Carolina Saltwater Fishing Tips: Catching Tasty Sea Mullet in the Late Fall

A popular Carolina saltwater fish that usually puts in a strong showing before the water gets really cold is the sea mullet, also called whiting or Virginia mullet and by many other local names. Sea mullet are a great tasting panfish that do not get very big but fight hard on light tackle and are among the best fish you can fry up on cold nights.

Sea mullet have been chewing on sand fleas since mid-summer and that has been the top bait for them for those in the know. As we head into late November sand fleas will dwindle away but whiting will still continue to feast on small shrimp and other crustaceans (and sea worms) until they are gone for the winter too. When the shrimp and sea worms are gone the sea mullet will be as well. Until then, fresh cut shrimp is the best bait for them.

Whiting will hit on the piers until they close (most around here will be done next week at Thanksgiving) and in the surf until mid-December. Some big sea mullet are always caught in early December. If the water stays warm whiting will continue to hit longer, if it gets too cold they will shut off. But they will be the first panfish back on the piers in the spring.

When you can't get fresh shrimp anymore for whiting then Fishbities artificial bloodworms and frozen squid are better than frozen shrimp, as it is harder for sea mullet to strip the bait from your hook. Whiting are a grab and run fish if there ever was one. Like croaker and spot (other close cousins that are grab and run fish) a whiting has an underslung mouth that looks a little a vacuum cleaner when they are feeding off the bottom.

Sea mullet strike fast and hard, then run off with the bait on a lot of occasions. They will strip previously frozen shrimp before you can set the hook. Two things you can do to stop this use those other hard to strip baits and make sure you are using small hooks. Sea mullet hook can be short or long-shanked but they should be size #6 or #4 and no larger.

Sea mullet are absolutely delicious on the table. Most are fried cleaned whole, but they fit into other recipes as well. Due to their torpedo-like shape you can even fillet big sea mullet although most are too small for filleting.

For plenty of tips on catching and cooking sea mullet and all Carolina inshore saltwater fish check out my new book Surf and Saltwater Fishing in the Carolinas, a perfect Christmas present for a Carolina angler.

For plenty of free fishing and seafood articles check out my fishing blog A Dash of Salty