# mullet still biting



## FishWalton (Jul 22, 2010)

Buddy and I got to the mullet hole this morning at the crack of day to find a boat from alabama had been there since 4am. They caught their first mullet as we were pulling into a spot. 
We had maybe 8 or 10 in the boat and the other guys were doing nothing. I loaned one of my gold hook rods to the guy nearest me and he began to catch. He was using my favorite rod with 6 lb floro and #8 gold hook. I was using 10 lb. camo mono with the same hook. He out-fished me big time. It was obvious the line made the difference. 
Our lines were maybe 6 or 8 ft apart. Snatching he was doing nothing. Drop that gold hook in the same spot and game on. He caught a lot of fish. We ended up with 32 and quit at :11:30

Note:Two guys.... 59 last Saturday using the same gold hook technique.


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## 2RC's II (Feb 2, 2012)

I wanna go with you sometime.


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## billyb (Aug 22, 2012)

Going to try your knew rig Saturday morning in Milton. My friend doesn't think it will work. The only issue I can see is 6# test. Maybe we can fish together in the coming weeks. Got some medical test next week so maybe sometime in August.


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## FishWalton (Jul 22, 2010)

billyb said:


> Going to try your knew rig Saturday morning in Milton. My friend doesn't think it will work. The only issue I can see is 6# test. Maybe we can fish together in the coming weeks. Got some medical test next week so maybe sometime in August.


Might not work on Blackwater mullet....but it works on Choctawhatchee mullet :thumbup:

You have to remember you are using light line and you don't jerk. ...just a light snap will do. Think bream fishing. Also, you have to wear them out and take your time.


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## Jason (Oct 2, 2007)

Way to be a friend to someone you didn't know JB!!!! Glad ya'll are wearing em out!:thumbsup:


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## DLo (Oct 2, 2007)

What kind of depth and current are you looking for, I'd like to know if I could replicate this in Escambia?


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## FishWalton (Jul 22, 2010)

Jason said:


> Way to be a friend to someone you didn't know JB!!!! Glad ya'll are wearing em out!:thumbsup:


Went back this morning and there these guys were again. Three in the boat this time. They were wild with enthusiasm about their 100 box full yesterday. Said many times all three were hooked up at the same time. They all had 6 lb. line and little gold hooks. I think now they are all converts from the snatching technique. 

But a really slow bite this morning. I got about 15 and they had about 25 when we quit at 10:30 or so. One lives in Birmingham and had to get back home. He wants to come back when the roe mullet are here.


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## billyb (Aug 22, 2012)

Me and a friend got to Broadmouth at 7 this morning. We used all hook variations that we could think of and only caught 9 by 12. Me 2 and he had 7. I used SpiderWire 8# translucent braid(4# mono equivalent) and caught 1. I don't know how you land anything on 6# mono because I broke the8# braid once and lost the fish. Either there is many more fish at the hole you fish than at ours or they just won't bite the gold hook over in Milton. They didn't bite anything else much so I think it is lack of mullet.


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## FishWalton (Jul 22, 2010)

billyb said:


> Me and a friend got to Broadmouth at 7 this morning. We used all hook variations that we could think of and only caught 9 by 12. Me 2 and he had 7. I used SpiderWire 8# translucent braid(4# mono equivalent) and caught 1. I don't know how you land anything on 6# mono because I broke the8# braid once and lost the fish. Either there is many more fish at the hole you fish than at ours or they just won't bite the gold hook over in Milton. They didn't bite anything else much so I think it is lack of mullet.




It's got to be lack of fish. On landing a fish, it takes a while, and that's 

the fun of it, the fight. Set the drag right and play the fish like a fiddle. If you have more than one pole in the water you may have to move it out of the way because the fish will run all over the place, back and forth. Eventually it will tire enough to come to the boat. Even with 6 lb line you can just pick it up by the line and the fish just dangles there worn out (most of the time). It's not flopping and raising hell like much of the time snatching. If it's a big mullet I do use a net


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## billyb (Aug 22, 2012)

Why not use 10# braid? Same diameter as 6# mono.


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## FishWalton (Jul 22, 2010)

billyb said:


> Why not use 10# braid? Same diameter as 6# mono.


I'm new to this so still experimenting with different lines and hooks. I suppose braid will work just fine if handled correctly. For me I tried it (snatching) but have a tendency to snap my rod downward when I miss a fish. Sometimes this causes the line to wrap around the tip of my pole. Had to cut the line a few times due to tangle. Mono is easier to untangle. 
For now I'm sticking with 2 crappie rods...one 6 lb and one 8 lb mono...and will be evaluating which one seems to produce better than the other, or if there is little to no difference. So far it looks like 6 lb may be best, but too early to tell.


Went for a while yesterday morning and got 14 and my new Alabama friends about 25 or more . All on #8 gold hook.


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## FishWalton (Jul 22, 2010)

*A good day*

Introduced another friend to the gold hook this morning. He had fish in the boat before I got my line in the water...was fiddling with positioning the boat. We ended up with the ice box completely packed full of mullet. Other boats were doing very well too. Didn't count them but most likely around 40. I don't have a big box because I don't have a big boat. Both snatching and gold hook methods worked very well this morning. 

Yesterday two of us fished a different hole and got 6 mullet and 3 or 4 bream. That was a very long morning of fishing.


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## specktackler57 (May 15, 2011)

Ataboy for being a sport. I learned a lot when i moved here 1970 from guys like you.


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## FishWalton (Jul 22, 2010)

*Yo Yo bite at the hole*

Like a yo yo, the bite is up and down at the hole. This morning managed only 14 for 3 1/2 hours...two with gold hook and the rest snatching. They were apparently ignoring the little hook and just swimming around touching the line now and then. Finally out came the trusty snatch rod and I picked up a dozen. These will go to a good friend all nicely cleaned and packaged who is under hospice care and one of the best fly tyers in the region. He and the wife love mullet.


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## FishWalton (Jul 22, 2010)

duplicate


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## Try'n Hard (Oct 23, 2008)

My grandmother always said they wouldnt bite the gold hook unless the sun was shining


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## Boat-Dude (Sep 24, 2011)

And if mullet had teeth we would all be in trouble!


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## FishWalton (Jul 22, 2010)

Try'n Hard said:


> My grandmother always said they wouldnt bite the gold hook unless the sun was shining


I think your grandmother may have been right. Will keep that in mind on future trips. That was surly the case yesterday. Cloudy and rained on us for over an hour before we quit.

We got to the hole about 6:15 and pulled in behind two other boats. Guys I fish with a lot.

One boat quit at 10:00 with 4. I think they got some snatching and with gold hook. We got 3 with gold hook and quit at 10:45. Third guy by himself had about 9 with gold hook when we left. Left him still fishing in the rain.


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## billyb (Aug 22, 2012)

JB I looked at the radar and decided to leave the house about 2 yesterday. Got to the hole and started fishing about 3:30. Couldn't find anyone who wanted to go so I went anyway. Mix of sun and clouds. It gets hot there real quick in the afternoon. 1 other boat from Samson said they got there at 2 and they quit at 5 with 2 in the boat. I ended up with 12 and lost maybe 10 all on the gold hook. I bought some #8 gold salmon egg hooks to try and they worked. No shank and the ones I ordered were barbless. Easy to get out of the mouth of the fish, but I think that is why I lost a few. Give a mullet any slack at all and he will find a way to get off especially with a barbless hook. I am going to order a box of 50 with barbs if you want some to try. Wonder if I should try #6 too? These #8 are small.


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## FishWalton (Jul 22, 2010)

*gold hooks*



billyb said:


> JB I looked at the radar and decided to leave the house about 2 yesterday. Got to the hole and started fishing about 3:30. Couldn't find anyone who wanted to go so I went anyway. Mix of sun and clouds. It gets hot there real quick in the afternoon. 1 other boat from Samson said they got there at 2 and they quit at 5 with 2 in the boat. I ended up with 12 and lost maybe 10 all on the gold hook. I bought some #8 gold salmon egg hooks to try and they worked. No shank and the ones I ordered were barbless. Easy to get out of the mouth of the fish, but I think that is why I lost a few. Give a mullet any slack at all and he will find a way to get off especially with a barbless hook. I am going to order a box of 50 with barbs if you want some to try. Wonder if I should try #6 too? These #8 are small.



PM sent:

This is what I'm using for gold hooks. Takes a couple of weeks to get them but the price is right and they work. 

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/500pcs-10-Sizes-3-12-Carbon-Steel-Fish-Jig-Hooks-with-Hole-Carp-Fishing-Hook-with/32793893417.html?spm=2114.search0204.3.172.53201d1cwz6OLs&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_2_10152_10065_10151_10344_10068_10130_10342_10547_10343_10546_10340_10548_10341_315_10545_10696_531_10084_10083_10618_10307_5013515_5013615_10059_5013715_100031_10103_10624_10623_10622_10621_10620_5013815_449,searchweb201603_56,ppcSwitch_4_ppcChannel&algo_expid=d11deb41-3f37-49b6-8825-9014d6590859-23&algo_pvid=d11deb41-3f37-49b6-8825-9014d6590859&transAbTest=ae803_1&priceBeautifyAB=0

I have used a hook that looks about #6 size and they work very well, maybe a little better than#8 on bigger mullet. Was reading an article recently that over in Jacksonville they use a #2....that's large.

The sizes are different than U. S sizing, so just eyeball them to select. For our sizing they look to be about size 2 to maybe 16 or 18. The little ones are small enough to catch minnows. 

If you order make sure you select the gold color


You do have to freshwater wash them as they will tarnish after a few uses. I replace them after a few trips.


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## Larrikin (May 7, 2012)

*What do you bait a mullet hole with?*



fishwalton said:


> I think your grandmother may have been right. Will keep that in mind on future trips. That was surly the case yesterday. Cloudy and rained on us for over an hour before we quit.
> 
> We got to the hole about 6:15 and pulled in behind two other boats. Guys I fish with a lot.
> 
> One boat quit at 10:00 with 4. I think they got some snatching and with gold hook. We got 3 with gold hook and quit at 10:45. Third guy by himself had about 9 with gold hook when we left. Left him still fishing in the rain.


Any idea where to find Chum n Get It in the pensacola/milton area?
Was hoping to use some to start baiting a hole near me. Any other other sinking catfish pellets you use?
Thanks


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## FishWalton (Jul 22, 2010)

Larrikin said:


> Any idea where to find Chum n Get It in the pensacola/milton area?
> Was hoping to use some to start baiting a hole near me. Any other other sinking catfish pellets you use?
> Thanks


You can check with Harrell Milling Co. Phone: (334) 588-2261 and see who might sell their products in Pensacola. Here in DeFuniak it's about $13.50 per 50 lb bag. Any sinking catfish or fish pond feed in pelletes should work as well...also, dog food


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## FishWalton (Jul 22, 2010)

*The bite has cooled*

Sure seems the mullet bite has cooled from this time last week when we got 39. For four hours of fishing this morning a buddy and I put 5 in the box along with a big red belly bream. Another boat got 6, but yesterday afternoon they put14 went in the box.
Last Saturday was about like today.


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## billyb (Aug 22, 2012)

When I cleaned mine I had 13 instead of 12. Lost many so if I would have boated them I would have had a much more successful afternoon. Thinking about Frank Jackson on Saturday. Last weekend before license expires on 8/31.


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## tiger297 (Jan 13, 2018)

Do you expect it to continue to slow or is this just a temporary slump?


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## FishWalton (Jul 22, 2010)

*Poor bite continues*

The bite this morning about the same as yesterday, but the air was cool and that was nice. I got there before daylight, launched, and hung around the landing a while until it started breaking day. One Alabama rig in the parking lot so I knew one of the two best spots would be open for me. Fished by myself this morning.

Got there and the early birds had big flood lights goingi
. They had been fishing a few hours but no fish in the boat. A third boat arrived about 6:45. A guy that fishes there often so we knew each other well. I knew the AL. boys too.

The late arrival and I quit at 10am. He had one mullet and I had four plus four nice big bream. The early bird had about 6, maybe 7, when we left. 

For myself the little gold hook got 3 and the snatch rig one (gold treble in the mouth). The early bird had six rods out but only one rod was hot....#2 gold treble hook was the hook of the day......snatch rod used. 

Not sure what the next few days hold so far as a bite is concerned. I know the tide was outgoing in the mornings for past several days. It was high at the landing this morning. When the bite was so hot a couple of weeks ago the mornings had incoming tide. That could be important. 

Hard to say what's going on with the bite, but that's fishing.

P.S.Edit...a couple of odities. Strange things happen at a mullet hole. 

This morning I caught a mullet with a bream buster pole and cricket. After hooking up the pull was awesome and I kept wondering why I could not get the bream to the boat. Never crossed my mind it would be a mullet, but finally the thing surfaced and it was a 3/4 lb. mullet.
A little later I caught one with my snatch pole that had a tiny gold hook embedded in its side with mono still on the hookand a 1/8 oz. sinker.. It had been in the fish long enough the hook had started rusting. Apparently this was one of my broke line hooks or another person using the same rig.


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## FishWalton (Jul 22, 2010)

*I'm done for a while*

Eight boats at the mullet hole this morning. Between 6am and 11am when I quit I saw about a dozen caught between all the boats. I got one !!!!
Two boats quit about 9am and headed to the river holes. Funny thing...about half hour later a boat arrived that had fished the river holes early this morning. They reported no bite and no fish.

Six of the boats scattered/left, etc., and two boats still fishing when I quit. Hopefully the afternoon bite will be better for them.

So, I'll take a couple of weeks off from chasing mullet. Will get back to the river where I belong regardless of it's condition. If you wait for it to 'get right' you will spend more time waiting than fishing. 

J. B.


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## Akhernandez (Aug 24, 2018)

You would be surprised at what you can do with 6# test. Up north we fish 6# and sometimes 4# test for steelhead I've caught fish up to 15 pounds on it. There's a few must haves; sharp hooks to eliminate the need for a hard hookset, long rod with a slow action that acts as a shock absorber, and some patience to fight the fish. You may lose a few but if you don't get bites you ain't catching. Or if you are willing to spend some extra money on flourocarbon you can get away with heavier line for leader shy fish. Some experimenting goes a long way. Good luck and keep those lines tight!


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## billyb (Aug 22, 2012)

JB my friend went to Broadmouth this morning and caught 12. Slowing down at Choctaw and picking up in Blackwater.


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