South African Fish: Striped Mullet (Liza Tricuspidens)

Information On South Africa's Beautiful Striped Mullet Fish Species

The Striped Mullet is a common coastal and estuarine South African fish that can often be observed swimming in the shallow waters of tidal pools, bays and even river systems. The Striped Mullet can easily be confused with the Southern Mullet (Harder) and other Mullet species. A noticeable difference are the darker stripes on this Mullets body. The body colour is normally silver/grey with dark dusky lines running laterally across the side of the fish. The Striped Mullet can reach lengths of up to 85 centimeters and up to a weight of 3 kilograms!

The Striped Mullet is normally found singly or in small shoals in shallow water along rocky or sandy coastline or in estuaries as the Striped Mullet can tolerate low salinities. The Striped Mullet is the most frequently caught Mullet species in South Africa landed by line and using bait! It is a very strong fighting fish and can give an angler a hard time with light tackle. The Striped Mullet is a great 'jumping' fish as it has the ability to jump up to a height of 2 meters and cover the width of 10! This is used as a way of escaping predatory fish such as Garrick, Shad, Kob and Sharks. It is the fastest swimmer of all the Mullet species in South Africa... The Striped Mullet feeds primarily on microscopic algae and red and green seaweed species. The juvenile fish of this species reach adult maturity at about 45 centimeters and until then live in estuaries.

How To Catch The South African Striped Mullet

It is a difficult challenge to catch any of the Mullet species of South Africa with rod and reel in hand. The best and easiest way to catch the Striped Mullet is with any type of beach, seine or throw net. This is your best option of catching a Striped Mullet if you need a few for bait.

However if you are a salt water angler looking to catch A Striped Mullet and return it back to wherever you may be fishing, there are a few key aspects you need to know.

I have caught a lot of Mullet on my fishing rod, and when I need bait I fish for them this way, as I believe I have perfected a method of catching the Striped Mullet and any other Mullet species without using a net to capture these dazzling fish. I have caught the Mullet species by using a float and keeping the bait (Chokka/Squid and Prawn) off the bottom and floating right in front of the fish. First of all you need to locate the Mullet species. Once found try different fleshy baits and the smallest hook you have in your tackle box. If you can't manage to get the Mullet to bite, wait a while and then try fishing for them at dusk or dawn. This is the best time for catching Mullet as they seem to be a lot more active and don't mind eating your bait!

Fly Fishing has also proved a successful fishing method option for me. I have caught the Striped Mullet using different types of small dry fly's. I find the Yellow Humpey and the DDD to work in salt and fresh water to be the most successful!

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