Flathead grey mullet

Quick facts

How to identify it

A torpedo-shaped, thick-bodied fish with a broad, flattened head, large scales, no lateral line and two widely separated dorsal fins, the first of which has four stiff spines. The back is grey-blue to olive, the flanks silver with six or seven dark longitudinal stripes, the belly white. The mouth is small and terminal with thin lips; the eye is largely covered by a transparent, fatty eyelid, which is the surest way to separate it from the thin-lipped and thick-lipped grey mullets, and there is usually a dark blotch at the base of the pectoral fin. It grows noticeably larger than its relatives and has no golden spot on the gill cover, unlike the golden grey mullet.

Where it lives

Flathead grey mullet are coastal fish of warm, shallow, sheltered water: harbours and marinas, river mouths, lagoons, salt marshes, tidal creeks and the muddy or sandy bays between them. They tolerate almost any salinity and routinely push far up rivers and canals into pure freshwater, sometimes tens of kilometres from the sea, and they are at home in the warm, nutrient-rich outflows of ports and fish farms. Shoals cruise the surface and the shallow margins in 0.5–5 m, grazing algae and detritus from mud, stones and pilings. In the Adriatic they are common everywhere from the northern lagoons to the deep inlets of the south, and they occur in warm coastal seas around the world.

Season and behaviour

Mullet are visible almost all year in the Mediterranean, but fishing is best from late spring to late autumn when the water is warm and the shoals are feeding hard in shallow water. They spawn at sea from summer into autumn, roughly July to October, gathering in large schools that move out from lagoons and estuaries towards open water; the fry return inshore during winter and spring. Feeding is a daytime affair — mullet graze by sight and suck up sediment, filtering out algae, diatoms, detritus and small invertebrates, and they also pick floating scraps from the surface. Calm, sunny mornings and the rising tide are prime; a disturbed shoal leaps clear of the water and goes off the feed for a long time.

Fishing methods

Float fishing with bread is the classic mullet method: a light float rod, 0.16–0.20 mm main line, a fine hooklength and a size 8–12 hook holding a thumbnail of bread flake, fished at whatever depth the shoal is cruising, from just under the surface to the bottom. Groundbait is crucial — a mash of soaked bread, cheese, sardine paste or fish oil, thrown in little and often, gets the shoal feeding confidently before you cast. Freelined bread crust on the surface works in harbours where mullet take floating scraps, and a light ledger or feeder with bread or ragworm scores in estuaries and river mouths. Fly anglers use small bread or algae imitations. Whatever the method, strike gently and use a soft rod: the mouth tears easily, the fish is fast and powerful, and bullying it loses more mullet than anything else.

Baits and lures

Bread is king — flake, paste or crust — and most mullet anglers rarely use anything else, sometimes flavoured with a little sardine oil, cheese or garlic. In estuaries, small pieces of ragworm and tiny strips of fish or squid catch mullet feeding on the bottom, and maggots and cooked pasta work in harbours. Groundbait matters more than the hookbait: mashed bread laced with cheese, fish paste or sardine oil creates the feeding cloud that switches a shoal on. Small green weed flies and bread flies work for fly fishers.

Tips from the bank

1. 01Groundbait before you fish — throw in mashed bread with cheese or sardine oil for ten minutes and wait for the shoal to feed confidently.
2. 02Keep the hook small and fully hidden in a soft piece of bread flake; mullet reject anything that feels wrong.
3. 03Fish at the depth the shoal is cruising, often just under the surface, and adjust the float every few casts.
4. 04Use a soft-actioned rod and a gentle strike — the mullet's mouth tears easily and hard hook-sets pull free.
5. 05Approach quietly and stay low; a spooked shoal jumps and stops feeding for a long time.
6. 06Fish the rising tide, calm mornings and the warm outflows of harbours and river mouths.
7. 07Let a hooked fish run on a light drag and expect several long dashes before it tires.

Where to catch Flathead grey mullet

Waters where Shoalmap's fishing reports list Flathead grey mullet.

• Laguna di Levante
• Laguna di Ponente
• Jadransko more / Mare Adriatico / Deti Adriatik
• Levantine Sea
• بحيرة التمساح
• بحيرة قارون

Related species

• European seabass
  Dicentrarchus labrax

  The silver predator of surf, rocks and estuaries — Europe's premier shore game fish.

• Gilthead seabream
  Sparus aurata

  The gold-browed bream of shallow bays and lagoons – wary, strong and superb on the table.

• Garfish
  Belone belone

  The green-boned, beaked acrobat of spring coasts and summer surfaces.

Frequently asked questions