HELP!! Dont laugh but I fish for mullet!

[Joshstarrr]

Hi Everyone!
Regular reader of the boards but dont ever post!
Basicly I have a few question about fishing for mullet...
I'll give as much detail as possible so you guys can best help me out.
I live on the Gold Coast at a place called Monterey Keys (nth gold coast)
We have a lock which basicly is completely enclosed so whatever fish are in here stay and spawn here as there is no way for them to get out.
I have caught some monster flatty in here over the last year (see below pics) and just recently caught a mutant mullet!
I've never seen a mullet this size 84cm and thick as a brick put up a huge fight on my light gear, I caught her on a small prawn and a 2/0 long shank with a bit of lead.
There a 100's of these things in here.
Every night they jump and keep me awake some of the splashes sound like 30kg rocks being dropped out there. (however not on a full or new moon?)
I want to target these suckers for some fun and want to know the best way to do it! Any tips would be great!
Rigs?
Bait?
Hook size?
Anything would be helpful!

Here are a couple of flattys caught trolling and on live herring in the lock @ monterey keys.

[nigelr]

Hi Josh, welcome to Ausfish.
Mate, mullet are an excellent fish to target! Can be quite tricky, sometimes difficult to hook.
I am envious of you having that resource available, they are great fighters and make excellent bait!
Used to fish for them in Queenscliffe Lagoon in Sydney about 45 years ago,
used stale bread for burley, a combination of bread, flour and cotton wool all mixed up with a bit of water into a thick paste for bait.
Very small hooks (size 8-10) under a very tiny split shot (or no sinker if you can cast far enough without using one), about 20 - 30 cms under a small piece of white coolite foam used as a float. Line about 3kg is plenty strong enough. Very similar to a river gar rig.
Not completely sure if the fellas you are chasing will respond to this approach, but if they attack stale bread broken up and used for burley on the surface, you should be right. Just cast your rig into the burley and wait for a hit!
I'm sure other members will offer some useful advice.
Have fun Josh, nice looking flatties as well!

[jez and suze]

that flatty in the bottom pic seems to have some optical problems!!!

[finga]

Hi Josh, welcome to Ausfish.
Mate, mullet are an excellent fish to target! Can be quite tricky, sometimes difficult to hook.
I am envious of you having that resource available, they are great fighters and make excellent bait!
Used to fish for them in Queenscliffe Lagoon in Sydney about 45 years ago,
used stale bread for burley, a combination of bread, flour and cotton wool all mixed up with a bit of water into a thick paste for bait.
Very small hooks (size 8-10) under a very tiny split shot (or no sinker if you can cast far enough without using one), about 20 - 30 cms under a small piece of white coolite foam used as a float. Line about 3kg is plenty strong enough. Very similar to a river gar rig.
Not completely sure if the fellas you are chasing will respond to this approach, but if they attack stale bread broken up and used for burley on the surface, you should be right. Just cast your rig into the burley and wait for a hit!
I'm sure other members will offer some useful advice.
Have fun Josh, nice looking flatties as well!

That's how we did it.
Nana used to get the poo's and give us a good belting because we'd be pinching her scone mix to go after mullet

[Jeremy]

that flatty in the bottom pic seems to have some optical problems!!!

well spotted. Pretty sure that is a fringe eyed flathead. Not that common.

I also fish for mullet. The big ones are great sport on light gear. I would love to see a photo of the 84 cm mullet. That is the biggest I have heard of.

When it gets a bit warmer, get out there on a still night and cast a popper around. Might get some interest out of some trevally or tarpon etc.

For the mullet, I fish a little differently to Nigel with just a hook and a piece of bread crust cast out into the bread burley when the mullet are feeding.

Jeremy

[NAGG]

I hooked a big blue nose on a 7wt fly outfit once Talk about about a freight train ( 50M + of backing out ... & popped the light tippet) .... I was having a shot at burleyed up bream using a bread fly imitation .... & Whammo. I'm not sure if they are a viable target ...... on fly .... I think I fluked it .... Nagg

[B_E_N]

yeh nag they can be a target on fly, ive heard most use about a 5/6 weight setup, and bread flies!

ive been shown how to catch them in the robina canals so i guess it will work where you are, all we did was get small SMALL hooks no long shanks and some bread, burley them up to get them in and feeding then get some bread and make a small tear drop shape with it on your hook but it will sink because you have kneaded all the air out of the bread. if they wont take this sinking ball of bread get some crust and put it on. the crust will float but wont stay on your hook as long.
now the reason i dont use long shanks for gar or mullet is they dont bite but suck the bread in, a small tear shaped bit of bread with a small short shanked hook will be sucked in alot easier than a long shank. the odd one will swallow the hook down but its easy to get out with some pliers.

depedning on where they are feeding on the surface or just below will determine if you need a float and split shot sinker setup, if they are on top its best just to use light mon line and nothing else give it a little flick to get the bait out there and wait, but sometimes the bigger fish will be below the surface getting food as it sinks, use a running float with a stopper to control how far down your bread will sink, and make sure you can change this because you may want to alter the depth at which you fish, then a small split shot sinker clamped on with pliers then the hook. it also helsp to add or subtract split shot sinkers to make your float sit upright in the water, it will ensure the bite is indicated alot easier when the fish sucks in the bait.
if you have trouble understanding the setup give us a pm and ill send you over a diagram if you want, hope this helps

[Livey]

small hooks and float like gar fishing. best tip i can give is pinch the bread on the hook but leave most of it fluffy (dont make doe out of it)

[raben]

I used to love mullet fishing back when I was a kid .... we had two methods. The first was with a quill float & bread. The second was with a surf rod, large eggbeater reel & a large jag hook !

The second method was the most exciting as we would regularly hook them near the tail & all we could do was hang on until they tired. Yeah, I know .... thats illegal now ... like everything else worth doing !!!

[Joshstarrr]

Thanks everyone for all your replys!
Will definetly being making up a big burleigh mix and trying all those rigs.
I did make my own white feather fly to try that but could not get it out there with no weight.

I did find this rig while googling last night

(LOCATED BELOW MESSAGE AS THUMBNAIL)


Oh and Jeremy about 3 weeks ago we saw this black mass about 20 feet out lightly disturbing the water (something was sucking the surface from bellow)
I got my popper out there and you could see the 'bow wakes' of these fish chasing it then turning a way at the last second so I tried a bit of bread and a hook and BANG had a huge run and then spat it.
Not long after that a duck was flying about 3 above the water and went straight over the top of them. I have NEVER seen so many HUGE mullet jump, scatter, splash, they all had a heart attack let alone the duck!

We have caught big Trevally in here on live herring quite a bit. And there is apparently jewies but I have never caught one.

B_E_N
I think i understand your rig is it similar to the one I've posted above? But with a split shot above each hook?


..Cant wait to get a few these things fight like you wouldnt belive at least the one I caught did!

[alleycat]

Hi josh, i used to catch heaps of mullet on line and hook and they are great fun, fight like demons, the best bet is to burley them up using home brand wheat germ bought from coles or woolies, mix wheat germ with water in little bucket to a poridge like thickness so it can be thrown and fish a very small hook under a float with fresh bread squeezed onto it.

[Little grey men]

Met an old bloke in Ballina who used to swear by bacon rind as good for mullet.
Never tried it myself. Actually not sure if it's even worth trying as he used to also pee his pants on a regular basis and yell at the fish.

[B_E_N]

yeh mate pretty much the same but we use the quill floats, the long ones with a small oval shaped bit of cork in the middle and a thin peice of wood thru the middle, if useing multiple hooks dont put a split shot on the the line that feeds of to the hooks, it will make the bait look funny in the water put them below the float on the main line and let the bread float down naturally

[Freeeedom]

Hi Josh
I chase mullet in the upper Pine River through the summer months from my canoe when I want a nice relaxing morning's fishing (and need some crab bait or fresh mullet for the barbie). I paddle up to the middle of a nice long pool, tie up to a snag in the shade of the trees and berley with small pieces of white bread. It doesn't take long usually to draw a crowd of feeding poddy mullet and the larger ones are usually underneath them. My rig is similar to a basic garfish rig with a No 10 or 12 hook (the same hooks I use for luderick and garfish), a small ball sinker sitting on a tiny swivel and a small quill type float. A stooper knot on the line sets the bait about 30 -40cm below the surface. For bait I prefer a dough mix - just flour and water. I find this stays on the hook better than a ball of fresh bread kneaded onto the hook. Cast beyond the crowd swirling around the berley and give the rig a tweak every now and then to move the bait - they attack a moving bait much more readily than a stationary one. On light gear they are a terrific sports fish, and where I fish I also get a few bream and even the odd bass.
Cheers Freeeedom

[mickstar001]

Cant help on trying to catch them Joshstarrr however i can testify your situation at Monterey Keys. Parents had a house right opposite the lock (sold about 8 months ago) and i could hear the slapping and carrying on of the Mullet all night long. I caught a monster flatty in there of about 70-80cm i reckon and released it, so there are some biggens in there! Are the muddies still quiet in there mate, or do you have to get out into saltwater creek to get them still??

Best of luck with the mullet mate.

Mickstar

Mickstar