Any old timer mullet fishermen here?

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BloodyChamp
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Any old timer mullet fishermen here?

Post by BloodyChamp »

I've heard all of the stories from old folks about catching buckets of mullet with a piece of corn, bread, chicken mash dough, in line spinner with a piece of worm on the end (my luckiest method). I've never seen it done though...ever...the only mullet I've seen caught with a fishing pole are the few I've caught.

I personally don't think it's the rig that's stopping me. All of the above probably works once you figure out the intangibles just like with any other type of fishing. I think it's location. Mullet are everywhere but they're in such wide bodies of water (atleast in the area that I fish) and they zoom around like submarine missiles. They few I've caught have been on days where they were usually a gear or 2 slower (not still...just not 100mph).

I've heard the stories about Shepherd Spring, the St Marks rise, etc and people catching them there when they get thick, and snatching them if they still don't bite because they're so thick. I've also seen that infamous picture of the mullet that got trapped in that tidal creek a few years ago. Man would I have liked to have walked up on that lol! Anyway is there a place or 2 like I'm talking about that I could hit off the bank tomorrow instead of walking all the way to Shepherd Spring or paddling up the St Marks? I know it's a little warm for what I'm talking about but I have a pretty bad fishing bug thing going on and I don't need to go out and get obsessed with bream and bass just yet with tomorrow being the only day until about April that I can afford to go out and have fun.
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cotton
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Re: Any old timer mullet fishermen here?

Post by cotton »

My extended family has mullet fished for several generations over on the chowtahatchee river. Unfortunately I've never been.

Over there they have a community spot that every one has baited up for 50 years. I don't even know what they bait it with. I'll see if I can get one of my cousins to share some knowledge.
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cotton
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Re: Any old timer mullet fishermen here?

Post by cotton »

Here is what I got from my cousin.

Start with this:
http://www.fishing-tips-bait-tackle.com ... shing.html

Now change the following:
Add 2 trebles, 1/2 way up the line and at the end.
Bait your hooks with chautreuse colored jig worms.
10 foot poles are required. If you see your bobber move snatch it.

They use sinking dog food to bait the hole. The more folks baiting the hole the thicker the mullet will get. Good luck.
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BloodyChamp
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Re: Any old timer mullet fishermen here?

Post by BloodyChamp »

Wow at "The Wall" story just wow!!!!!!

I've also read about baiting them up. One of my distant cousins who I don't know very well says he does it off his dock on the Steinhatchee River. I wish he'd invite me lol! That seems like it would involve a little more than simply going fishing because you have to get them baited up first even if it meant doing so for weeks ahead of time. That's not out but I haven't given up hope on figuring them out within the limits of simply going fishing.
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Re: Any old timer mullet fishermen here?

Post by salty gator »

I've heard of folks using oatmeal for chum and drifting a small piece of white plastic worm ( with a tiny hook in it) back in the shim slick. Rumor has it Hank Williams Jr comes somewhere near sopchoppee to mullet fish every year with a group of guys. We've been in creeks with them thick and used a treble hook off of a top water plug and a small weight to snitch up a mess.
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Re: Any old timer mullet fishermen here?

Post by salty gator »

salty gator wrote:I've heard of folks using oatmeal for chum and drifting a small piece of white plastic worm ( with a tiny hook in it) back in the chum slick. Rumor has it Hank Williams Jr comes somewhere near sopchoppee to mullet fish every year with a group of guys. We've been in creeks with them thick and used a treble hook off of a top water plug and a small weight to snitch up a mess.
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Re: Any old timer mullet fishermen here?

Post by jholden »

I've caught one on a topwater plug not once, but twice. Hooked right in the mouth on a Mirrorlure Top Dog. Never would have thought that would happen in a million years. Usually my dad or one of his clients catch a mullet on Rapala Twitchin Raps hooked right in the mouth at least once a year. Guess sometimes they get it in their head to eat another fish just for the hell of it.
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Re: Any old timer mullet fishermen here?

Post by BloodyChamp »

Went to both Wakulla bridges and the St Marks today and the only mullet I saw was a 1 time jumper way out in the middle of the St Marks. The highlight of the day was seeing the massive bream in the St Marks. What I wouldn't have given for a cricket...but the truth is they probably wouldn't have bit. They probably get tried every day by the yahoos that walk by (saw some of those at the St Marks too but that wasn't a highlight lol). 1 guy at the Wakulla said there are usually a ton of mullet hanging out on near the ramp but wasn't sure where they were today. The mullet I've caught were from the Wacissa, forgot to mention that.
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Re: Any old timer mullet fishermen here?

Post by WannaDoDat »

A fun place to catch mullet (or just watch them) is on the St Marks Lighthouse jetty. The schools constantly travel back and forth around the perimeter making it easy to throw the cast net or snatch, if you prefer.

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Re: Any old timer mullet fishermen here?

Post by BloodyChamp »

Does anybody have anymore places where they've seen them thick?

I tried them at Goose Pasture today for the first time in a while. I like to use the last little bit of summer for experimental fishing, then go regular fishing 1 more time before I call it quits. Anyway they would follow the spinner every few throws, and a few times a mullet from far away would do the double take type move that they do every now and then, but obviously the end result was always the same - no bite. Improvising is tough out there because of the grass and the fast water. I think Goose Pasture is the only place with fast water and jungle thick grass at the same time lol! Love the place though...and ya'll will think I'm lying but I saw a huge Sheephead in the 1 shallow, grass free rock bed (there are grass free places on down but they have no bottom so no mullet fishing there) so there was no mistaking it...saw it plain as day. I'd seen them way down the river before which isn't far fetched but never literally at Goose Pasture.

So I wasn't ready to give up but I'd fought the current and the grass all I wanted to fight and went to the Econfina Park which I'm not familiar with at all besides visiting my friend who has a house there. 1 time a boy was there and caught a few mullet on worms at the steps and I never forgot that. By the time I got there I was thinking of just wetting a hook from those steps and calling it a day because there were no mullet or signs of life even anywhere. Then on the 3rd or 4th throw my rod bent over and my reel made girl noises as I hauled in a 4 or 5 lb bass..............which I lost at my feet. So of course I had to put the boat in then. I caught a few bream and slimy gar but that was it. If being close counted in fishing then I would be the greatest today but that's obviously not how it goes lol! Between all the close mullet, the Sheephead and the bass that actually bit I almost had a boat full but ultimately caught none of them. The bass would have made me totally forget about mullet because he would have been my first ever Econfina bass with extra bragging rights to go with it coming off the bank and all. I really wish I could get these mullet figured out though.
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Re: Any old timer mullet fishermen here?

Post by CharlesDad »

Don't know what it's like now but a long time ago we used to go from the Great Mission School in Gainesville to the Horseshoe Beach, Suwannee, Steinhatchee area and load 'em up.
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Re: Any old timer mullet fishermen here?

Post by BloodyChamp »

Not to happy that I haven't caught any mullet but that's about my only complaint in life at the moment as I sit at my job for the last day for about 2 weeks. As soon as tonight is over I'm on vacation and will be relaxing at the beach.

I have, however, atleast came to a conclusion that I can stick with about the mullet. You have to fish for them when they're more than .0000098787654 inches from the surface and away from the grass lol! The whopping 6 I've caught in my life have been when they were down feeding off of some rocks. The theory about them being slower sometimes that I mentioned in the first post is an irrelevant coincidence imo. They were thick at Goose Pasture again yesterday as usual but they were on the surface in that jungle grass. If I could actually make a throw without spooking them then all I did was get hung up. Every now and then I wouldn't get hung up in time for a couple to chase it but I'd still get hung up just the same.

Meanwhile I made a FB post in a mullet fishing group asking similar questions and somebody replied to it today saying that they'd never realized it, but every mullet they'd ever caught was away from the grass and deep. Then a few more people said the same thing. So that that's that if you ask me. The next trip to Goose Pasture will be me completely ignoring all the mullet in that grass at the boat landing no matter how many there are, and going down river to that small rocky section that follows where I caught the 6 before. That's not a very big stretch so if there are none there then I'll high tail it on down to the long rocky stretch before the slave canals where I've always seen a ton of mullet while regular fishing. There's also the Aucilla, St Marks Econfina and Wakulla within my comfort zone but I'm sticking with Goose Pasture until I try everything.
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Re: Any old timer mullet fishermen here?

Post by WannaDoDat »

Well, have a great two weeks off at the beach and try not to drive yourself crazy about those mullet!! Lol

So are you just bound and determined to catch them by hook or do you object to castnetting them? Just curious.

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Re: Any old timer mullet fishermen here?

Post by BloodyChamp »

What's the smallest castnet you could use to have a realistic chance at catching a few somewhere like the St Marks Lighthouse or Wakulla Beach away from the rocks? I'd be down for some castnetting if it turns out that I flat out can't catch any out of the river. My entire fishing life revolves around river fishing so I'd like to catch them within the limits that I've spent so much time, money etc on already though. That unfortunately doesn't include castnetting in the river because they spook so easy that you never get any even if you're good at throwing the net (which I'm not lol). Then also the net gets caught on the rocks and tears up. If I try castnetting then it would be at the St Marks Lighthouse or somewhere like that off the bank, and if that didn't work I'd have to get something besides my riveted aluminum boat to float in which would make mullet fishing an entirely new investment outside of river fishing altogether. I won't flat out give up until about next spring when the following year's bream and bass fever hit lol! I've heard stories of them biting better when it's cool, and the stories of them hibernating in the undisturbed springs in the winter. I've seen pictures to back up the last aforementioned occurrence so all isn't out yet. I don't always get to go in the winter but I've decided that I'm going to just to try this for at least 1 weekend.
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Re: Any old timer mullet fishermen here?

Post by fishinbug »

You have to make chum balls for the mullet. I learned about catching mullet on hook and line from a friend in Apollo Beach. Here's a recipe that works well. Getting the consistency of the 'mash' right is the key. Mullet can tug a line pretty good too.

http://www.snookfoundation.org/news/fis ... ullet.html
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