The mulethon kicked off at 5.20am on Saturday morning, when I was joined by Suffolk angler Nev, for an introduction to mullet on the fly. The perfectly calm conditions made mullet spotting an easy affair.....or at least it would have, had there been some mullet around. Unfortunately, the sea's glassy surface remained largely undisturbed. Eventually, the actions of a small shoal were spied as tails and fins danced in unison to the beat of crashing waves. The team of nymphs winged their way to gate crash the party and instantly grabbed a partner. The fly was hit with aggression, suggesting a bass rather than the hoped for mullet, and so it proved a few moments later as a chunky bass tumbled into the net. Bass and mullet often feed side by side in shallow water and bass are normally first to the fly.
The hunt for mullet was temporarily abandoned at 7.30am, as we waded at speed towards a developing scene of mayhem, 200m distant. What started as a handful of terns had now graduated to a scene from Hitchcocks 'The Birds'. The surface of the sea literally 'popped' as thousands of bass hammered into fry. Too lazy to change nymphs for clousers, Diawl bachs and blood worms were sent to cover rising fish and both were enthusiastically received by fish ranging from 1/4lb to comfortably over the pound mark. After 40 minutes, a brief lull in the carnage afforded time to swop the point flies for clousers in silver/white and yellow/chartreuse livery. Within minutes the sea erupted oncemore and the clousers went to work. The proportion of larger fish increased and gave a good account of themselves. At 10am, following a good two hours of hectic action, the blitz subsided.
Sunday morning 5am and the mullet quest resumed. A thick sea mist had enveloped the coast over night and I picked my way to the water's edge through the eerie grey stilness. Far away fog horns bellowed like angry bulls.
Polite, Portcullis and Toml arrived as the sun got to work on the mist and just as I finally tracked down a shoal of mullet. The fish were tailing in a small, sandy bay, where the action of rolling waves no doubt provided breakfast. First cast and the the fly line came to life. Again there was a suspicion of bass and again this proved to be the case, with a bass almost identical to yesterdays fish coming to hand.
Four rods were now searching the water for elusive mullet. Tom's rod was the first to bend and he roared in triumph as he connected with a mullet for the first time. Only it was not a mullet but instead another 'nuisance' bass, albeit a gorgeous fish of around 3lb, which fell to a Red tag. A fish to be proud of normally, but Tom was genuinely disappointed as his heart is set on capturing a mullet.
