Sea mullet hitting right now off of Carolina ocean piers

[jeffreyweeks]

Sea mullet are hitting right now off of the North Carolina ocean piers. There are reports of stron sea mullet catches from the south at Sunset Beach Pier all the way up into the Morehead City region at Bogue Inlet Pier.

Sea mullet are also called whiting or Virginia mullet. To the north they are known as kingfish.

Check out these two lovely ladies with sea mullet just caught off the Bogue Inlet Pier:



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Sea mullet hit hard in a sort of grab and run way, pulling at your bait with their under slung vacuum cleaner-like mouths. They are fished for with standard high-low bottom rigs, usually with two hooks and a sinker of at least two ounces. The pieces of bait need to be small due to their tiny mouths. Big gobs of bait will result in missed fish.

Sea mullet naturally eat sand fleas and other shellfish, so these are obviously the top baits for them. Freshly dug sand fleas (called mole crabs in some places) are very effective. Cut shrimp is fine, the fresher the better as previously frozen "bait" shrimp sold at the pier or tackle shop. Clams will work and they also hit squid reliably. They can also occasionally be caught on cut bloodworms, earthworms, or cut bait from any fresh fish.

Another good option for sea mullet are the Fishbites and Gulp synthetic baits in the shellfish or bloodworm flavors. You don't want to use hooks that are too large, so size 4 or 6 is about right. The amount of weight depends upon where you are fishing—surf fishermen may need a bit heavier of a sinker than pier fishermen, but you shouldn't need to cast a mile since whiting are often right in the whitewater of the surf.

Large sea mullet can be taken on small lures. Small jigs fished together on tandem rigs can be effective when bounced on the bottom, as can small silver spoons. Lures can be tipped with pieces of fresh bait or a bit of the synthetic variety to further entice whiting to the hook.

On the table these fish are excellent to eat. They are most often breaded and fried, for very good reason since their size and taste are just right for this. You can bake larger whiting with fresh vegetables for a scrumptious seafood treat.

So get out to a Carolina pier while they are running and load up on the wonderful tasting sea mullet!

[paul708]

nice pics.
sounds like alot of fun for the kids