Final October, following a gradual night time within the Outer Cape surf, my good friend Ryan Henry referred to as me with some attention-grabbing information. What seemed to be scattered colleges of striped mullet have been transferring between inlets on the south facet of Cape Cod.
Whereas mullet aren’t exceptional in Massachusetts, anglers from Rhode Island to New Jersey encounter them extra regularly within the fall. So, to get a greater thought of what I ought to hold in my plug bag ought to the mullet run the Cape this fall, I requested surfcasters for his or her baits of selection when mullet colleges run thick.
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For Jake Hardy, on the west finish of Lengthy Island, the mullet run is the proper alternative for an enormous bass on the fly. “You actually can’t beat wading out on a bar and casting down a trough for large, aggressive fish blowing up a Bulkhead deceiver in your quickest double-handed strip,” he mentioned. There are occasions, although, when these stormy circumstances hinder his capability to correctly forged or current a fly. In such instances, Hardy depends on plugs he can “burn in”, or retrieve quickly, and that dangle increased within the water column, just like the RM Smith Surf Strider or a Yo-Zuri Magazine Dive. At night time, Hardy says, when mullet are tight to the rocks like silversides, he throws 6- to 10-inch paddletails on mild jigheads or wide-gap swimbait hooks.
In northern New Jersey, TAK Waterman Co-Founder Mike Gleason’s favourite mullet-run lure is a discontinued minnow-style plug: the Mega Bait 110. In fact, with that arsenal restricted, however Gleason says a slim-profile floor steel lip is the following plug he reaches for.
Since minnow plugs are available in such quite a lot of types, you may’t go away house and not using a few variations, and that holds true for Nick Honachefsky. “My go-to lures are Bomber plugs, Yo-Zuri Magazine Darters, and Daiwa SP Minnows as a result of they mimic the mullet profile effectively,” he mentioned. “The Island X Sidewinder, or any walk-the-dog-style spook or topwater stickbait, can be a stable profile to toss on the market,” he continued.
Generally, one of the best factor a surfcaster can do is hold issues easy and keep on with confidence lures, like John Papciak does within the Montauk. “A swimming plug like a 7-inch Cotton Cordell Pink Fin or an Atom Junior can draw very thrilling floor strikes. I slowly retrieve the lure throughout the floor to create that V-wake.”
Brandon Sausele, one other Montauk surfcaster, agreed, stating that his go-to mullet lure is a blue steel lip like an Atom Junior or a blue Tremendous Strike Zig Zag. In fact, there are occasions when a Pink Fin or Atom Junior can’t attain the motion, and a plug able to casting lengthy distances is important.
“When making an attempt to succeed in a bar, a 2- to 3-ounce pencil popper or a Tremendous Strike Little Neck Popper will do advantageous,” Papciak mentioned. And, when that first nor’easter rolls in, bringing massive waves and white water, Papciak resorts to throwing 2- or 3-ounce white bucktails for his or her capability to punch by means of the wind and resist tumbling in tough surf.
In Rhode Island, lifetime surfcaster and writer Dennis Zambrotta takes a distinct method. “In daytime with flat water circumstances, if any bass are on the mullet, they’re powerful to idiot,” he mentioned. “Poppers work sometimes, however mild jigheads with soft-plastic paddletails, like those from Gravity Sort out, are useless ringers for mullet.” Zambrotta mentioned that he makes use of tender plastics day or night time, however when it’s calm sufficient, he additionally throws C10 Redfins and small, metal-lipped swimmers to generate a V-wake.
Final October on the Cape, my surf bag contained two 1-ounce Magazine Darters, two sizes and colours of Tsunami Talkin’ Poppers, a handful of pencil poppers, two floating Tremendous Strike Little Neck Poppers, and two SP Minnows with out rear hooks. I additionally crammed my bucktail sleeves with an array of white bucktail jigs in ¼-ounce increments from ½ ounce to 2 ounces, and stuffed three 6-inch Huge Bait paddletails into the facet pouches with a few ¼-ounce jigheads and zip ties.
For 5 consecutive days, I ventured out to that very same sand flat earlier than dawn, and picked off stripers on something that produced a splashy commotion or had a kicking tail. It was a number of the most enjoyable and full of life surf fishing I’ve ever skilled. As Halloween approached, my case of bass thumb had an opportunity to heal as mullet colleges thinned out, and the air temperature dropped together with the typical measurement of the bass.
Topwaters for the Mullet Run
Tsunami Talkin’ Popper XD
Whereas mullet are inclined to run tight to the shoreline, the fish can sometimes appear out of attain, and this noisy, rear-weighted pencil popper goes the space. The inside rattle and cupped face produce a splashy commotion that’s irresistible to fired-up stripers and, with a rear siwash hook instead of a treble, the Talkin’ Popper XD is much less prone to do extra harm to stripers destined for launch.
Tremendous Strike Little Neck Popper (Floating)
A 6-inch, 2 1/4-ounce, floating Tremendous Strike Little Neck Popper casts effectively within the wind and carefully matches the dimensions of finger mullet. The cupped face throws a ton of water on a gentle pop-and-pause retrieve and, when left hanging on the floor like a mortally-wounded mullet, it attracts vicious strikes from stripers of all sizes.
RM Smith Surf Strider
The RM Smith Surf Strider is a discontinued 6-inch, 2-ounce, walk-the-dog model spook made in Jamestown, NY, however it doubles as a shallow-running darter with a side-to-side swimming sample. In the event you can’t get your fingers on one, the 24/7 Lures Mully or Yo-Zuri Magazine Dive function comparable builds with the identical attractive motion.
Yo-Zuri Magazine Dive
This through-wired floating plug swims subsurface in an S-pattern with lengthy sweeps of the rod and, when paused, floats to the floor, imitating a distressed or dying baitfish. Because of this, strikes regularly come on the pause. Its barely cylindrical profile carefully resembles that of a mullet.
Swimming Plugs
Cotton Cordell Pink Fin
Floor-swimming minnow plugs just like the Cotton Cordell Pink Fin create a V-wake that may generate violent topwater strikes from striped bass which are unwilling to hit a extra lively topwater lure. When mullet colleges are current in calm surf circumstances with a low swell, this traditional minnow plug excels.
Y0-Zuri Magazine Darter
The 5-inch, 1-ounce Yo-Zuri Magazine Darter, particularly within the mullet sample (proven), carefully resembles the dimensions, profile, and swimming motion of finger mullet within the surf. A fast pop of the rod tip will ship this shallow-diving plug lurching ahead like a fleeing mullet.
Daiwa SP Minnow
The floating Salt Professional Minnow is designed to forged lengthy distances and generate a good, attention-grabbing wobble in reasonable present. When mullet are usually not exhibiting on the floor, the SP Minnow excels, diving between 3 and 4 ft to entice stripers which are ready to ambush mullet colleges in deeper troughs.
Gentle Plastics
Gravity Sort out Paddletail
These soft-plastic swimbaits are highlighted by an XL tail that’s designed to catch extra water, amplifying its kicking motion so it stands out amongst dense colleges of mullet. They arrive in quite a lot of sizes and an array of pure and vibrant coloration patterns for fishing crystal-clear ocean water or churned-up, opaque inlet water. Rig them on a jighead, or a large hole swimbait hook for a “weedless and weightless” presentation.
Z-Man Mulletron LT Swimbait
The Mulletron line-through swimbait is a real match-the-hatch lure for the mullet run. It’s made with Z-Man’s 10x Robust ElaZtech to resist repeated abuse from stripers (and the occasional bluefish), and includes a wedge-shaped tail that produces a lifelike kicking motion. Its sensible profile is additional enhanced by photo-printed baitfish patterns.
Z-Man HerculeZ Swimmer
Z-Man’s HerculeZ Swimmer is a pre-rigged swimshad-style lure made with the identical 10x Robust ElaZtech and a heavy obligation 5/0 or 7/0 Mustad UltraPoint hook for swift penetration. The boot-shaped tail generates a pronounced kicking motion on a gentle retrieve, whereas 3D eyes and the detailed fins improve its sensible profile. An extra hook hanger supplies the choice so as to add a stomach treble hook or willow-style blade for additional flash and vibration in stained water.
Different Mullet Run Favorites
Atom Junior
The Atom Junior is a smaller model of Bob Pond’s Atom 40—the primary saltwater-grade metal-lipped swimmer—and though discontinued, they proceed to place massive bass on the seaside, particularly in the course of the mullet run. They’re powerful to come up with, however it’s value checking your native vintage store or a close-by storage sale.
Tremendous Strike Zig Zag
Not like the fast-paced and frothy motion of a pencil popper, it’s the lengthy, gradual, side-to-side swimming sample of Tremendous Strike’s darter that makes it a staple within the luggage of Montauk and Jersey surfcasters particularly. When mullet run the sand seashores, a Tremendous Strike Zig Zag digs into the sturdy ocean present, and its extensive profile resembles a barely bigger corncob mullet which, in flip, entices larger bass.
Associated Content material
The Northeast’s Mullet Run
