January Report

So we spent the most part of January in Hampshire, tidying up our house and garden after our long term tenants moved out and before putting the house on the market. 

We arrived back in Ireland on the 23rd, later than expected as the ferry was four hours late. A day off to recover from the journey and on Sunday 25th I was down onto the Mizen to try and bag a January mullet.

I pulled up the car on the bridge for a look. The water was still running off quite hard from the big tide and at first glance I couldn't see any mullet. Then I thought I saw a silver flash in the flow of water upstream of the bridge, and as I watched I saw another and another. I realised there was a big shoal of mullet enjoying the fast water there, fish flanking occasionally. 

I parked up nearby and hurried back with my tackle though in reality there was no need to rush as I couldn't get a bite till the flow started to ease off, by which time there were mullet topping all over the pool.

What followed was a busy afternoon. I hooked ten mullet ... three came off, one was foul-hooked and I landed six legitimately hooked, mostly three pounders but topped by a nice fish of 4lb 4oz.

That was a useful break in the weather to chalk up a January mullet for 58 months consecutive ... but the week ahead reverted to wet and windy, and I didn't get out again until the 31st, on the rocks up in Kerry.

I arrived mid-morning a couple of hours up the tide. The first hour was quiet but the second half of the flood was quite productive. First a small thornback on a squid/anchovy cocktail, then a middling huss on a squid/mackerel cocktail. A couple of doggies then a slightly bigger huss on a mackerel head fished closer in...

Bites fizzled out for an hour over the high water slack, then picked up again as the ebb flow started. Most were doggies but a better pull yielded a small spurdog on mackerel and I finished with a good run on another mackerel head and a decent scrap from a bigger huss of 9lbs-odd...

Next up, well February obviously. We have another week back in England from the 9th. Before that I hope at least to have bagged a few mullet to keep my monthly run going.