Portishead Marina

[Pross]

It's probably a bit early in the year to be thinking about this but I was told last year that the marina is good for mullet. Has anyone on here ever fished it and, if so, could they give me some advice on fishing there? When do the mullet start to return and, also, what other species are likely to be around there, any bass?

[devondave]

pross keep your eye on the sea tempretures up that way...once they reach 13c you should have by now started too see the mullet and they should by now be feeding they leave uk waters once the sea temp drops below 12c..normally some of the creeks and estuary's you can catch them all year round as the water is shallow and keeps its tempreture from the sun..

[Pross]

Thanks Dave, great advice. What's the best rigs for mulleting? I was going to try fresh water floats with bread paste as bait and about a size 6 or 8 hook but what would you use to ledger for them?

[devondave]

well remember to groundbait a fair bit for them..i tend to take 4 loaf's of bread with me and the first thing i do when i get to my spot is too get a small amount of water soak the bread in it then mash it all up.. and throw the lot in the area your going to be fishing. then make sure you fish that same spot..if no bites within a hour or so then keep fishing the same spot and there should be no need for any more groundbait..

if however you have seen fish feeding or have had crab attacks or even been lucky enough to catch a mullet then i would suggest mashing up another loaf and groundbaiting again.

people tell me this is too much groundbaiting blah blah blah

but what you have to take into account it.. these fish are scavengers and can sit in a sewer for weeks on end feeding on gawd knows what

if you have mashed the bread correctly there is no lumps in it for the fish to actually feed on. its all tiny particles of bread that keeps the fish interested and in the area but doesnt over feed them.

also with hook bait pinch a large flake of bread onto the hook dont over pinch it (ive seen ppl try putting balls of bread on) you want to keep the bread looking as natural as possible.. if you under pinch it it floats! so you need to pinch the bread on firmly but dont overdo it or the fish wont touch your hookbait.

if you use a small freshwater float try and use one that takes 2bb have one of the bb shot set 3 or 4 ft from the hook. and the other only a inch or so away from the hook.

when mullet feed the first thing they do is pick the bait up from the bottom sit motionless in the water mouthing it.

as they do so they slowly rise in the water thus with the split shot set 1 inch above the hook will lift your float up and if set right even lay the float flat on the surface.

as for ledger gear personally i wouldnt bother but i know in the sewer at fall at hopesnose when it was operational they used a small paternoster style rig but even there now they all float fish.

i hope all that rubbish helps pross ive done my best to describe what i know lol other than that just light line small hooks etc

[Pross]

That's great Dave thanks. Now just need someone who's fished Portishead Marina to give me some advice on the place, where to park, where to fish and whether the marina owners charge for fishing there. Don't want much do I?

[Dirty huss(y)]

Hello, I actually live in Portishead but have only been fishing for a year, I can tell you however that the marina is free to park in (you could fish out of your car if you were so inclined! - does look a bit like a construction site a the mo tho) and can only be fished from the bottom end (closesed to waitrose). There is even a little tackle shop there in the cabins that will provide live rag and lug and a cuppa when you get too cold or bored from the lack of bites!

Personally I have got fed up with the lack of bites there (fishing Sept-Feb), the fishable area is not huge, occasionally a bass or a pollack will turn up but I have heard rumours that this may be due to certain locals who stock the marina after succesful trips elsewhere!, having only ever caught a fair/poor pollack in there after many hours spent fishing it is not a spot that I would rate.

A much better spot is to head to the old pier next to the royal pub, this can be accessed by walking to the end of the marina and over the lock gates to the other side or by driving around to the pub, they don't seem to mind you parking there too much and walking down the steps to the pier which can fish well for big cod off the point. I've never had a big cod there but often expect to see several whiting and a few codling, the marina is just a useful spot round the corner to fish at low tide.

Anyway if anyone does find the marina to be a hotspot then please let me know what magic you cast over the water to make it work for you!Hope this has been of some use to you!

[Old Smoothound]

Nice post Huss(Y) and welcome to the forum

Would you believe me if I told that there are Mullet in the marina? plus school bass. , but there are and they are not stocked.

When the weather warms up a bit i will be going down there for some smaller species. so may bump into you sometime.

[Dirty huss(y)]

Ok I believe you but I have yet to see any! maybe if you're down there you can show me how you catch them!

[CHUBB]

i found that the best bait for mullet is mackerel flesh/pulp with a pulp mackerel groundbait, either that or bread soaked in pilchard oil is good aswell
i have had some strange experiences with mullet in the past.
for example, i used to crab in stoke flemming (near dartmouth) off the wall (weir) that separates the mill lake to the river, when it is high tide, the watr comes over the weir, the depth of this water is only a few inches but once five BIG mullet were skimming along on the wall, and this resulted in me and my brother trying to trap them in the shallower bits but they move damn quick!
another thing was after a particularly good mackerel bashing session off the end of brixham breakwater, i through in the carcass of our three mackerel that we were using for bait, and by the time i had packed up, two HUGE (5lb+) mullet come and start picking at the mushed mackerel skeletons (thats where i got the mackerel flesh bait idea from).

[poplo]

Get some old smelly mackerel and stick it in an air tight container, leave it some where warm 4 a couple of days then mush the mackrell 1 loaf of cheap bread and a small tin of sweetcorn and add a bit of water when you get to your mulleting spot. And mush it all up real good again it will make a killer ground bait. I saw someone useing it in the private boat sector of Jersey's main harbour at low tide(i was on holiday) and it was attracting the Mullet to it like sharks to blood. Then the harbour master turned up. the bloke said he didn't see the sign saying no fishing. any way this should make a good ground bait anyway.

Later days POPLO