South Coast Adventures Part 1 - The River

 I hadn't been mullet fishing for a long time so a short break on the south coast was ideal to rekindle this love affair, or at least I hoped it would. Where better to spend a few hours with the wife than the tidal River Arun near Arundel. Ok it was a bit windy but with the weather forecast to get even more blowy I would happily take the sunshine and warm late September weather on offer today.

I had blanked on the one occasion here many years ago but it had the attraction of being en route to our holiday caravan, in lovely surroundings and is near a castle. One of the rules of any fishing is it's dead cool to be wetting a line with a castle in the background, of that there can be no debate. 

I had planned on arriving just as the tide was turning but the M25 as ever saw that it was to be an hour later. Running through meadows below the town the Arun is channeled via man made banks that are higher than the surrounding farmland, quite narrow and steep in places. As a result it has one of the faster tidal races in the country and what comes up sure goes down, so as I set up the river was already heading off to the sea with much more pace than the motorway we had navigated earlier

In what was slightly coloured, choppy water I noticed a couple of mullet in a spot where my net would extend down, thinking both practically and optimistically. I introduced some bread and set up with such eagerness as there's nothing like seeing your quarry straight away. I hoped to get instant takes which can happen leading to a rushed set up that you can't do quick enough, other times you don't get this and so it was that the two mullet disappeared out of view for good. Ah well.

The high banking got awkward as the tide flowed out further, naturally the wind got up but I persisted in feeding and trotting a line with a lack of metronomic precision that was tempered by my enthusiasm, which hadn't waned after two hours with no end product. Two bites in that time kept me honest, far too quick to hit and unlikely to be large mullet so it was time for a bite of my own, as me and the missus had lunch in wonderful surroundings.

I debated whether to stick or twist as mullet fishing can suddenly switch on as fish arrive depending on the tide and the feeding drawing fish in. I decided to twist on the basis we could always come back to this spot later so off we went went upstream looking for signs of fish.

Often mullet give their position away at low tide but I didn't see any, nor did I find anywhere decent looking to fish although one spot looked ok, but with steep banks and almost falling in trying to get down I thought the better of it as that wouldn't have been a good start to the trip. Walking back I sat on a grass bank just to rest the legs, I threw in some bread whilst the missus settled down to read her book once more. 

I plonked my gear on the bank but before I could get a swig of water from the flask a mullet appears out of nowhere. "There's one" says the wife at the same time I exclaimed "Mullet!" which was my regular one word statement in such situations. The fish in question was in full view right in front of us taking my freebies off the top.

In the rush to pick up the rod I only pinged off a float rubber somehow, I did notice earlier that the bankside flora was in places quite tough and robust but now was not the time to experience it to my detriment, not content with my avon float now hanging like the world's worse waggler I also pinged off some shot so knew there may be just one crack at this fish before gearing up to trot properly again.

In went my clumsy set up, ignoring it the best I could, focusing solely on watching the bread as the mullet was still feeding in around a foot of water below the rod tip, my bait drifted down through the fast water as the mullet slurped another freebie I had just thrown in, then it headed towards my piece of bread, a rather large chunk chosen for it's visibility.

Fishing doesn't get much better than this, that moment of the bait disappearing, but would it be a fresh air strike? Or the magic of solid resistance? The timing, the luck, the moment. It was all happening right there after three hours of nothing, this was it.

I struck and got that wonderful bend in the rod for sure as everything went solid as the mullet made a mockery of the current, I expected nothing less but even so was still surprised by the strength and stamina of the fish, it kind of gets me every time even though you know it's coming. At one stage I even had the net ready at to hand before deciding that was a bit premature, my rustiness in mullet fishing coming to the fore once more.

The mullet had time for several more splashes on the surface, probably a good dozen or so as my 6lb line and float rod battled both fish and current. I extended the net with a flick of the wrist but the wind took it so much the best I could do was to rest it in the water, ironically in the exact spot where I had hooked the fish minutes earlier. 

The fight went all the way to the end and the battle was finally won, after a couple of years tending to my dad in various hospitals, and before that all the Covid lockdowns, finally there was a mullet splashing into my landing net, a small victory. 

I expected today to be hard and I would have taken one fish over the entire holiday so to get one before checking in was a right fillip. It was a lovely fish too, perfect condition and quite chunky.

As is often the case there was a window of action and I was soon in again, this time with a new float on and everything all tuned and in perfect motion. I knew despite my streaky fortune earlier I was a much improved mullet angler compared to when I first fished here many years ago as a novice. However the fish, as they have a way of doing, turned the table once more to keep my ego in check.

Another mullet almost beaten

Almost ready for the net.

Then it's gone, the hook just pulls.

I knew I did nothing wrong this time, it happens sometimes with those hard plated filters on the lips, especially when fishing higher up as the tide was going further out, maybe the luck was used up with the previous fish who knows. Either way there was no swearing and no real disappointment, I was still in a good place, mind you it helped that this fish looked slightly smaller. 

Then another turned up feeding, I expected the almost guaranteed bite but the fish vanished as soon as it came showing the many sides of mullet fishing, the long periods of inactivity, the crazy instant action followed by the possibility of losing fish before the realization that nothing is ever guaranteed. 

Won one, lost one, missed out on one, it was kind of a nice balance between the angler and the angled.

I couldn't wait for the next trip and didn't need to, for it would be soon.