Fishing With Live Mullet

Fishing with live mullet will usually produce fish if you have the patience to wait for a bite.

I usually fish with artificial lures but when I have my two "pooches" with me, I revert to bait fishing.

Since Elmo and Odie went with Karen and I to the refuge, fishing with live mullet was the agenda for this afternoon's trip.

The air temperature was 90 degrees when we left the house and there was very little wind on the water when we drove into Peacocks Pocket road.

Armed with a dozen finger mullet and several spinning rods, Karen and I planned to get some sea trout or redfish for dinner.

Since we had poor luck the other day, we tried a "new" spot that I often see dedicated live mullet fishermen inhabiting.

It was a nice spot where you can back right up to the Indian River and fish from the back of the truck.

Karen took Odie with her and fished a large pond in the marsh while I stayed with Elmo and fished the river and marsh canal.

I took 8 rods with me and set every one of them out with either live mullet or chunked ladyfish.

It was late in the day and we only had a couple of hours to fish.  I unloaded a portable sport chair, took my spot and waited for something to run into my baits.

I get bored easily and even though it was a stellar day, I was getting bored waiting for a bite.

About the time I was about to snooze off, a fish took one of the 6" mullet I baited up with and started  peeled off line from the reel.  I almost killed myself trying to get to the rod and as I picked it up; the fish pulled off.

Apparently I missed one of the oversize redfish that the area is noted for.

Pissed off at myself for not paying better attention to the task at hand, I baited up with another 7" mullet, put out the bait and waited.

I expected another hit but nothing was happening until it started getting dark.

Karen gave up her spot and said she never got a hit.  I suggested she fish the Indian River side so she tossed out her mullet and within five minutes landed this nice 20" spotted sea trout.

It was gut hooked and headed for the dinner table.  I baited her up with another smaller finger mullet and pitched out her bait.

This time it took about 15 minutes before she got another smaller sea trout which we released to grow

up into a "gator".

She had two more sea trout landed before we decided to head for home.

When the skeeters got intolerable, we decided to head for home.

The rods I had set in the marsh canal never got a hit and the baits were all still very lively.  I spotted a large redfish pushing bait up on the bank but other than that saw no other fish in the area.

Whether it was the front coming in or the glassy water, the fish in the marsh today were not cooperating.

I took a couple of pics of the sunset, packed up all the gear and headed home to clean the fish for dinner.

Till next time, Tight Lines.