Cut Mullet

Cut mullet is the bottom-fishing bread and butter of the surf and inshore angler. Mullet are abundant along the coasts, tough-skinned enough to stay on the hook in the wash, and oily enough to leak a scent trail that draws redfish, black drum, sharks, catfish and stripers. A chunk of fresh mullet on a fish-finder rig, planted in the surf or off a pier, is one of the most reliable ways to put a big bottom fish on the sand. Simple, cheap and effective, it's a coastal classic.

What it catches

Redfish (red drum), black drum, sharks, whiting, catfish, striped bass and other bottom-feeding saltwater fish. The tough skin and oily flesh make it ideal for surf and inshore bottom fishing, and it's especially deadly on big reds and drum working the beach and the sloughs.

Getting & keeping it

Catch mullet with a cast net in the shallows and along beaches (they school in huge numbers), or buy them fresh or frozen at coastal bait shops. Keep fresh mullet on ice; they freeze well and remain effective, so many anglers keep a supply frozen. Cut pieces as needed and keep the rest cold to preserve the oil and scent.

How to rig it

Cut mullet into chunks, steaks or fillets, and hook a piece firmly through the tough skin on a stout circle hook. Fish it on a fish-finder (sliding-sinker) rig or a bottom rig with enough weight to hold in the surf, casting to sloughs, cuts and structure. The head and body chunks both work; bigger baits for bigger fish. The tough skin holds up to casting and the pounding surf.

When it shines

Surf and inshore bottom fishing along the coasts, especially during the fall mullet run when the beaches fill with bait and predators follow. It shines for redfish and black drum in the surf and on flats, and any time you're soaking cut bait on the bottom for coastal gamefish. Moving tides concentrate the action.

Field tips

Fish it on a moving tide when scent spreads and fish feed, and hook it through the tough skin so it stays on in the wash. Use fresh or well-kept frozen mullet, and rebait once a chunk soaks out. Cast to structure, cuts and sloughs where bottom fish travel, and use enough weight to hold your bait in the current and surf.

Common mistakes

Using too little weight so the bait rolls out of the strike zone in the surf, fishing washed-out pieces instead of fresh oily chunks, hooking it so it tears off on the cast, and ignoring the tide - cut bait on a slack, dead tide draws far fewer fish than on a moving one.