Mullet might be the perfect baitfish for surfcasters to imitate in the suds!
It was just this past September when I was walking along the surf line toward my destination, an outflow on the Rhode Island oceanfront. A wave washed ashore in front of me, and right there flopping at my feet, was a 6-inch mullet that was left high and dry by the retreating wave. I was quite certain that it was driven ashore by a hungry striper in pursuit. From past experiences I knew these baitfish were like candy bars to hungry stripers. The bait I was hoping for had arrived, and I knew the action was about to light up.
As I waded out onto my destination, a sandy bar, I could see occasional splashes beyond the drop-off to my right. These were good-sized stripers that had come in and found the candy. I could see mullet streaking along the surface trying to escape the frenzied predators with big boils hot on their tails. It was not an all-out blitz, rather a striper here and there, keying in on a panicked and tasty potential snack.
Mullet Madness
My first thought was to snap on a surface offering that would get the striper’s attention, much as these mullet were doing. So, I put on a bone colored Yo-Zuri Hydro Pencil, a lure that checks all the boxes when trying to imitate mullet. It’s the right profile, the right size (5 inches), the right color (bone/white) and, with the right twitches of the rod, it’s got all the alluring darting/escaping movements of the real thing, making the plug come alive. It didn’t take long before my plug was blasted by a slot striper, and the battle was on. For the next hour or so, it was non-stop action. When the bite came to an end, I guessed the bait escaped down the shoreline and the stripers followed.
Mullet runs are a September phenomenon. These highly-prized baitfish tend to show up in southern New England in mid- to late-August and will generally hang around into October. Their numbers usually hit their peak in September. These are chunky silvery/white bellied baitfish that average about 4 to 6 inches long and sometimes reaching 8 or even 9 inches, these are all ideal sizes to try to imitate with a plug or lure. The places where I find them most often are around moving water like breachways or outflows. They might be found out in front of breachways, along adjacent beaches or up inside the backwater salt ponds.
Sometimes you will find mullet schools along rocky shorelines and even along sandy beaches. Nervous water might give away their presence. You might see dark water that ripples slightly on the surface. Mullet tend to travel in small schools, and they move a lot. They also like to move very close to shore in drop away locations like rocky shorelines or deep water beaches that plunge into the depths. At night I have seen good numbers around lighted bridges where a shadow line forms. They are drawn to these lights where stripers ambush them. But they can also be along dark beachfronts at night in September.
Mimicking Mullet
If there was an ideal baitfish to mimic, this is it. Keep in mind the size and the color when choosing your plugs and plastics. Topwater plugs in the 4- to 6-inch range are dead ringers for these baitfish. Standard poppers as well as spook-type lures as I used above are also great choices. I saw a guy fishing near me last year who was using a 5-inch Atom Striper Swiper popper, and he was really scoring on that lure when the mullet were around. Some of the spook-type plugs I like to use are Yo-Zuri Hydro Pencils and Rebel Jumpin’ Minnows in a bone or white color.
I know some sharpies that use a novel approach in these mullet situations. At times, they use a Super Strike Little Neck popper, a plug that produces a booming cast. This plug can be fished in two different ways. Most fishermen use it as a popper reeling in and popping the plug with jerks of the rod tip. But, some sharpies might let it sink a bit and slowly reel it like a swimmer with no rod tip action. Using this approach, the plug’s blunt, cupped face causes it to swim slowly back and forth especially in a current and it looks more like the action of a swimmer than a popper. This trick really works as I saw the sharpies land many fish using this approach.
I’ve also had good luck in the past using soft plastic paddletails on jigheads especially when I want to fish deeper in moving water or along dropaway beaches. I had good success using a 5-inch white NLBN (No Live Bait Needed) mounted on their 1-ounce jighead. It’s got the size and profile of a mullet. Just reel in and the moving tail will grab the attention of feeding stripers.
After Dark
Anywhere you run into mullet in the daytime, they are still likely to be in or around after dark. At night you might not see them and I’ve often found that nervous water is a giveaway that is barely perceptible in the dark of night. I like to use swimmers after dark. Once again, consider the size and profile of the mullet. A swimming plug that matches this bait perfectly is the Yo-Zuri Mag Darter. I especially like the smaller one, the 5-inch, 1-ounce version in a bone color.
My son Ben likes to use the larger version which measures 6.5 inches and weighs 2 ounces. I know other fishermen who swear by the Super Strike Zig Zag darter in a light color. Darters tend to work best where you have some current that imparts extra action on the plug. The bigger darters work well when the mullet are of the larger variety. The same NLBN paddletails, along with bulky bucktails are also good mullet imitations at night, especially when the water is rough.
If you are searching for some of the best early fall action for stripers from shore, be on the lookout for schools of mullet. These candy bars of the fall surf will draw in hungry stripers to feed as the waters begin to cool. This bait can be found both day and night, and usually light colored plugs and paddletails in the 4- to 6-inch range are top choices to fool stripers feeding on mullet. September is prime time to run with the mullet, make it count while you can!
