Beaulieu (Buckler's Hard) 21/6/03
Map Ref:
Tide: LW: 10.36am HT 17.33
Weather Forecast: Sunny Periods with wind E force 3 to 4

Having recently joined the National Mullet Club (http://www.go-fishing.co.uk/mullet.htm), I decided to take advantage of one of their fish-ins …… really for two reasons .. firstly to meet like minded people and learn a little more about fishing for the Grey Ghosts, and secondly to get an introduction to a new venue ………

Roland Osborne was given as the contact by the club, as the individual who was organising the event, and the one to speak with concerning details for fishing the venue….. so a little apprehensively I decided to phone him the night before to find out what sort of fishing was likely to be involved, and what sort of attire I required in terms of waders etc…. Roland was keen to help me by explaining the venue, and the opportunities and tactics that could be used, but I still wasn’t really quite sure what to expect, having only a vague memory from my childhood, when I’d lived in Brockenhurst… so I packed the “kitchen sink” and hoped for the best…..

I got up early, around 3.30am, fed the cat, sorted the gear, and then drove off down South just after 4.45am ….. I arrived around 6.30am down at Buckler’s Hard, only to drive past the entrance to the marina, and land up in the tourist car park ….. I soon realised my mistake, and jumped back in the car, and made my way back to the Blue signed private road, leading down to the marina car park areas ….. which were very much on the full side!!!!! …… managed to find a spot, without blocking anyone in (which a number of people using the marina had!!!!)…. And decided to take a look around and get my bearings ….. I also felt that as I’d arrived so much earlier, that I could perhaps get a fishing ticket, and start fishing if I felt so inclined ………

Walked across and down into the Boatyard area (Toilet / washing facilities available) and on to what looked to be the Harbour Masters Office ….. it was closed ….

So I decided to look around …… walked back over to the boat yard which had a small retaining wall, that I could stand on and look into the river and marina area …….

The sun was up and in my face, but made the water clear with my Polaroid’s …….. there in the water were some 10 to 12 mullet of various sizes from 2 to 4lb swimming around, feeding, or just hanging in the water…..

I almost rushed back to the car, there and then …. But I have to confess, that as I didn’t know what the set-up was, I felt uncomfortable at the thought of a) not yet having a fishing ticket, and b) no instruction as to where I could or could not fish within the vicinity of the boatyard and the marina, and decided that it would be only polite to wait for others to arrive , and so continued to watch the fish, and generally look the immediate area over, as the water started to drop……

I went back to the car, and had a cup of coffee, and listened to the radio … but all I could think of were those mullet swimming about…… went back a couple more times to drool over them, much to the bemusement of some of the boat owners who were now waking up / arriving, and rubbing down or painting hulls, or what ever it is that boat owners do…….

There were still fish about, but with the dropping tide came an oily brown scum, that blanketed the surface, and I couldn’t see the fish any longer……

Went over to the Harbour Masters Office which was now open at 8am, and looked at the ticket costs for fishing …… 3 pounds per person per day, or 18 pounds for the year ….. very reasonable … but with less than an hour to go before the scheduled meeting time, I decided to wait for Roland and the others to arrive, and walked back to the car, and sort the gear out for the days fishing……..

Not long after 8.30am ….. Russell Brown arrived and introduced himself, and I joked that he could probably tell from my attire that I was here for the NMC fish-in ……. looking somewhat dishevelled, and generally out place, unless I’d just jumped ship!!!! Anyway, we chatted, and swapped stories, and it turned out that Russell had arrived early as well, and had also seen the mullet swimming about…… shortly after a motorbike pulled up… another NMC member, who’s name I forgot to write down, but I think was Alan from Brighton (I should point out here and now, that what follows is my version of events, and being focused on fishing myself, may mean I missed things to others… so if I’ve got anybodies name wrong, or missed details of fish caught, etc, etc…. I’m really sorry, and if you let me know, I’ll try and amend the details here or add a post script as required……)….

As Alan unpacked his Bike, Russell commented on the arrival of Jeff and Jan, who’d brought a boat along, and would be fishing from it through the day ….. it seemed like it was time to go down to the Harbour Masters Office … after a little deliberation as to what foot ware to put on, and having put on my wellies proceeded to walk down to meet the others….. Roland was already waiting with Jeff and Jan….. general introductions and pleasantries followed ……

Roland had very thoughtfully provided a map, and was thus able to point out some of the main marks, and how to access them….. and to point out that the marina pontoons and the Buckler’s Hard area from the Dukes Bath Cottage onwards were really out of bounds, due to access / safety issues, but going up river would be fine if we so wished…….

Alan then suddenly realized he’d forgotten his supply of hook bread … I told him, that I had plenty of loaves in the car, and nipped back to get one for him, whilst Roland thoughtfully explained his floating crust technique that he’d adopted whilst fishing in the Mediterranean ……

When I got back he was in mid-flow …… I’d not missed too much as I’d read his article on the subject in the NMC Journal the night before, but it did allow me to ask a few questions, I had on minor technical aspects of setting up his proposed rig……

The Harbour Master came over, and it became aparent very quickly that Roland had already spoken with him, and had organised a group ticket to be purchased…….. Roland also warned us about the mud flats .. that it really wasn’t too safe to walk on the exposed mud itself, and told us of the time he had to be rescued, when he’d got stuck, playing a fish, and not paying attention to where he was treading……. The message was taken in by us all…….

I was now thinking about where to fish, and having seen the mullet earlier didn’t want to move too far away …. When Roland said he was going to fish in front of the Harbour Masters Office so he could be close to the public phone, I decided to go onto the pontoon bridge to get a better vantage point to decide where I could go ….. Roland came over, and we started to talk .. the first thing I noticed when I looked over the bridge was how much the water had already dropped, the second, was how much the exposed mud flats directly below, were covered in lip marks……

I told Roland about what I’d seen earlier and we crossed over to the other side to take a look ….. and blow me if there were not still 3 reasonable sized mullet swimming about under the iron work .. my mind was made up as to where I was going to fish … Jeff came over and had a look, and then went to sort out launching his boat (having purchased a separate permit to do so).

I asked Roland about fishing from the Boat Yards wooden retaining wall ….. and he very kindly spoke with the Harbour Master … who said it would be OK, as long as no one objected …… I decided that with the state of the tide, it would probably be best to start by fishing from the salt marsh area next to it…. I went to get my gear, and realised that Russell and Alan had already moved off to wards the Keeping Marsh area, that Roland had highly recommended… it was then that I thought we should have swapped mobile numbers .. only to realise that my mobile was now no longer working due to poor signal reception!!!!!!!

So I walked through the boat yard and onto the salt marsh, and then spent a few minutes deciding where to actually set-up …

decided to fish opposite the petrol filling station on the marina pontoon….. mainly as this seemed to be the spot with the least amount of mud between me and the water … although there was still about 15 to 20ft of it … I decided to put out of my mind the thorny problem of how I would land a mullet, and sort that minor detail at the time!!!!

Spooned out a couple loads of pre-soaked bread, and set-up to fish .. decided with the increasing Easterly wind (now blowing in my face) and the distance to cast, that I’d use a 2.5 swann straight waggler, about 16 to 20” from the hook (with flake) ……. I had thought about Roland’s floating crust method, but decided that I needed a whole loaf rather than the medium sliced that I had, and to focus on the venue, rather than a new technique…..
By the time I’d sorted myself out, and started fishing …. it was past 10am….

10.20am …… first cast ….. the float was bobbing about in the wind and current, when suddenly the float shot under … I struck … hit home ….. but no sooner was I playing the fish, than the fish was off :-(
Rebaited ….. cast out …. Almost as soon as the float cocked, the float went under, but I missed the bite ……

10.25am ….. float shot under for the third time …. But this time I connected, and the fish stayed on ….. not a big fish .. but when it hit the surface shortly after, I realised it was a small bass, and not a mullet ….. I managed to shorten the distance between the fish and the rod tip, and lifted it clear of the mud……. 10.5” school bass …. took a picture …..

Returning the fish, on the other-hand was slightly more problematic, in that I couldn’t reach the water, so I was forced to gently cradle the fish in a rag, and with a low gentle underarm lob, return it back …… fish landed with minimal splash, and swam off straight away .. not ideal, but I couldn’t see any other way, except for a lengthily walk around the boat yard and onto the pontoons, or off to the slipway in the opposite direction ….. decided that the pontoon route would be the one to go for if I managed to catch any mullet…….

10.55am …. Having missed a string of very positive bites for the past 20 minutes or so, I was relieved when at last I connected, but wasn’t so surprised to find yet another small school bass …. 12” this time…. I didn’t bother taking a picture, I really wanted to get a mullet……. Unfortunately, the dorsal fin spins snagged in the rag, just as I was letting go of the fish …. And resulted in the fish falling short, and hitting the mud …… the fish lay stunned for what seemed an age, and me standing there helpless, just watching to see what would happen .. suddenly the fish flip/flopped, and in three bounces was in the water, and shot off … pheeeew …..

11.15am ……I flicked some bread out, and then cast to the same spot ….. the float hit the water, but I realised that the hook length was caught up on the float …… just as I’m taking this in, and thinking about retrieving the terminal tackle, sorting it out, and casting back out ….. 3 mullet appear, who were swimming up as the tide was turning….. just as Roland had said they would…. They nosed the float, and the tangled baited hook and then sank back down, gulping at some of the ground bait suspended in the water, as they went …. By the time, I’d retrieved, sorted out, and rebaited the hook .. they were gone!!!!!!! :-(

11.40am ….. frustrated by missing the opportunity with the mullet earlier, I found myself, again playing a small school bass to the bank… all 10” of it…..!!!!

11.50am …. Another school bass … but they were getting smaller .. this one was all of 8” ….. unfortunately it also tangled with the hand rag I was using, but a few flip/flops and it was back into the water…..

12.05pm …. Float shoots under for the umpteenth time .. but I manage to connect with e fish .. oh what a surprise ….. a 10” school bass .. who would have thought it!!!!!!

Just after 1pm Roland came over to join me ….. he’d lost a good sized fish around 11.15am!!!! … From what he said, I understood that the fish had gone on a number of searing runs, and on the third attempt of reining the fish in, it had bolted once more and snapped the 6lb line……… even more frustrating for Roland was that Lord Montague had then come off his Yacht to chat with Roland and see how he was getting on, and Roland had nothing to show him for his efforts…

I spent some time chatting with Roland, who was a mine of information, and took my mind off the school bass, and back onto mullet fishing .. that’s what we were there for after all…..

Well an hour or more later, and things had gone VERY QUIET ………. Russell came ambling back …… he’d also hooked into a good sized mullet, played it for some time, but then for some reason his hook length had given out :-( (or at least I think that’s what he said). Russell indicated that Alan had also had a fish, but that it was off almost as quick ….. they’d seen a number of mullet swimming about, but it too had gone very quiet in the past hour or more… and so they’d decided to come back….
Russell also showed us the cuts on his legs where he’d run foul of a barbed wire fence, getting to the jetty, or what ever it was they had been fishing off…… Alan had come back too, but had taken up station close to where Roland had started on the other side of the pontoon bridge….

I decided to move closer to the boatyard with the rising water starting to fill the bay area in front of it…. And fish just in front of the first pontoon and the pontoon bridge…… leaving Russell and Roland to fish where I had been all morning.....

2.30pm ….. I caught sight of something from the corner of my eye …. And turned to see Roland playing a fish, whilst seated in his chair …… (the second chair of the day, having ripped his fabric one early in the morning)…… turned out to be another school bass of around 1.1/2lb or so ….. Russell assisted with a long handled landing net, and by sliding the fish onto the mud, and then up to the net, they managed to land it…….

3.10pm …… Russell was ledgering with a two hook rig … and managed to get a double shot of school bass for his efforts!!!!!! …..

As I was float fishing and looking at my float, the surface water in the channel became calm, whilst the bank and pontoon margins were ruffled …. In the clear water I saw a solitary mullet swimming just at the visibility depth up stream and away under the bridge…..

A little later I saw a reasonable sized mullet cruise towards me, from under the pontoon bridge, but then turned lazily away, and went back in the opposite direction…. and almost at the same time heard Russell commenting about a mullet that was passing Roland and himself in the shallows…….

3.30pm ….. my float suddenly shot under … was this the mullet I was waiting for ….. NO … turned out to be yet another small bass :-(

3.40pm Russell lands another school bass ….. I made some quip about how it had been for me all morning at that same spot!!!! Roland said he thought the poor fishing may be due to the wind ruffling the water … I pointed out it was an Easterly wind, and the old adage of “wind in the east, fish bite least”… but who knows!!!!

For the next hour we all had missed bites, but really I think they were most probably school bass……… and Russell and Rolland moved over towards where I was fishing…

4.50pm …… Rolland decided that as the fishing was poor, and if we didn’t mind, he’d go back to be with his sick wife …. We said we understood, and thanked him for all his kind efforts, and we were only too sorry we couldn’t have done it justice by actually landing a couple of mullet!!!!!
Just as this was happening .. Russell grabbed at his rod …. And pulled up another small bass….. we said our goodbyes to Roland, although he popped back about 15 minutes later to take some more photos from the boatyard…..

4.55pm ….. another small bass to Russell……

5.15pm ….. Russell’s rod suddenly lurched ….. he struck ….. and the fish on the other end broke him an instant later ……. I don’t think Russell was best pleased ….. but at least it gave us the feeling there were still mullet around to be had …. If only the school bass would give us a chance……

5.20pm …. But no … as soon as Russell was re-kitted and had cast out …. So he was winding in another pint sized bass……

5.30pm …… Russell with another bass……

Alan came over to say goodbye …. With pretty much the same story of school bass, after school bass, although he did say he’d managed one bass of a reasonable size .. the way he was gesticulating, I’d guess 3 to 4lb, but you’d have to ask him…..

6.00pm ….. Russell’s ledgering does it again ….. another school bass……

Jeff and Jan beached the boat a little way down …… they had struggled to find fish .. but had managed to do so, on the other side of the river, out of the easterly wind, and the surface disturbance….. they managed to get some feeding on bread, but had real trouble hitting the very tentative bites they were giving … that having been said, Jan had managed a fish of under 2lb ….

But still, it was a mullet (as you can see from their picture)…….. They then went off to sort the boat, and have a cup of tea.....

I started to try and fish the weed fringe at the base of the retaining wall …. But with the wind ever increasing, and with no further joy, Russell and myself decided to call it a day by 6.45pm ………

We chucked a large quantity of bread slop and crumb into the water….. but we saw no fish ….. walked back to the cars to drop off the gear, then went and brushed up in the marina facilities ….. we walked back to the top of the retaining wall in the boatyard and looked down to see what we could see …….. NOT A MULLET ANYWHERE …. And with the amount of floating crust and crumb, we both concluded the fish had passed us by …….

But having seen the fish in the early part of the day, and with an incling what this venue could offer, I feel sure I shall return here, to give it a fair crack later in the session ….. and I'll just have to make sure there is no chance of an easterly wind ……… !!!!!!!

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