August 6th 1996

Summertime...

The last 2-3 weeks have been really warm here, and summer is now as summer should be. The water is not as warm as usual this time of year, but it's still getting near 20 deg. Centigrade. This means that the trout - where ever they have been earlier - only will go close to shore when the air is cold - meaning night and morning.
This seems to be true, because there are reports of trout caught in the early mornings. I myself have tried a few evening and early nights, but to no avail. Neither flies nor spinning gear would produce anything - not even cod, which are now seeking deeper and colder water.

...is mullet time

There might not be trout, but there sure are lots of mullets. These fish come here in the warmest part of the summer and will feed near shore all day and most of the night. They are often seen on beaches and near harbours and piers, bult will also go into the shallow fjors. They tolerate a lot of heat and thrive in shallow, milky water with lots of vegetation.
I have experienced mullets in very shallow water (less than 20 cm - 5 inches) swimming in schools of 5-20 fish in varying sizes from 1-5 kilos (2-10 lb.). These fish are extremely hard to catch. They spook as easily as a New Zealand chalk stream trout and only take the tiniest of flies - at least by salt water measures.
They are bottom feeders not unlike bonefish in the shape - and are known to be very energetic fighters. They mostly graze on bottom vegetation and hence their jaws/lips are very hard and hard to set a hook in.
I had a strike yesterday night on a Snotklat, but Red Tags and gold head nymphs are know to work well too. A friend had four fish on, but all tore loose after a short, fierce run. All flies have to be in small sizes, 10-16 and fishied slowly on the bottom.