Many Florida fishermen don’t think much of the mullet. For example, I know that once a year many Floridians stand at the state line and toss dead mullet into Alabama in the annual Mullet Toss hosted by Flora-Bama Beach Bar in Pensacola. But have you ever heard a fisherman say, “I’m going to go out and catch some mullet today?” And yet, mullet have been an important source of food in many countries since Roman times.
There are many different kinds of the fish, maybe as many as 78 different species. They can put on quite a show when schools of them can be seen jumping out of the water either to escape predators down below or maybe to ingest oxygen-rich air.
Smaller species of the fish, so called “finger mullets,” have been a favorite kind of bait. In some parts of the world, people eat mullet, but many in this country consider them too “muddy tasting” or “bottom feeders,” meaning that the fish will eat lots of junk found at the bottom of the waterway. However, even picky eaters may like them as a dip or smoked, a delicacy one can find near Florida’s Indian River Lagoon, including at temporary stands along the road, and also in other fishing towns.
Among the fish that like to take mullet baits are bluefish, jacks, mackerels and striped bass. In fact, many if not most predatory fish like such baits. And of course, you may have seen brown pelicans diving into schools of mullet right below the surface for a quick bite. Commercial fishermen go after mullet, not only for some restaurants but especially for ordinary fishermen wanting a break from frozen shrimp or artificial lures for their bait. Many of those fishing from our piers or even on boats have come to prefer mullet bait. I think my father used to use mullet when he fished off the beach on New Jersey’s Long Beach Island.
I’m still not sure why we use “mullet” to describe a guy’s hairstyle that is short at the front and sides, but long at the back. It may go back to the Beastie Boys, a hip-hop group that used “mullet” and “mullet head” in their 1994 song “Mullet Head.” It also may go back to a Florida novel/movie, “Cool Hand Luke,” in which one of the characters used “mullet head” for someone of diminished smarts.
I know that “Mullet Wrapper” is the name of a newspaper in our Panhandle and in the Everglades. The latter newspaper shows an image of the paper wrapped around a mullet, recalling the disparaging idea that some newspapers are only good for wrapping up fish. But let’s give due as a nice-tasting delicacy and a very effective bait.
Kevin McCarthy, the award-winning author of “South Florida Waterways” (2013 – available at amazon.com for $7), can be reached at ceyhankevin@gmail.com.