Sea Mullet Trace with bait presentation

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Keegan_Chetty

New member
Hi guys,

I am very new to fishing but enjoy it, I have learnt a lot from the articles on sealine but I hope you guys can help me with the sea mullet trace and bait presentation, last weekend I was at the pier in Durban and saw some big guys swimming right next to my bait but didn't even get a nibble.

I had a 1 oz sinker with sardine bait on a 3 way swivel.

People told me that these fish are fussy so what do you guys recommend?

thanks _seal1_
 
W

willem wikkel spies

Moderator
mullet are not real bait feeders.

but you can catch them, using a drift setup with very small baits and basically no sinker.
sardine do work at times.

in the old days in very calm water, mullet was caught using bread which floated.
you will not have the calm water on the pier as such.
but at least you are past the breakers.
 
H

Houtarm

Moderator
Make a trace with two hooks, a small hook at the end of the line, and a larger hook about 20-30cm up the line.

Hook a sardine head on the large hook and very small piece of sardine one the point of the small hook.

No sinker required, the sardine head acts a chum and float.
 
B

BigBen

Sealiner
Keegan_Chetty wrote:
Hi guys,

I am very new to fishing but enjoy it, I have learnt a lot from the articles on sealine but I hope you guys can help me with the sea mullet trace and bait presentation, last weekend I was at the pier in Durban and saw some big guys swimming right next to my bait but didn't even get a nibble.

I had a 1 oz sinker with sardine bait on a 3 way swivel.

People told me that these fish are fussy so what do you guys recommend?



thanks _seal1_
Click to expand...

THROWNET....All done.:cool:
 
D

Dr halibut hoffman

Moderator
Thrownet or tiny size 10 or so hook, either way chumming with some bread and sardine you've smashed up, or bread with anchovie oil in it, chumming is the key. Then little visible bait on the hook point moving as slow as you can towards you, sometimes with a little float, sometimes not and two hooks can help. I've won a bet before with someone, took the leftover crust from the sarmie I was eating, chummed them up and took a ball of polystytene on the tiny hook point on a drift trace and flicked that to them..had enough livebait within a minute or two.. But Bigben said it..
 
K

Keegan_Chetty

New member
Thanks for the feedback guys sorry for the late reply I forgot my username, will definitely try them all. Much appreciated._seal1_t(((up((
 
K

Kes

New member
Mullets are usually a by-catch when fishing for other species.

The really big "bull mullet" are often caught amongst a shad shoal. I guess the constant chumming left by hundreds of baits attracts them..
 
A

Arniston

New member
Mullets differ in regions (species). In Western Cape and West Coast they are called Harders. They are numerous in both regions and a friend of mine targets them on an ultrafine fly rod with a very light tippet using a very sand sea flea imitation fly (self tied) around the Gordons Bay region from the beach...where you find washed up kelp (near kelp beds)...if you lift up the dead kelp and you find myriads of these sand fleas...that a good indicator that are bound to be around. On the West Coast, I don't know if this will work as they might be a different sub-species. All the mullets caught in these regions are good eating.

As you progress along the coast to the Eastern Cape, there is a species of mullet, they call Springers (not to be confused with the Springer with a large mouth that is caught on streamer flies, lures, spoons and live bait which is a totally different fish. These harders in Eastern Cape often enter estauries and sometimes are found sometimes way inland...even in parts of Natal and we used to catch them on white ants (termites) which you dig up from the heaps...using chunks of their nests containing them into the water as "lokaas" a type of chumming. This brings them on and as bait you use very small hooks baited with six or more of these tiny creatures threaded on them. In Natal we use flying ants (termites) which come to the lights in early summer.

In Durban area we get the very big Mullet which favours the harbours and lagoons and they are caught on paste baits (bread mixed with chopped sardine). These mullets can reach 6 pounds or more give good sport but are terrible to eat and must be released. They eat all the much and sewerage in the Bay. They too can be caught on flies but very different from the Western Cape species.
 
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Kes

New member
Arniston wrote:
Mullets differ in regions (species). In Western Cape and West Coast they are called Harders. They are numerous in both regions and a friend of mine targets them on an ultrafine fly rod with a very light tippet using a very sand sea flea imitation fly (self tied) around the Gordons Bay region from the beach...where you find washed up kelp (near kelp beds)...if you lift up the dead kelp and you find myriads of these sand fleas...that a good indicator that are bound to be around. On the West Coast, I don't know if this will work as they might be a different sub-species. All the mullets caught in these regions are good eating.

As you progress along the coast to the Eastern Cape, there is a species of mullet, they call Springers (not to be confused with the Springer with a large mouth that is caught on streamer flies, lures, spoons and live bait which is a totally different fish. These harders in Eastern Cape often enter estauries and sometimes are found sometimes way inland...even in parts of Natal and we used to catch them on white ants (termites) which you dig up from the heaps...using chunks of their nests containing them into the water as "lokaas" a type of chumming. This brings them on and as bait you use very small hooks baited with six or more of these tiny creatures threaded on them. In Natal we use flying ants (termites) which come to the lights in early summer.

In Durban area we get the very big Mullet which favours the harbours and lagoons and they are caught on paste baits (bread mixed with chopped sardine). These mullets can reach 6 pounds or more give good sport but are terrible to eat and must be released. They eat all the much and sewerage in the Bay. They too can be caught on flies but very different from the Western Cape species.
Click to expand...


((goodp_

The only time we targeted mullets was for live bait and we used a cast net for that purpose.

Because of their eating quality they were more of a menace in the shad shoal than anything else. They fight well though and if you hooked into a 60cm+ one, you always mistake it for a huge shad until it hits the beach.

:)
 
D

Dr halibut hoffman

Moderator
A large mullet from clean waters fried in the pan in garlic, salt,black pepper, butter and olive oil is tops! Good firm oily tasty flesh, push off the bone like trout or elf..But mostly I release them with an 8/0 stuck in.. :)
 
K

Kes

New member
Dr halibut hoffman wrote:
A large mullet from clean waters fried in the pan in garlic, salt,black pepper, butter and olive oil is tops! Good firm oily tasty flesh, push off the bone like trout or elf..But mostly I release them with an 8/0 stuck in.. :)
Click to expand...

8/0 ? Me too..::tight:
 
A

Arniston

New member
The western Cape Harder (Mullet) is different from the Mullet caught in the warmer waters...the Cape ones are very palatable...mMullet caught in Natal waters taste awful...we either use them for live bait for Garrick (Leervis) or release them.
Their are big ones around Durban and Richards Bay but they eat all the sewerage and nobody eats them.
 
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Dr halibut hoffman

Moderator
Ja, I only eat them from clean waters..Cape and Natal will both taste k@k from sif water..From umgeni to sandvlei, I would NOT eat them, but there are many unpolluted rivers in between. But ja normally release them with new jewellery ..8/0, 10/0..all good! Hey I've even them cooked up for the dog with rice/pap in tight times..but right now still have a few tunny heads in the freezer so not going mullet chasing anytime soon..The bigger springers I have noticed are the tastier ones but ja not too often that I chow them..
 
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Kes

New member
Dr halibut hoffman wrote:
Ja, I only eat them from clean waters..Cape and Natal will both taste k@k from sif water..From umgeni to sandvlei, I would NOT eat them, but there are many unpolluted rivers in between. But ja normally release them with new jewellery ..8/0, 10/0..all good! Hey I've even them cooked up for the dog with rice/pap in tight times..but right now still have a few tunny heads in the freezer so not going mullet chasing anytime soon..The bigger springers I have noticed are the tastier ones but ja not too often that I chow them..
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Biggest mullets I have ever caught was in full on saltwater mixed with the shad so no dirty contaminated effluent water.

I know people that have eaten those big ones before but I never did. You do make me think though with regards to the recipe you provided. Maybe I'll eat the next one i catch..:)
 
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