# speaking of eating mullet.



## LITECATCH

i have eaten mullet off and on all my life. what i wonder is, sometimes the mullet is not good. (i can see where people that don't like mullet probably had these fish) other times the mullet is some of the best fried fish i have eaten. i was wondering if it is the life cycle that a mullet, at times would be better than other times. maybe some of the life long mullet eaters could give us some info.


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## Telum Pisces

I have noticed the same thing. We had a mullet fish fry a few weeks ago and the mullet was not the greatest. But the time before that, it was great. The mullet flavor seems to change. Both times the mullet that we ate came from east bay.


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## bamachem

the clearer the water, the better they taste in my opinion. also, good medium sized mullet will taste better to me than the really big mud-suckers too. 

are you removing the blood line down the skin-side of the filet? if not, that my be your problem. remove that red meat and everything else is absolutely incredible. that red meat can and will affect the flavor of the rest of the filet when cooked.


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## Halfmoon

Different kinds of areas. If Mullet are caught up inside bayous or rivers, bay's thatthe high acid and muddy bottoms the fish will taste very strong. If fish are caught closer to the gulf or outside the meat is very clean and white. 

At home we never ate River mullet. Only the ones caught outside on the flats or in the mangrove creeks. We would call them blue backs. Because the top of the fish would have a blueish tint to them. Rather the black dark tint of those up in the river and bays.

Something to do with the water. It depends where the fish are caught. At market they all get tossed in one bin. Thats what I was told by the old salts that taught me how to mullet fish.

I didthe taste test and the ones outside are 100X better.

I hate when I get nasty taste'n Mud Mullet as I call them.


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## off route II

imo "FRESH" is the key word. when i first started eatin' mullet we never heard of a filet, they were split down the back and fried with the skin on. that was at rusty's years ago. you got mullet dill, pickles and light bread if i remember right. i had rather eat fresh mullet than snapper any day.


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## Boatjob1

> *Halfmoon (5/14/2008)*Different kinds of areas. If Mullet are caught up inside bayous or rivers, bay's thatthe high acid and muddy bottoms the fish will taste very strong. If fish are caught closer to the gulf or outside the meat is very clean and white.
> 
> At home we never ate River mullet. Only the ones caught outside on the flats or in the mangrove creeks. We would call them blue backs. Because the top of the fish would have a blueish tint to them. Rather the black dark tint of those up in the river and bays.
> 
> Something to do with the water. It depends where the fish are caught. At market they all get tossed in one bin. Thats what I was told by the old salts that taught me how to mullet fish.
> 
> I didthe taste test and the ones outside are 100X better.
> 
> I hate when I get nasty taste'n Mud Mullet as I call them.


Bingo,,,,, This is what I was told as a child when my grandfather used to throw a cast net for dinner. I have always found the above to be true. He also taught me about catching Mullet that tasted just like Oysters.... I bet you can guess where they were caught tooo,,, around the Oyster reefs.......IMHO these are the BEST tasting Mullet available, BUT you have to skin them and clear out that thin blood line.So on the very rare occasion that I do go out after them I try and pinpoint the reef areas....... I remember many many trips to Fort Morgan with him, him throwing the cast net, and me with my chicken necks and crab basket...... What a team........ :angel 

They are <SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #1f5080; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">algae eaters so basically they taste like what there swimming in.........


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## Ocean Man

:withstupid Mullet in the Gulf are great, Mullet in the rivers are awful. I wont eat them unless they were caught close to the Gulf.


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## brnbser

I'm pretty sure it has to do with the amount of alcohol that has been consumed pre and during fish consumption

really! 

what you said makes sense to me Mark, kinda the equivalent of mud(yellow) catfish and channel (blue) catfish


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## lil_fisherman

but mullet move all over the place...they might be in texar and move into the bay, does that mean they taste better in the bay? how long does it take for the fresher water to circulate thru them to change the taste...i gotta go with how much alchohol...lol


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## cobiaphil

Rusty's (the original) was the place to eat mullet. Now that was the good ole days.



Scott, think it is like the others are saying it is where they are caught makes a big difference in the taste.


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## cobiaphil

and how fresh they are too. Still flopping while cleaning is hard to beat.


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## John B.

nothing beats a fresh gulf roe mullet IMHO


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## seanspots

I would rather eat fried flounder but thats just me..:hungry


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## Last Chance

I mullet fish alot and there is a real big difference in the mullet i have caught in the upper bays versus the ones i catch around pickens beach or the intercoastal.I hardly ever eat any from the upper bays myself.


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## Tuna Man

"<A>speaking of eating mullet.</A>"...actually I wasn't...sick:sick


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## Travis Gill

Yep. Backrunners have the best tasting meat cuase they've been in the gulf a while.


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## amberj

Besides where the fish come from. Several things that I will do to always ensure good mullet. I never freeze mullet. I never cook up the big ones unless I want some roe. When you are cooking mullet my rule of thumb is, I alway soak my fish for several hours in milk and hot sauce blend and ice. This removes a lot of the gamey taste out of the fish and kills any acid that might be in the meat that gives it a bad odor. Then I go straight from the soak to my fish fry to my greece. This greatly improves the taste of the fish over all. I only do this if I am buying mullet from a fish market or I have had the mullet in ice over night before I am going to cook. If i am going to be frying several hours after cooking the fish i dont soak my fish. But on the normal I do soak my fish. I have eaten mullet from out of blackwater bay, pensacola bay, the gulf, and from the rivers and if you soak it, it will damn near taste the same everytime. This milk soak really helps out.


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## Halfmoon

> *lil_fisherman (5/14/2008)*but mullet move all over the place...they might be in texar and move into the bay, does that mean they taste better in the bay? how long does it take for the fresher water to circulate thru them to change the taste...i gotta go with how much alchohol...lol


Some stay year round up in rivers and bays. The only time they leave is during their Spawning. You have upinside Mullet that move around upinside but never venture out. And you have the coasties, they never come in until it's time for sexy time.

I did I research paper on them in Marine Biology class.Thats the conclusion of what I researched. They still have alot of mystery to them.

I was not drinking during this research! Okay maybe a little.:letsdrink


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## Flounderpounder

Well, I'll take your word for it, but most of the mullet I've had come from the upper/mid bays, and they are always great! Ok, alcohol MAY be involved! Seriously, they arebetter than snapper ANY day! A couple tricks I was taught (must be something to 'em!): BringPLENTY of ice, andpull the plug on the cooler, so they aren't sitting in water, just ice. Clean 'em quick, fry 'em hot! I won't trade for snapper, but if you have too much grouper or ling, give me a call!

:hungry


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## Atwood

I like the ones caught at the third table from the front doorat Chets the best!!:hungry


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## JRG24

I have always thought that silver mullet (thats what i call em) are the best. they are smaller and definitely not as dark as the big black mullet, which is the kind of mullet that usually has the roe. almost all the mullet i have seen swimming around sandy bottom is the smaller variety. I have always aimed to catch my mullet on a sandy bottom body of water, and they always seem to taste good this way. maybe it is because th water isnt as mirky as a muddy bottom and they dont ingest as much gunk?


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## sailfish23

> *amberj (5/14/2008)*Besides where the fish come from. Several things that I will do to always ensure good mullet. I never freeze mullet. I never cook up the big ones unless I want some roe. When you are cooking mullet my rule of thumb is, I alway soak my fish for several hours in milk and hot sauce blend and ice. This removes a lot of the gamey taste out of the fish and kills any acid that might be in the meat that gives it a bad odor. Then I go straight from the soak to my fish fry to my greece. This greatly improves the taste of the fish over all. I only do this if I am buying mullet from a fish market or I have had the mullet in ice over night before I am going to cook. If i am going to be frying several hours after cooking the fish i dont soak my fish. But on the normal I do soak my fish. I have eaten mullet from out of blackwater bay, pensacola bay, the gulf, and from the rivers and if you soak it, it will damn near taste the same everytime. This milk soak really helps out.


the soakling thing is a good idea!!


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## amberj

If you dont want to use hot sauce and milk just soak it for a few hours in plain ole buttermilk. I like the hot sauce and milk because of the acid reducer for the gamey taste and the hot sauce adds really good flavor, if you are just looking to get the nasty taste out just use plain ole buttermilk.


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## Sandys Toy

> *Halfmoon (5/14/2008)*Different kinds of areas. If Mullet are caught up inside bayous or rivers, bay's thatthe high acid and muddy bottoms the fish will taste very strong. If fish are caught closer to the gulf or outside the meat is very clean and white.
> 
> At home we never ate River mullet. Only the ones caught outside on the flats or in the mangrove creeks. We would call them blue backs. Because the top of the fish would have a blueish tint to them. Rather the black dark tint of those up in the river and bays.
> 
> Something to do with the water. It depends where the fish are caught. At market they all get tossed in one bin. Thats what I was told by the old salts that taught me how to mullet fish.
> 
> I didthe taste test and the ones outside are 100X better.
> 
> I hate when I get nasty taste'n Mud Mullet as I call them.


This is (IMO) the reason for sure. Have cast netted and eaten mullet all my life and generations of my family before me have also. Halfmoon's reason has always proven true for us. Plus we always cooked them while fresh never frozen....just can't hardly beat a fresh mullet!!


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## ElJay

I love eating mullet and like it best when first brine pickled for a few hours then oak smoked, kind of kippered in other words. No mud taste gets through that.

Fried isOK too, but a pinch of Tumeric in any batter goes a long way to killing mud tastes and also is a mild antispetic that removes any nasties from bayous etc that may have slipped through. Plus it gives a good yellow color to any batter.

I always bleed my fish, slit their throats as soon as I catch them.Then put them on ice until cleaned.Bleeding reduces adrenaline in the blood and preserves the flesh better. Plus it helps gets rid of the muddy taste they can get.

As others have mentioned, getting rid of the red stripes in any fish makes it milder tasting too.

Anybody else ever BBQ mullet? I have flecked them(cut along spine rather than belly to clean) and put the butterflied fish in those pinch BBQ racks over some coals and they were pretty good. Kind of like some do pomps?


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## how2fish

Where in the P'cola/OB area is a good place to eat mullet..sad to say I've never tried it. I will be in the area next week and havetrying it on my "To do " list..thanks !


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## Emerald Ghost

Chet's has good mullet. 

Reading this thread not only makes me hungry, but reminds me of younger days and how many mullet I have consumed.

Perry's , Oscars, Jerry's, and we use to buy them from the little fish market on Old Corry near Jackson St. , across from Claude Millers Gulf service station. 

Always look to make sure their eyes are clear and not cloudy when selecting them , that is a good sign they are fresh.

Now if I can just get this grease up to about 360.


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## Inn Deep

Chet's on Navy Blvd is the best I have had around town in quite a while. They always seem to have good fresh fish.


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## FishinFool

> *brnbser (5/14/2008)*I'm pretty sure it has to do with the amount of alcohol that has been consumed pre and during fish consumption
> 
> really!
> 
> The above theory makes the most sense. :toast
> 
> Mullet! :sick
> 
> There's just too many better tasting fish out the to eat. IMHO :letsdrink


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## JSMITH

I'm with Flounderpounder . Put e'm on ice right away and keep drained and they are good no matter where you catch them . :bowdown


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## Shiznik

If you bleed'em out right after you catch them, it will help take the taste out of them you guys are talking about. Back in the day when we would set our gill nets, we would hold the Mullet in our right looking straight down onto their backs. With our left hand we'd take our index and middle fingers and hook them under the fish into their gills and pull straight back, this would break the head backwards and snap their bodies back. It would immediately start a stream of blood coming from them shooting outward and we'd throw them up onto the beach. The main reason we'd do that was to keep them from flopping back into the water before we could get all the rest of them gilled into the net. After doing this for a while, we realized it actually helped the taste of the fish and now we try to do it all the time because it bleeds the fish out and makes them taste awesome! You should just try it before you knock it and then offer your opinion if it has any difference in the taste.


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## sailmaker

Although I live in Little Rock I was born in Corpus Christi Texas and also lived there a few times. NOBODY on the Texas coast eats mullet, they are baitfish, pure and simple. Personally, I have always wanted to try them just because they are popular in Florida. 



I soak all of my fish in a mild brine with some fresh squeezed lime juice and pureed fresh or frozen jalapenos. Sometimes when I'm mesquite grilling I will add the juice of a few fresh squeezed oranges too. VERY tasty!!! Makes great fish tacos.


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