Thread: Mullet 12km up river from beach

Was out on the Rangitīkei River about halfway between tangimoana beach and bulls yesterday and found multiple big schools of what I identify to be grey mullet. They were in knee deep water feeding on algae in schools of around 10-20 in various areas throughout the river system. Has anyone had anything similar? Find this quite strange how a salt water fish is so far up the river system?…

I've seen mullet well upstream too, they can live in freshwater or at least brackish water. NIWA have recorded them around 150km upriver, so no surprises. Annoyingly, they do look like trout at times. I wouldn't mind, but the grey mullet won't usually take a fly.

We used put a butter fish net in lake wiararapa when duck shooting in the 90s and caught heaps prob 25kms from the sea , good smoked .

Saw in the news the other day bloke fishing 5km up the Haast river and a bloody dolphin chased his trout away haha

Sometimes the mullet will harass a huge white feather from a gull or goose

See plenty in the tukituki river behind havelock north

I didn’t realise they could live in fresh water, just surprised me on the amount of fish I was seeing. Had no luck on the spinner or fly they were just grazing away on algae in the river and my lures just seemed to spook them

I saw that! Some weird stuff going on lately. Marlin caught off manawatu and now dolphins up the river lol

okay -yes they will travel inland some distance - a net will catch them and smoked one damn good eating fish yummy

I have seen them at the Patea Dam wall which would be 45-50km up river from the mouth

Caught a yellow eyed mullet in lake waihola recently, that about 18km up from the coast.

Currently working in Te Awamutu. Big schools of them here, must be 100km by river to the sea


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I think there are some in the waikato in Hamilton

I saw a bit on TV about them using a weed chewing machine in Lake Horowhenua at the moment and they mentioned there was Mullet in the lake. Sounds a bit suspect to me but maybe possible ? No that I would eat anything coming out of that lake

I Used to live in the area, half way between Bulls and Scott’s ferry.
Always been grey mullet in the River, I’ve seen them up past Bulls, a few times,
Caught a couple on very small Nymphs, on the fly rod, you can also catch the odd flounder, (black flounder I think) up the river, quite a few Km past the sea, they put up a pretty respectable fight, got one just below the bulls bridge, a a few behind flock house. All on flies or worms.
Also seen them at Patea Dam face, as someone above had said.

live north of Aukland on the Kaipara River we are about 12 k from the harbour by river still completely tidal
still plenty of mul
my mate duck hunts on a farm further up the river probably more like 20km completely fresh water no longer tidal and plenty of mullet swimming past
they go miles

my uncle used to work on a farm that had a lot of reclaimed land that had a farm pond with completely fresh water but plenty of mullet we put a net in there a couple of times and got some monster mullet up to 4 or 5 kg good bait not edible they stunk inside they were breading in there but we think they must all come from a school that got trapped when they reclaimed and landlocked the place