopeful that I'd get a golden grey mullet too but all the fish caught were the thick lipped variety. When it was too dark to see our float tips anymore we called it a night but I dare say the fish were still active. It was nice to get my thirty eighth Scottish saltwater species as a belated thirty eighth birthday present. Fishing for mullet is both frustrating and exhilarating and both Nick and I love it. I guess my love-hate relationship with Torness Power Station outflow will have to continue until I capture a golden grey mullet to add to this year's tally. Nick and I really need to find some alternative venues to target thick lipped grey mullet though as we both love targeting them and if I'm to stop frequenting the outflow permanently we'll have to get our fix elsewhere. 

Tight lines, Scott.

Under my nose the whole time!

Having done a fair amount of research into identifying UK grey mullet species, thick lipped and golden grey varieties in particular, I was already aware of a few key distinguishing features that can be used to tell them apart and the reality is they are actually quite distinct from one another. On Thursday night however I stumbled across a diagnostic method that I'd not heard about before. According to a post on an online forum discussing mullet, golden grey mullet have a two tone caudal fin which has a darker band on its edge that is visible when the fish is in the water whilst the caudal fin of a thick lipped mullet appears monotone. This immediately had me quite excited. Every session I've had down at the power station outflow there has been lots of very small mullet around and I was pretty sure that they had this dark tail edge. Early this morning I set off armed with my usual mullet gear along with some 2lb fluorocarbon, a packet of #18 hooks and a 3mm bread punch to try and find out if I was right. When I arrived the tide had just started to flood and the wind was no where near as strong as the forecast had predicted. It was actually fairly pleasant and when the sun appeared over the hills to the south east it was quite a sight. 

What a lovely way to start the day.

I quickly made my way down to a long gully in the rocks and made up my groundbait using two loaves of white bread, a couple of cans of sardines and some sea water. A generous amount was thrown in and then I waited for the small mullet to arrive. It didn't take too long and they did indeed seem to have the dark edge to their tail. I flicked my tiny bait past and then slowly drew my bolo float back in amongst them. After a minute or two it dipped under but I missed the bite. Reeling in my tiny bread plug was gone so I put another on the hook, casting back into the feeding shoal it only took a minute or two to go under again and this time it stayed under. Fish on and being only a few ounces it was very quickly brought to the surface and swung up into my hand. Was it a golden grey mullet though?

Yes it was! My one hundredth species from saltwater in 2014. Mission accomplished!

The golden spot on the gill plate is much more clearly defined on a golden grey mullet. They have a much more streamlined body too. Various other features were also quickly checked just so I was sure. 

Needless to say I was quite pleased to catch the little fish and shortly afterwards I caught a second. I was however slightly annoyed with myself that I had seen these fish every time I had been down there and hadn't tried to catch one to see if it was a golden grey. In truth had I not stumbled across the forum post I probably wouldn't have tried either. Anyway, the wind started to pick up and put a bit of chop on the surface of the water making things difficult so I decided to head up the road to get ready for work. With most of December left I don't think I'll be setting any new goals but I'd really like to catch up with a few of my fishing mates before the year is out so a few trips are in the pipeline. The fishing will be relaxed but if I'm lucky another species or two will get added to my tally before what has been an epic year comes to and end.   

Tight lines, Scott.

Mullet madness.

As planned I returned to Torness Power Station outflow today to have another go at catching a golden grey mullet. The first few hours were very frustrating indeed, watching dozens of juvenile mullet hoovering up my groundbait but ignoring the piece of bread on my hook. Once forced to retreat to the sea defences by the incoming tide I had to wait a short while for the tide to rise a little further before I could continue fishing for mullet. I killed time catching blennies from between the rocks after collecting a solitary limpet to use as bait. 

One of many blennies that I caught on slivers of limpet. An underrated bait I think that stays on the hook very well. 

Once there was enough water out in front of me I started adding groundbait and fishing bread flake under my float again. It took a while before any mullet showed up but the water was very clear and I was entertained by the resident blennies. They were coming out of the gaps between the submerged rocks, swimming up and grabbing small pieces of bread before quickly darting back down to the safety of their hiding places again. Five of them however made the mistake of munching on my hookbait and were unceremoniously hoisted up, unhooked and released again. Eventually some small mullet did arrive but again none of them disturbed my float. As high tide approached I was beginning to feel a little frustrated by the lack of action when my float finally went under. Unfortunately after about thirty seconds of the mullet on the end thrashing wildly my rod suddenly straightened and my float whizzed up over my head. Rather annoyed my blood pressure would rise further still when about five minutes later my float went under again only for a smaller fish to successful copy the first and throw my hook in a thrashing frenzy. Cursing my luck I didn't expect to get a third chance but shortly afterwards I did get one and taking my time playing the fish I eventually got it into my net much to my relief. Like the mullet I caught earlier this month it had a slight golden mark on its gill plate but checking other features I'm pretty certain it was another thick lipped grey mullet. 

A feint golden marking on the gill plate doesn't mean it is a golden grey mullet.

Quite surprised by the trio of hookups in fairly quick succession things got even better when I then hooked and landed a further two thick lipped grey mullet. By now I had used up all my groundbait and light was fading, making seeing my float difficult. After half an hour or so with no further action I packed up and headed home. Well, I hadn't caught my target again and it had been a strange session really. Very frustrating for a long time and then a rather mad short period where I hooked five fish and managed to land three. I have to say though I'm quite enjoying fishing for mullet, species hunting aside it's nice to have another fishing option over the colder winter months and when the conditions look right I'll be back again. I might however just try fishing an hour either side of high water as this seems to be the most productive stage of the tide.

Tight lines, Scott.

Lovely day but no golden grey.

I popped down to the outflow area of Torness Power Station with my mate Nick yesterday for a spot of float fishing for the mullet that its artificially warm water attracts. It was a lovely day with clear blue skies and an offshore wind was flattening the sea nicely. 

A lovely day for a spot of float fishing.

I was hoping to catch my first golden grey mullet of 2014 to take my species from saltwater tally to ninety nine. Nick wasn't being so fussy. He's caught them abroad but hasn't caught a mullet in the UK and was just keen to get one regardless of its variety. We arrived about midway into the flooding tide and lots of small mullet appeared as soon as we began ground baiting in a small bay. A good sign and Nick's float wasn't in the water long when it suddenly went under. A cheeky blenny had come up from the bottom to take his bread flake and was quickly landed much to our amusement. As with my last visit there was no sign of any larger mullet however and before we knew it we were forced off of the rocks we were fishing from so we moved back to the boulders that make up the sea defences to the right of the outflow and started the ground baiting process over again. Whilst we waited on the tide flooding a little more and some mullet to arrive I kicked a limpet from the rocks, cut off a sliver and put it on my hook, lowering it down between the rocks into the water below. It didn't take too long for me to catch a blenny.

This little limpet lover opens my account for the day.

As the tide flooded we kept adding ground bait but for some reason even the juvenile mullet failed to show up. We persevered though and as the tide turned and began to ebb a few small mullet finally arrived.

Nick patiently watches for signs of activity registering on his bolo float.

After a while I was starting to think it just wasn't going to happen when my float suddenly shot under. My rod was soon bent nicely into a feisty fish, Nick grabbed the net and after a minute or two of the fish thrashing near the surface the first mullet of the session was safely in it. Was it my golden grey though?

The feint golden marking on its gill plate had me excited briefly until I examined the fish properly and discovered it was in fact a thick lipped grey mullet.

I was hopeful that this might signal the start of some more activity but unfortunately it did not and by the time we ran out of ground bait and bread for our hooks it ended up being the only mullet of a fairly  quiet session. That's mullet fishing for you though. Conditions tomorrow look good for another go though so I'll be back with another nice fresh loaf and a bucket of ground bait to try again. 

Tight lines, Scott.

Two out of three ain't bad.

When I got back from Menorca and updated my saltwater species tally for the year I noticed that I had reached ninety five species and had a though. Perhaps I could realistically hit a total of one hundred if I did a bit of planning, got a few breaks with the weather and a slice of luck? Looking at potential targets that I haven't caught during 2014 (or haven't ever caught for that matter) I came up with a shortlist of species that I could try and catch and have subsequently decided these will be my focus for the rest of the year. Three of the species on this shortlist, two spotted goby, golden grey mullet and thick lipped grey mullet, I had caught previously around East Lothian so on Sunday I took advantage of a calm spell in the weather and headed off to try and catch the three of them. First stop was the rather nice Ravensheugh Beach at low water to try and catch a two spotted goby from the rockpools at the eastern end.

Ravensheugh Beach is also known to produce the odd turbot, another species I've not caught this year, so I may return in the near future.

Making my way to the rocks at the end of the beach I tied a #18 hook onto the end of my line and squeezed on a single 2g shot a few inches above it. On the hook went a tiny sliver of squid and I began working my way around the various rockpools. To start with I couldn't see any two spotted gobies but after catching a few long spined sea scorpions I was exploring my third rockpool when I finally spotted two of the little fish. 

No sign of my target in this fairly deep pool but a nice big boulder in it provided a place to hide for...

...several of these super aggressive little predators.

Having located the fish I was after, which is usually the hardest thing to do in fishing, I set about trying to catch one. Lowering my bait down in front of the tiny fishes they swam over to inspect it but didn't seem interested at all and after a while trying to tempt them I decided to move on and try and locate some more in other rockpools. I soon spotted a single specimen in the next pool poking its head out from beneath a large rock but again it didn't seem to be in the mood so I moved again. The next rockpool was a lot bigger and dropping my bait into the middle of it saw three two spotted gobies appear from the weed around the edges, swim up and start fighting over it. This was a lot more promising but I feared they might struggle to get the #18 hook into their tiny mouths. I normally use #26 hooks for these tiny species but I've run out and after a while I was cursing the fact I hadn't ordered more. Just when I was thinking about quiting and heading off to target mullet I finally managed to hook one and quickly hoisted it up out of the rockpool.

This small gobies are pretty easy to spot as they have a dark red back with light brown saddles. They don't seem to spook either so once located a bit of perseverance (and a suitably tiny hook) normally sees them caught. Note also the nice blue spots down the fishes flank. These appear much brighter when the fish is in the water.

Quite pleased that my efforts had been rewarded I headed back to the car and drove down the A1, stopping briefly to buy some bread and sardines to make up some groundbait to hopefully attract a few mullet down at Torness Power Station outflow. Conditions didn't look ideal when I got down there however, with a slight swell running and the water ever so slightly clouded up as a result. I decided to give it a go anyway and set about making up my groundbait as I waited for the tide to flood over the area I planned to fish. As I started setting up my tackle I spooned in some groundbait and after a while a few juvenile mullet began appearing and started nibbling away at the chunks of bread floating on the surface. Tackle wise I went with an 8g bolo float, 6lb mainline and a #10 hook at the end of a 4lb hooklength. Squeezing on a bread flake about the size of a 5p piece and casting it out I sat patiently watching for the float to register bites. Over the next two hours or so I kept the groundbait going in, rebaiting my hook regularly and my patience was finally rewarded when I got a cracking bite, my float shooting under and staying there. Fish on and it was much bigger than the small ones I'd seen near the surface. I was surprised it didn't make any runs but instead it just thrashed around for quite some time in front of me. After a nervous moment when I thought it was going to swim into the rocks I was fishing from I managed to get it in my net.

Mullet are hard fighting fish. They have a lot of stamina too and don't give up easily. Luckily this one was well hooked. 

I carried on fishing hoping that a golden grey mullet would be next to sink my float and complete my hat trick of species for the day. My float did go under a second time but unfortunately the fish threw the hook after a few seconds of persistent thrashing. It felt like a bigger mullet than my first though so in all likelihood it was another thick lipped mullet. Just after high water I ran out of groundbait and then slices for my hookbaits so I packed up and headed off. Two out of three ain't bad and I'm confident I can return when conditions are better and catch a golden grey mullet. I now have only three species to catch to reach the one hundred mark and just over seven weeks to get them. Neap tides this weekend should have seen me out on Sunday night trying to catch a five bearded rockling and a viviparous blenny during slack water from Anstruther's White Pier but the incredibly strong easterly winds currently forecast may make this impossible. I may have to wait until the weather calms down again to resume my saltwater species hunting.

Tight lines, Scott.