Trudging west by way of sugary sand, I clamored to the highest of a jetty and hopscotched my method to the tip. Whitecaps lined a roiled Nantucket Sound as a stiff, 12-knot southwest wind sprayed crashing waves into my face, even on my elevated rock perch. My pencil popper soared towards an ominous grey horizon because the rising solar battled the clouds for its place within the sky. My second forged despatched a bunch of small, silvery, cylindrical baitfish leaping from the waves. “Wow, they’re right here,” I assumed, because the water erupted behind the Tsunami Talkin’ Popper XD. The plug received smacked so laborious, it launched two toes straight into the air. My jaw dropped as I picked up slack, the plug popped straight up once more, after which once more. Lastly, inside 5 toes of the bottom of the jetty, a teen-sized striper lunged for the popper with its mouth agape and dorsal totally uncovered.
This time, the fish linked, then turned on a dime and took a drag-sizzling run towards an deserted mooring as daylight burned by way of the wall of clouds. I laughed maniacally on the aggression exhibited by that bass. Little did I do know that almost each forged thereafter would ship mullet flying and depart stripers competing for the topwater plugs. Fortunate for the bass (and for Ryan and me), there have been sufficient mullet round to maintain them nicely fed for nearly per week.
The place I grew up on the western finish of Lengthy Island, mullet runs have grown sparse over the previous 10 years. I knew of Northeast mullet runs by way of books, images, and tackle-shop lore spoken by the outdated salts who mumbled over 7-11 espresso every morning as they reminisced about mullet-fueled feeds within the 70s. To this present day, an annual mullet run creates what some anglers contemplate the perfect seaside chunk of the autumn, albeit a short-lived one.
The Northeast Mullet Run
Striped mullet have a worldwide distribution between the latitudes of 42 levels north and 42 levels south. In components of their vary, they develop bigger than 10 kilos, however the fish encountered by striped bass anglers are typically 4- to 6-inch “finger” mullet. These are like Mike and Ikes for giant bass and blues. Sometimes, bigger mullet, the 8- to 12-inchers as soon as known as “corn cobs” by the anglers of yesteryear, seem within the Northeast. On The Water Editor Jimmy Charge snagged a large mullet whereas tautog fishing from shore final October, reinforcing McKay’s report of bigger mullet operating the inlets.
Striped mullet spawn offshore in the course of the coldest months of the yr earlier than returning to the consolation of brackish waters and estuaries within the spring, the place they mature earlier than repeating the spawning cycle. Ryan and I will need to have caught them on their method out the door, heading for these offshore spawning grounds.
We found that on an ebb tide underneath the correct wind situations, there was a confluence of currents between two inlets over an enormous sand flat. Mullet had been being washed proper over the flat, the place wolf packs of southbound schoolie to over-slot stripers had been ready for some quick meals as they pressed by way of Nantucket Sound. The end result was a collision for the logbooks.
Timing the Mullet Run
Not too long ago, as I reviewed my fishing-log entries of final fall’s mullet run, I questioned the place else on the coast mullet had made a displaying, and for the way lengthy. Would this be a recurring occasion on Cape Cod? I wanted perception from different anglers to assist paint an even bigger image of the Northeast mullet run lately.
Rhode Island
First issues first, I wished to know when our neighboring surfcasters in Rhode Island count on mullet. Glad to oblige, Dennis Zambrotta advised me, “I typically begin seeing them in August within the few native salt ponds we now have, particularly within the evenings once I stroll my canine. Small pods of mullet trigger wakes within the shallow areas of the pond, and I watch all of them August into September. As quickly as I don’t see them on my walks, I do know they’re on the transfer.”
In line with Zambrotta, the fish measure 3 to six inches lengthy, and run oceanfront seashores and rock ledges from mid-September till the primary week or two of October. However even in Rhode Island, latest mullet runs haven’t been as robust as they as soon as had been. Zambrotta described mullet runs from 2017 to 2023 as inconsistent. “Some seasons I see numerous them, some seasons I by no means see them. Some seasons the run lasts per week, some seasons the run lasts as much as two weeks; it’s very uncommon for them to final any longer domestically,” he famous. He added that even when he doesn’t see mullet, it doesn’t imply they’re not current; generally, early autumn surf situations could be flat-out harmful, and overly tough surf hinders visibility, which is essential to recognizing mullet. “I’ve discovered the large wild card for timing mullet runs to be climate techniques like tropical storms and hurricanes,” mentioned Zambrotta. “An ill-timed tropical system can actually screw up a very good mullet run with unfishable surf. A few of these techniques can final a whole week and wipe out the whole occasion.”
Lengthy Island
Jake Hardy, an achieved surfcaster and fly fisherman on the west finish of Lengthy Island, is a type of Instagram buddies I’ve by no means had the pleasure of fishing with, however for a number of years, we now have bounced concepts off one another. In line with Hardy, the window for a mullet run on the west finish of Lengthy Island is tight, but when it strains up, it’s normally the spotlight of his striper season.
By the tip of September, Hardy says, 4- to 5-inch mullet collect across the backsides of inlets earlier than they exit the bays. The run that follows sometimes lasts solely by way of the primary moon of October, however some years, surfcasters are fortunate sufficient to see just a few waves of 8- to 10-inch mullet in the midst of the month. “I don’t know the place these bigger mullet come from,” Hardy mentioned. “I’ve by no means seen them within the western or japanese bays, but when their presence aligns with a moon, a storm, or there are massive bass within the space, it’s a fishing emergency.”
On the opposite finish of the island, John Papciak—a surfcaster, author, and photographer based mostly in Montauk—echoed the phrases of Hardy. “We typically see particular person fish within the 3- to 5-inch vary within the early fall,” Papciak mentioned. “However the mullet run shouldn’t be like a sand-eel chunk. Mullet can depart an inlet and the perfect of it is going to be over in per week.”
Papciak, like Hardy, says his logs point out that mullet could be discovered staging behind inlets in late August. When weakfish had been round in better numbers, he focused the tiderunners feeding on mullet as they bunched up within the backwaters. “Now, we normally see mullet leaving the bay and touring down the seaside by the primary week of September,” Papciak mentioned. Nonetheless, preserve one eye on the forecast, he warned, as a result of the primary nor’easter of the season is what ignites the chunk.
Low barometric stress and dropping air temperatures cue the exodus of mullet from the bays. With regards to timing your surf outings, Papciak says there are three components of utmost significance: an abundance of mullet, a major faculty or presence of predatory gamefish, and tough water. If the celebrities align, a very good topwater chunk is almost assured.
“I’ve seen numerous days on the seaside when faculties of mullet swam by unmolested, and I’ve seen different days when only some gamefish had been following a college of mullet, and it was virtually not possible to hook up with a man-made,” Papciak mentioned. He admitted that mullet runs have been sporadic because the late 2010s, and Brandon Sausele, a younger but achieved Montauk surfcaster, strengthened that notion.
“The final excellent mullet chunk up entrance in Montauk was in early October of 2016, with fish from 30 to 40 pounds-plus being taken each morning at first mild on the north aspect,” mentioned Sausele. “It lasted for over per week by way of laborious northeast winds, and it wasn’t fully a mullet chunk, however there have been mullet blended in,” he continued.
When the situations align, mullet blitzes carry epic days of fishing for striped bass, bluefish, and extra to east finish anglers. “I’ve even encountered false albacore chasing mullet within the surf!” mentioned Papciak.
New Jersey
John Papciak famous that upon exiting Lengthy Island’s south-facing bays, mullet are all the time shifting west, which is why Jake Hardy describes the mullet run occurring barely later in September than it does for Papciak on Lengthy Island’s east finish. Because of this, faculties of striped mullet that survived the gauntlet of inlets from Montauk to Breezy Level will swim virtually instantly into the seashores of northern New Jersey.
Mike Gleason, co-owner of TAK Waterman in Lengthy Department, strengthened the significance of mullet presence as the autumn run ramps up. “Our mullet have a tendency to point out up domestically in late September or early October on the ocean aspect, they usually’re sometimes within the 4- to 6-inch vary,” Gleason mentioned. “All of it occurs proper earlier than we get an enormous push of peanut bunker, which provides our resident bass just a few stable meals to kickstart the autumn and get them feeding.”
Nick Honachefsky, author, surfcaster, and TV host, agreed that, traditionally, the mullet run has been the “kickoff” to the autumn run. Across the first full moon after Labor Day, he says, mullet start to exit the backwaters and push into the surf, which normally coincides with these first couple weeks of crisp autumn air within the mornings and evenings.
“The most important waves of them have a tendency to point out up between the second and third week of September,” mentioned Honachefsky. “When water temperatures drop into the mid to low 60s, these mullet are triggered to depart the bays.”
A lot as Zambrotta, Gleason, Hardy, and Papciak urged, Honachefsky describes the most typical measurement as 3 to five inches lengthy, with some 6- to 8-inch corncob mullet within the combine because the run progresses.
In what was a standard theme all through the Northeast, Honachefsky mentioned the Jersey mullet runs of in the present day will not be what they was. “Outdated-school mullet runs had been thick and sustained, however from 2017 to 2023, it’s been scrappy, with possibly two of these years having first rate runs,” he mentioned. “These days, the run consists of a pair weeks spent working sporadic pods of mullet in mid- to late September. Nonetheless, the waters are normally nonetheless too heat for stripers when the mullet are pushed into the surf,” Honachefsky continued, noting that if there are faculties of bluefish round, it may possibly result in some intense topwater fishing.
From Rhode Island to New Jersey, ocean-side mullet signify the beginning of the autumn run. They’re the primary forage fish Dennis Zambrotta seeks out entrance as soon as he loses sight of them within the Rhode Island salt ponds, they usually set the stage for the autumn run alongside the Jersey shore earlier than peanut bunker steal the present.
No matter their spotty nature or location on the striper coast, it’s evident that mullet runs, most often, are set in movement by early autumn storms and dropping water temperatures within the bays the place they reside. Come late August or early September, any surfcaster in his proper thoughts will preserve one eye on the 10-day forecast and one other eye on the water’s edge, trying to find these unmistakable striper snacks.
Intercepting Mullet
Figuring out when the mullet run will occur in your space is just one piece of the puzzle. The following piece includes fishing possible places the place they are often simply intercepted or ambushed by striped bass, bluefish, and weakfish.
“I search for mullet in areas the place they congregate to cross open water. In my view, on the seashores, it’s extra productive to get forward of an enormous faculty of mullet than making an attempt to stick with them, particularly on the west finish of Lengthy Island. Even when fish are blitzing alongside the seaside, it’ll solely get higher as mullet cross by extra pronounced construction.” -Jake Hardy
“I like to recommend fishing round inlets and their adjoining seashores, retaining in thoughts that on Lengthy Island, mullet are all the time shifting west.” -John Papciak
“I primarily goal laborious construction like jetties or pronounced sand construction like pipes and troughs within the surf the place mullet get trapped.” -Mike Gleason
“The very best time to search out bass on mullet faculties is from false daybreak till about an hour after dawn as a result of any bass within the space will feed throughout low-light hours after a crisp, in a single day cool-down. Search for telltale indicators, like nervous, rippling water near the undertow, as mullet have a tendency to stay very near the seaside. Bass might be working the faculties from beneath.” -Nick Honachefsky
“Mullet like to hold shallow, generally proper within the bubbleweed fields; they undoubtedly keep away from deeper water when predators are current, making them the right surfcaster forage. After they should go round laborious construction like cliffs and rocky outcroppings, they have a tendency to swim proper alongside the sides.” -Dennis Zambrotta
Regardless of the autumn run being a months-long migration, the mullet run inside it’s short-lived. For a lot of the coast, mullet are the opening act of the autumn migration however, in the end, their look reminds surf fishermen from Cape Cod to New Jersey that our striper season is finite and the tip is rising close to. So, the following time you contemplate skipping a blustery, wet September outing on the seaside when the mullet are operating, consider good ol’ Ferris Bueller. Skip faculty, name in sick to work, as a result of like Ferris mentioned, “The mullet run strikes fairly quick. Should you don’t cease and go searching on occasion, you possibly can miss it.” Or one thing like that.
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