Brendan Delaney emailed us with a report of an unusual capture from an east coast venue.
Brendan went to Wicklow to fish for grey mullet on the Vartry, but had no joy because, despite there being plenty of fish around, they just weren’t interested. Not wanting to waste his bait, Brendan went down to the pier to use it up. After baiting up with ragworm and casting out some forty yards from the pier wall, there was a knock on the rod tip and Brendan tightened into a fish and reeled in.
To his surprise, he pulled up a not-often-seen striped red mullet! He took a quick photo and released the fish, which dived straight into the weed on the pier supports.

A warm-water fish, the striped red mullet, also know as a goatfish, is most common along the northern coast of Africa, throughout the Mediterranean and up around the coasts of Spain, Portugal and France. They are also usually found in lesser numbers around the south and west of Britain and Ireland.
If you have caught any unusual species in Irish coastal waters, please let us know at [email protected].