Thick-lipped mullet
Chelon labrosus · Mullet
Also called mullet, thicklip
The largest and most common of the three UK grey mullet, found in harbours, estuaries and inshore water.[1]
How to recognise it
- Lips are the thickest of the three, with a large upper lip.[1]
- Clear gap between the gill covers under the throat, and up to seven faint horizontal bars on the body.[1]
- Pectoral fins are shorter than a golden grey's and lack the golden gill-cover mark, though a thick-lip can occasionally show a gold spot; check the lip.[1]
When and where
- Season
- Jun–Aug[1]
- Found over
- harbours, estuaries, piers, marinas[1]
- Baits
- bread, ragworm, lugworm, mussel, mackerel strip[1]
- Tide
- Mullet move with the tide and feed around structures with good depth, so high tide is often best.[1]
A summer species in shallow water, moving to deeper water in winter.[1]
Sources
These notes are a draft: we gathered them from the sources above and are still checking them. We don't work out best times for this fish yet. The size rules come from the same checked byelaws as every other fish.