Success

I was determined to catch a mullet or two on the fly this season. It's been several years since I had a proper go, they're difficult but by no means impossible. 

It's a big advantage to live close to the river

Most days I have a walk with the binoculars, the birdlife is amazing and obviously I'm always on the lookout for fish. You get to know the places they'll be at different states of the tide and what conditions they prefer.

They hate strong winds and cool weather. Hot days with a very light breeze is perfect.

Every now and then they disappear for no apparant reason, even in good conditions, so you can never be sure.

The number one thing you need to do is find numbers of feeding fish. It's easy to find big groups of fish, but they feed for short periods and most of the time they're just mooching about and your chances are much diminished.

The other day I spotted a group of tightly packed fish with their tails and dorsals out in a few inches of water.  Maybe ten or fifteen in an area two or three yards square.

First cast landed in exactly the right spot and I left it dead still. Ten or twenty seconds later I strip struck into a mullet which had taken the tiny shrimp like fly, static in the mud.

Me and the mullet were covered in mud, but no matter, the first fly caught mullet of the year was chalked up on the board.

A day later a repeat performance. A very short feeding spell, a tiny fly fished static amongst feeding fish and another thin lip in the bag.

In the afternoon I went down river to look for thick lips, through a beautiful chestnut wood with bluebells in full bloom and down a steep slope to the shore.

I scanned the water for a couple of hours but only saw a couple of fish, despite the good conditions. Having said that, I did nod off for half hour, so I may have missed a few.

Me and Clarko are planning a trip for the thins on Monday. The weather forecast is poor, so we'll see what happens.