Mullet Down West: Tackle

Tackle is very much a personal thing, it's more about what you are comfortable and confident with so there are no absolute rules. Everyone has their own ideas about this.

These are my ideas, for what they are worth.

Float rods

13ft Preston Innovations Sentient Float - 3 piece Carbon Fibre. This is used for about 90% of my mullet fishing. It has quite a soft, through action which I find helps to reduce hook pulls when you have to really bully fish away from dangerous situations. Some people would consider this rod as too light, preferring to use Power wagglers or stepped up versions. These have obvious advantages for playing large, angry mullet. However, for me, they lack finesse when casting light floats.

10ft Shimano ForceMaster AX commercial mini float - 2 piece Carbon Fibre. This is used for close range work and fishing from pontoons. It has a lot more power than the Preston, which is useful as 'hook and hold' tactics are often employed to prevent fish from going under pontoons or around pylons and moorings. The short length makes it easier to get fish close in for netting as I often find myself sitting quite a way above the water in these situations.

14ft Drennan DRX Ultralight - 3 piece Carbon Fibre. Used occasionally for extreme long range work. This is really just a rod I had left over from my coarse fishing days and many anglers would recognise it as a stick-float rod. It's really too light for mullet fishing but it casts and strikes superbly. I've had fish to over 4lbs on it, but it gets very hairy - definitely not for the faint-hearted.

Leger rods

12ft Preston Innovations Carbonactive Feeder - 2+1 piece with various tips. This is used for all my leger work, usually with the medium tip. It is capable of casting weights up to 60g and quite long distances are achievable. This is particularly useful for days when you need to punch rigs out against a head wind. It's a powerful rod which I have used for Carp fishing and have landed fish over 14lbs. (Not mullet, I hasten to add).

Reels

All my reels are Shimano rear drag fixed spools in various models (the type with the so-called Fightin' Drag). 3000 size for float fishing and 4000 for legering. They are all much of a muchness but very smooth and fairly reliable. They are a bit prone to seizing up when salt and silt gets into the working parts. This can be rectified by dismantling (not always easy) and cleaning/lubricating, but it's best to try to avoid dropping them in the river!

Line

I now use Maxima exclusively for the mainline on all my reels in either 4lb or 5lb B.S. I've tried lots of others but always come back to this. It's not the thinnest of lines but it is very consistent, robust and stands a lot of punishment. This is an area where I'm simply not prepared to compromise. I now no longer use hook-lengths on my float rigs, preferring to tie hooks directly to the mainline. Knots will always be the weakest point in any rig, so having just one must be good news. For leger or paternoster rigs, hook-lengths are a necessary evil. I used to use high-tech, low diameter lines for this, but I found them prone to damage from crabs etc. I am now using either 8lb mono or fluorocarbon. This is far more resilient and also less prone to tangling.

Hooks

This is another area where compromise is not an option. Mullet fight extremely hard, so hooks need to be strong. I use Preston PR38 usually in size 10. These are barbless (a hang-over from my coarse fishing days) with a turned back eye for hair-rigging. There are many other good patterns and it's all really a matter of confidence. Anything which bends straight should be disregarded.

Floats

All my floats are homemade from either peacock or swan quills. For shallow fishing (4ft or less) I use self-cocking floats in sizes 2g-5g depending on how far I need to cast. These are fixed in place using plastic float stops with no shot down the line. This makes for a very tangle-free set-up and illuminates the possibility of split shot damaging the line. I also use a small link swivel locked between the float stops so floats can be easily changed without breaking down the rig. For deeper rigs or trotting I use unloaded versions with shot down the line. Clear plastic floats, typically made by Drennan, are good but they crack easily allowing the ingress of water rendering them useless.

Feeders

For a lot of my legering I use cage feeders. These are packed with liquidised bread and fished with an 8" hook-length. The best ones I have found are made by NGT and weigh 25g. They can be cast a long way and the weight gives a bolt-rig effect so bites can sometimes be ferocious. It can be beneficial to make hook-baits buoyant so they 'pop up' off the bottom where they are more visible and away from the dreaded crabs. When a more delicate approach is called for, I use small bombs. Not really much to be said about that.

Landing Net

A recent addition to my kit is a Dinsmore 24" triangular net head. This replaces the 22" spoon type net I was using before. The Dinsmore net has the advantage of being foldable, so it fits neatly in my rod bag and does not have to be carried separately. It is slightly less maneuverable than the spoon net for one-handed operation, but it has served me well so far.

Seat-box

For a number of years now I have carried my gear in a small plastic seat-box. This has a removable rucksack attachment allowing it to be carried over the shoulders. There are also useful pockets on the side and front. The box itself has a top section with multiple small compartments for floats, hooks etc. as well as a bottom section for larger items. I have found this to be invaluable, providing a convenient seat upon which to await bites. This is particularly useful when legering, especially if, like me, you're not as young as you used to be.

Rod Holdall

Another piece of equipment worth a mention is my Preston Hardcase. The one I use has 2 sections allowing me to carry 2 made up rods. In most cases this comprises a float rod and leger rod to cover most eventualities. This saves a lot of time when on the bank. Opportunities can be very short lived in this game, so anything that maximises the time spent with a line in the water must be considered. It can also house landing net pole/net and rod rest.

Rod Rest

I use a small, lightweight tripod rest which has telescopic legs, making it quite versatile no matter what type of surface you are fishing from. Foldable arms allow for the use of (theoretically) up to 5 rods. Realistically this would be 2, possibly 3 at a push.

Last updated 23.01.24