Greenwater Charters
Fly and light tackle fishing inshore and near shore on the Treasure Coast September 2008
The Fall mullet run is in full swing here in the southern region of the Indian River Lagoon. The bait fish are abundant and the predators are reacting accordingly, feeding at will on the easy prey. It started a few weeks ago when I spotted some small schools milling about aimlessly in the Herman’s Bay area of the IRL adjacent to Jensen Beach. Now they are just about everywhere. The seas kicked up last week from storms in the Atlantic so we have not been fishing the beaches but sea walls, docks and shallow water areas are loaded with bait and snook, jacks and tarpon as well as a host of others are keyed in and blasting the bait on both the incoming and outgoing tides.
This is top water time and walking baits are typically most effective although poppers work at times as well. I have been experimenting more and more with the DOA BFL Big Fish Lure and as anticipated the fish love it. The smaller, junior size BFL gets the most blow ups as it is closer in size and profile to the finger mullet that are moving through water now. Other lures work and are sometimes a better option because there are so many little mullet, showing the fish something different can get their attention. DOA Baitbusters, jerk baits in a variety of sizes and colors and DOA shrimp all entice bites when the fish are actively feeding and at times even when they are not. Fishing live bait during the mullet run is about as fun as live bait fishing can get. Threading a 1/0 or 2/0 hook through the nose of one of these candy bar sized baits and allowing the bait to swim freely in a fishy area is a presentation that rarely goes ignored. Once the bait is tired and tracks out of the current or along a wall is when the blow up often occurs. The cool thing about this live bait fishing is that finger mullet fight to swim on the water’s surface so when the fish feeds and blasts your bait you see it and hear it. It is like top water fishing with live bait, very cool! Fly fishing the dock lights at night is still hot during the mullet run however we are throwing larger flies to match the size of the forage in the area. While many different patterns will work, we have great success with the Doobee Pilchard pattern tied in a larger size. A 1/0 to 3/0 Gamakatsu SC-15 hook wrapped with synthetic fibers from Just Add H20 products extending 3-5” from the hook eye is our go to confidence pattern. When fly fishing the lights this time of year we are typically trying to match the hatch.
We never know of course how long the run is going to last from one year to the next but if you are up for some rod bending, drag screaming action that you can see the fish eat your bait, lure or fly -and who isn’t?!- then now is a great time of year to give it a go and do some fishing.
Be safe, have fun, fish hard!
Capt. Duber Winters
Green Water Charters
772-631-1023
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