# Mullet



## billyb (Aug 22, 2012)

This is the second year that there hasn't been any mullet at the Stinky Hole in Milton so me and a few friends are baiting our own spot. They go during the week and I will go on Saturday. Maybe we can keep fish coming by. 
I went this afternoon. Caught 15. The wife kept calling so I gave up and came home.


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## CurDog (Nov 14, 2010)

Isn't the "Stinky hole" Milton's sewage treatment facility's run-off that goes into Blackwater river? My guess would be they must've choked on some turds and died?


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## billyb (Aug 22, 2012)

I have never heard that before. There have been tons of mullet caught there for the last 40 years. Last year the fish disappeared. Most of the old timers that went several times a week are sickly or have died. No feed no fish. The hole is located off Ward Basin Road. About 200 yards west of the launch at the end of Morrell Road.


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## CurDog (Nov 14, 2010)

Oh okay. I believe that one is called the old dog farm. But the stink hole is the sewage waste dump pipe there near the downtown bridge.


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## billyb (Aug 22, 2012)

I really don't know the correct name. There was an old nightclub there years ago called The Cove I think.


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## CurDog (Nov 14, 2010)

yup, that's right. same place. growing up it was called the dog farm bc there was one there years ago. in the curve, there's a small creek empties out there, used to be big... anyway, there are several old barges sank all along that edge, from the east of the landing, west, around that curve, to the main river. pretty much rotted away nowadays tho.


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## billyb (Aug 22, 2012)

Those must be what cost me dozens of hooks. Get in the wrong spot and you could lose a bunch of hooks.


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## Danny&Lindsay (Nov 23, 2014)

There have been a ton of mullet jumping around us in escambia river! Big ones too 😀


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## froggy (Feb 7, 2014)

im on the bay between the states off 98. the last week i have seen more mullet than i care to try to count. always just outta my nets range though


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## CatHunter (Dec 31, 2008)

I have a few commercial buddies that throw nets all over Pensacola and in Milton. They are worried about the mullet population. They said they have never seen mullet so scarce, in some places they have all but vanished. 

Dont hold your breath waiting on biologist to notice there is a problem with the fishery until they are almost eliminated.


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## billyb (Aug 22, 2012)

The last 2 years you have to work for a mess. 3 years ago I could snatch 50 in 3 hours. Last year everybody blamed all of the rain. Yesterday a man was saying they were using illegal nets to block the entrance into the bay. I am not sure why, but I can really tell the difference. You think it might have something to do with the oil spill?


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## CatHunter (Dec 31, 2008)

No. I'm 100% sure it's from over harvest


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## billyb (Aug 22, 2012)

I don't believe that mullet have been overharvested unless it was by commercial fishermen. The recreational folks who cast a net or snatch them hasn't hurt the population because we are limited to 50 fish.


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## CatHunter (Dec 31, 2008)

billyb said:


> I don't believe that mullet have been overharvested unless it was by commercial fishermen. The recreational folks who cast a net or snatch them hasn't hurt the population because we are limited to 50 fish.


Yes it was by commercial, the populous had a hand in helping but minimal. The netters got them. I watched it first hand, never was my style of fishing I knew that couldn't last forever.

The mullet migrate all over the Gulf and East Coast. Pensacola's mullet harvests are small compared to what goes on where gill nets are used. Our mullet have been hit very hard in the last 20 years. With snapper fishing being so highly regulated a lot of commercial snapper guys have converted over and are also now hunting mullet just to pay bills. Some guys are saying mullet just aren't showing up like they should.
All good things come to an end.

I have done my fair share of commercial fishing. I know the damage we do and also know how important it is that America feeds its own. One day ill use what I know to help balance things out.


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## CatHunter (Dec 31, 2008)

Here is one of many good articles I’ve studied on the declining mullet. 

These numbers only go to 20013 we have seen at-least a 50% decline from 2009-2015 in our mullet fishery. Remember there are more mullet fishermen today than ever yet far less mullet going to the markets. The net ban in Florida started in 1994 you can see a major drop in production the following year. However the nets are still the number 1 mullet harvesting tool in other states. When you look at all the numbers you think wow...I cant believe it lasted as long as it did. Bison and cod come to mind.


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