Thoughts on Mullet.......

[DarkSkies]

The Fall Mullet run is something that jump-starts the surf season for a lot of guys on the East Coast, but most notably NJ and LI.

[DarkSkies]

They make their ways into the back bays in Summer, feed like crazy, and then start pushing south in the late summer...

[DarkSkies]

A lot of this will culminate in a massive push with September's Full moon....also called the Harvest Moon.....

[DarkSkies]

That's how it's supposed to happen, at least according to fishing lore and stories handed down from one fisherman to another....

[DarkSkies]

But it doesn't always happen this way...there are many factors...

Water temps,

The food they eat....

Length of day,

Frequency of storms....

as being just a few....




That can alter the migration...and thus affect the fishing that we do....

[DarkSkies]

Steve and some others had questions.......


Based on some of the things I read I thought the mullet would be all over but they were not. does anyone think there are a lot left in the back?



I have been doing a lot of scouting for bait. Every trip, good or bad, on the way home I'll stop and really poke around those bay spots to see what's cooking...or isn't....;)




Just thought some of ya's might like to talk about the mullet and your observations..I'll try to come back and add to this when I get a chance..thanks......

[storminsteve]

Thanks for this dark. I was thinking about what you said previously and wondering where all those mullet could be. I fished nomoco tonight 6-8, one small blue on metal and 5 hickory shad on the teaser. I didn't see any mullet in the surf at all, that v-wake. did see a lot of small bait though, and I mean a LOT!

[finchaser]

just about over usually ends the end of September but started early this year

[DarkSkies]

^ Yup, Fin and other old Grouchy Basstids of his caliber were right on the money about this year's mullet run......



Some other thoughts....
Have been stopping and talking to a lot of the old-timers now, in between fishing...and they are saying the same thing.....that this mullet run of 2012 was the strongest it's been for years.....

you newer guys should be making notations about 2012's tremendous mullet run in your logs. :learn:

[DarkSkies]

I have friends and contacts at many levels...all races, creeds, having love of fishing as the common bond...


Some mullet I was finding in the back bays in Sept...a fisherman left a bag of these at one of the stops I made...

15635

[DarkSkies]

The significance of eating mullet......

It creeps me out just thinking about it.:scared:..to me mullet are bait....
but there are cultures that celebrate the coming of the mullet...whole families go out there, from the youngest to the oldest, to get the mullet that will sustain them through the winter.....

Generally, these folks are from areas like Guyana and the West Indies.....
A Guyanese friend, mullet netter and obsessive fisherman.... this is one of a few pics he sent me.......

15636




The above are mostly corncob mullet.....








He also shared the following info about how they eat the mullet and other fish, and what it means to their culture.......

"We clean and scale many of the mullet right when we catch them.
thats why you will see Grandma and some of the women sitting on buckets at the water's edge cleaning fish.

We also like to eat spearing. We clean them right away, deep fry them, and eat with hot sauce and hot spices."









"The corncob mullet, we call them the 'carryman' because they are so big they can carry your net away"


" These are the mullet that are usually left after all the others go out...and we also call them and the other mullet that are left...the 'remaindermen'...."


"When the last mullet leave, we have kind of a song and prayer for them, to mark their going away"

[7deadlyplugs]

Sorry ds thanks for sharing but better them than me. Dont know how people could eat those.:upck: Wow.

[surferman]

You should see the amount of mullet that are pouring out of cape may inlets in the last 2 weeks, pod after pod. Never seen so many.

[Monty]

You should see the amount of mullet that are pouring out of cape may inlets in the last 2 weeks, pod after pod. Never seen so many.
I have never seen so much bait in the north Jersey surf. Most within 75 feet of the beach. Its small/tiny bait most of the time.

[vpass]

I don't know about mullet, but spearing tast good. My grandparent use to buy them from the local fish market. We also had them fried up. the spearing kinda look like french fries.

[storminsteve]

^^ For real? Vpass just curious, what did they taste like? did you put a lot of salt or spices on them?

[vpass]

^^ For real? Vpass just curious, what did they taste like? did you put a lot of salt or spices on them?

The way my grandma made it was dipping the spearing in flour and frying in a pan. It Taste like deep fried fish but crunchy. You eat the head and all the bones.

[jonthepain]

You eat the head and all the bones.

No, YOU eat the head and all the bones

rofl

[basshunter]

ha ha funny stuff jonthepain. vpass I would maybe eat it if I didn't know what it is. You are braver than I am.