| MARK WINTLE |
| Mark Wintle, an angler for thirty-five years, is on a quest to discover and bring to you the magic of fishing. Previously heavily involved with match fishing he now fishes for the sheer fun of it. With an open and enquiring mind, each week Mark will bring to you articles on fishing different rivers, different methods and what makes rivers, and occasionally stillwaters, tick. Add to this a mixed bag of articles on catching big fish, tackle design, angling politics and a few surprises. Are you stuck in a rut fishing the same swim every week? Do you dare to try something different and see a whole new world of angling open up? Yes? Then read Mark Wintle’s regular column. |
| MAY DAY MULLET Many years ago, I can recall tales of how effective spinning with a ragworm baited spinner was for the thin-lipped mullet of Christchurch Harbour. More recently, I remember seeing a John Wilson ‘Go Fishing’ programme showing how it was done. Although I’ve had many mullet over the years I’ve only ever caught them float fishing with bread or maggots. At this time of year such an approach is out of the question in Christchurch Harbour because most of it is subject to EA bylaws and Christchurch AC rules that restrict baits during the coarse fish close season. So, bread, worms and maggots are out but ragworm is permitted. But before I set off to Christchurch, I needed some spinners. I’ve seen anglers catch mullet on ordinary Mepps bar spoons (unbaited), but having read up on the subject in John Piper’s books, Mike Ladle’s Lure Fishing and John Wilson’s World of Angling, all was revealed. It seemed that a special lightweight bar spoon with a string of small plastic beads instead of the brass weight and a single dab hook instead of the treble was required.
I tried two tackle shops with no luck. It was third time lucky. Wessex Angling in Oakdale, Poole is owned by coarse and sea match angler Simon Barber, and he was able to supply the components to construct a proper mullet spoon using a Dexter spin swivel, some beads plus the right sort of hook (Kamasan B940 Aberdeen size 6). He also supplied a dozen ragworm, the essential bait to tempt the mullet into hanging on. The idea is that the lightweight spoon is spun oh so slowly with about an inch of ragworm on the hook, and hopefully the mullet grabs the bait. Though there are mullet about in Christchurch Harbour as early as late March, they don’t really feed until it warms up. I checked out the experiences of the Medway Mulleteers on their website and it seems that temperature is all important. The promise of warm weather over the May Bank Holiday weekend meant that it ought to be possible to find a few mullet in a feeding mood. Low tide was at 10 am so that’s when I arrived. The water had plenty of colour (visibility about a foot) from the recent rain that had lifted the Stour to a foot above normal for the previous fortnight. In the car park at Stanpit Marsh, it didn’t seem too cold so I didn’t bother with a coat or jumper. But when I got out into the open after walking three hundred yards, the breeze seemed distinctly chilly. The forecast was for it to warm up in the afternoon so I pressed on.
Tackling up took a couple of minutes. A ‘Tart Tackle’ 15  When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission, which supports our community.
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