Mullet, Thin Lipped

Thin-Lipped Mullet (Liza ramada)

Irish Record 2.95 Kilo taken on 15.07.2018 by Noel Lane at Cork Harbour

Identification

The Thin-Lipped is very similar in appearance to its cousins. Unlike the Thick-Lipped, and this sounds a bit obvious, the top lip is a lot smaller. It will usually also have a definitive blue tinge along its flanks. The gill covers almost meet on the under-side, whereas there is a gap between the gill covers on the under-side of the Thick-Lip.

Narrow top lip, long slender body, large eyes

Where to catch

Thin-Lipped Mullet captures have been reported as far north as Arklow in recent years, but the vast majority are taken from the Cork area, namely Cork Harbour and the estuaries of West Cork.

An Irish Specimen Thin-Lipped Mullet, took a while to get this species!

When to catch

As with the other two Grey Mullet species, they are primarily a summer fish, enjoying the warmer sea temperatures from June onwards and into late autumn. As with all Mullet species, numbers decline dramatically with commercial over-fishing. These sporting species require in-shore protection.

Bait

Thin-Lipped Mullet will take a variety of bait similar to their cousins, but the top bait by far is harbour ragworm, either threaded singly onto a hook, or in small bunches.

Methods

Although usually much larger than the Golden-Greys, the Thin-Lips will take baited spoons in the same manner. One or more harbour ragworm hooked below a small rotating spoon and slowly retrieved through the shoals will tempt several away from the group in hot pursuit. Legered ragworm on light tackle will also target Thin-Lips but unless you can stalk and spot Thin-Lips in the quiet lagoons and estuaries, it is usually a numbers game to find the target species.

Articles

http://www.angling-ireland.com/a_mullet__grand_slam_in_west_cork