8Lb 3oz Mullet & new Mullet partner

[Greygh0st]

[quote=Sunny;204989]Hi Jason,


1. SUSTAINABILITY

Yesterday I fished Poole Harbour...which I am told is the most heavily netted stretch of water in the UK !!!
I launched the dinghy from Lake Lane slip, Hamworthy and the first thing I saw was a fleet of small boats, all loaded with nets and empty boxes for nets; at least 20 of them ...how the hell are there any fish left in Poole ?!!!!
The answer is simple - there aren't. I searched for the whole day to find only 3 spots that held Thicks. This would be unthinkable in any other harbour I have visited along the Hampshire coast. Poole Harbour commissioners should be truly ashamed of themselves; they have presided over the practical extermination of a species in their water. I managed one fish of 5Lb; yet I had explored areas that should have been packed with 5Lb fish and the occasional 7-8. They were all barren .....except for the ever present Thins. I would loved to have been able to fish Poole before the invention of the Gillnet...it must have been an awesome location with the warm shallow mudflats. I can only dream of what it must have been like….akin to Skate fishing in the Solent…a dream of times gone.
I also saw an amazing number of tangled abandoned gillnets, caught around piers and jetties...testimony to the extent the netters have gone to in pursuit of Bass/Mullet.
I doubt I will ever return to Poole Harbour. As a Thick Lipped Grey location it may as well be in Spain !!!!!


I fish Poole harbour mostly,and while I agree it is netted heavily there are still some really good fish and spots. I caught 94 mullet from the harbour last year,averaging 3 fish per session,which is good going I think from any location,and I returned every single one. The mullet are still here,no disputing not so prolific as maybe they should be,but it is still possible to get a really good fish or three

[Sunny]

[quote=Greygh0st;231983]

Originally Posted by Sunny

Hi Jason,


1. SUSTAINABILITY

Yesterday I fished Poole Harbour...which I am told is the most heavily netted stretch of water in the UK !!!
I launched the dinghy from Lake Lane slip, Hamworthy and the first thing I saw was a fleet of small boats, all loaded with nets and empty boxes for nets; at least 20 of them ...how the hell are there any fish left in Poole ?!!!!
The answer is simple - there aren't. I searched for the whole day to find only 3 spots that held Thicks. This would be unthinkable in any other harbour I have visited along the Hampshire coast. Poole Harbour commissioners should be truly ashamed of themselves; they have presided over the practical extermination of a species in their water. I managed one fish of 5Lb; yet I had explored areas that should have been packed with 5Lb fish and the occasional 7-8. They were all barren .....except for the ever present Thins. I would loved to have been able to fish Poole before the invention of the Gillnet...it must have been an awesome location with the warm shallow mudflats. I can only dream of what it must have been like….akin to Skate fishing in the Solent…a dream of times gone.
I also saw an amazing number of tangled abandoned gillnets, caught around piers and jetties...testimony to the extent the netters have gone to in pursuit of Bass/Mullet.
I doubt I will ever return to Poole Harbour. As a Thick Lipped Grey location it may as well be in Spain !!!!!


I fish Poole harbour mostly,and while I agree it is netted heavily there are still some really good fish and spots. I caught 94 mullet from the harbour last year,averaging 3 fish per session,which is good going I think from any location,and I returned every single one. The mullet are still here,no disputing not so prolific as maybe they should be,but it is still possible to get a really good fish or three

Agreed, Poole can still hold fish around the marinas and some of the marks that netting is not possible.

I have fished it many times now....forced to go there for my Three Counties - Top 10. I still stand by my earlier statement about Poole though. You need to get out in a dinghy and cruise the vast open salt-flats to appreciate my sentiment and observations. Just going by the few marks that cannot be netted does not mean Poole has a healthy stock of Mullet. For example, the upper reaches of Holes Bay - typical of my type of fishing location - is virtually empty. It looks absolutely brilliant on the aerial photos...but very few Thicks.

Have you tried the numerous estuaries to the south of Arne and Arne Road ?
I have spent a few days in that area with not one Thick. It should be a mecca for Thicks. There are still Thins there though.

Yesterday I was back in Poole, I had 6 Thicks to just under 6Lb. I was even looking in around the Commercial part of the Poole Marina. My god have you seen tha stacks of nets in that place. Far worse than Lake Lane.

I got chatting to one Professional (Registered Commercial) netter. I don't like their profession, but on a one-to-one basis they are always genuinely nice blokes (the ones I have met). He took 2 tons of Mullet last year....one man, one boat !

Interestingly he puts back the really large fish, like the 9Lb fish he found in his nets recently.

In reality they are all targetting Bass, but Mullet get taken as bye-catch.
So I think the picture for Poole is not optomistic; not compared with other harbours and estuaries.

Just my thoughts and observations

[Greygh0st]

hey Sunny,
Yep I have been all over,and some marks are fishless. The only place in Holes Bay I see fish is around Cobbs Quay,again because it can't be netted.
Have you tried the Lagoon in Lilliput,kinda guessing your style there,and loads of thicks in there,one of my fav spots.

[Mugilido]

I admire their catch, knowledge and care 100% share of the resource, congratulations, greetings!

[didgeman]

Cracking 8lber! Never caught one myself but they do look amazing. We have smaller versions in the Bristol Channel but never have been able to catch one. Going to read your info carefully tonight and maybe target them this week.

Thanks for some great photos and a great report.

[TURBOTAKER]

Big shoals of mullet topping all over the bay here this evening,time to get the seine out me thinks LOL

[Sunny]

Originally Posted by TURBOTAKER

Big shoals of mullet topping all over the bay here this evening,time to get the seine out me thinks LOL

One thing that has always kept me coming back to this page - on this forum - was the absence of Trolls; especially Commercial Trolls. I would have thought that you would be more at home on the Conservation Page (oxymoron) of WSF; although I suspect that you already are !!!!