Catching mullet?

Mullet are vegetarian. They suck algae, they don't bite like a carnivore. Too bad cast nets are illegal here. In FL you can easily catch mullet this way. The only other way besides nets is throwing a large weighted treble hook into a thick school and snag one. That's probably illegal here as well. I ate mullet in FL several times, both silver and black. While edible, they are an oily baitfish and even if you bleed, gut, ice and cut out the dark meat, they are an acquired taste.

 

You will need a lot of time and patience

 

Time, patience, casting accuracy, and size 12 hooks baited with bread or white fur/feathers/fuzz.

 

the mighty mullet…

 

Im pretty sure I snagged one on a fly rod last year. Pulled like hell

 

Not true. I caught about a 10 ln mullet on a live smelt at the Carlsbad lagoon maybe 15 years ago.

 

My mom took me fishing in Carlsbad 25 years ago, I casted out a treble hook with crushed bread on it and a bobber 2’ above it. Propped up my rod with rocks and waited until (fooling around in the rocks) I had a monster mullet fighting for its life. Memories made. Love my folks

 

Saw some fisherman on a base pier using snag method. The setup is: 4-5 size 5/0 or 6/0 treble with red ribbon leys to locate each hooks locations. Tied in line about 8-10 inches apart. Then cast out to layout at the bottom waiting for the school to pass above where the hooks are. Very efficient and very illegal

 

Hint: when the mullet are around try throwing a Jigpara blade

 

There's a lot more info online from the UK and South Africa, where they specifically target them. I have heard on occasion that SoCal mullet will chase baitfish, but I've observed them only filter feeding. They stack up in the SDR estuary, and there are pools at the edge of Mission Valley.

 

Correct, very illegal despite what some like to think. According to California the definition of "angling" is fishing "in such manner that the fish voluntarily takes the bait or lure inside its mouth." I know which pier you're talking about but looks to me like they're targeting corbina from the couple I've seen them catch.

 

Isn't snagging legal for salt water, Balboa pier in Newport rents out snag poles for people.

 

The Filipino mafia that run that pier will snag anything with fins

 

We used to snag a lot of them in the Shelter Island yacht basin. If we snagged enough of them we would take them to the oriental market and sell them.

 

Thanks so unfortunate,
Should be some enforcement.
JD

 

I was always under the impression that snagging was illegal in CA. Turns out, only in freshwater. So yep, as long as you are in the salt, you can snag the poor SOB's...