By: Paul MacInnis
T he first trickle of mullet arrive on Brevard County beaches around mid-September. By October the fall mullet run should be going full strength and the surf fishing will be incredible. The mullet pods come through in waves, but on good days schools of adult and fingerling mullet darken the surf as far as the eye can see. Every predator that eats mullet from bluefish, jacks, redfish and mackerel to tarpon and sharks, moves into the surf to feast on this moving baitfish buffet.
One could write a book on the many ways to catch fish during the fall mullet migration. Certainly live and dead mullet are deadly, but just about any lure that looks and moves like a mullet will get bit. For this article I’ll focus on what I think is the most exciting, and definitely my favorite way to fish the beach during the mullet run. Throwing big topwater plugs in the surf will catch you plenty of fish, has the added excitement of the surface strike, and often results in massive blow-ups from tarpon and sharks.
In the last few years, blacktip and spinner sharks have become more common in the Space Coast surf to the point that they’ve become reliable surf casting targets just about any day during the mullet run. Some people look down on sharks, but I think three to six foot long blacktips and spinners are a blast to catch off the beach. Choose your lures and tackle appropriately and you can enjoy the plentiful blues, jacks and mackerel and still have adequate gear when sharks or the occasional tarpon grab your plug.
The first requirement is that topwater plugs for the surf need to be through wired. Sharks and tarpon will destroy lesser plugs. Last year I had excellent results with the Rapala X-Rap Walk XRW13. Such lures work straight out of the package but there are a few modifications that make them more productive. First I like to remove the rear treble hook and replace it with one slightly larger and stronger such as a 2/0 Daiichi D98Q. I replace the front treble with a large single hook like a 4/0 Daiichi Super Deep J D91Z. The treble hook in the rear of the plug does a good job of hooking smaller prey like bluefish and jacks while the larger single hook in the front has enough gap and bite to hold a shark or tarpon.
Another modification I like make to my surf lures is to add weight. Stock topwater plugs like the X-Rap Walk work fine in smaller surf but don’t track well in rough water and tend to surf to shore on incoming waves. The solution is to add weight to the lure, which also provides a bonus of extra casting distance. Some folks like to drill a hole in the lure and add split shot or bb’s to the body cavity and then close the hole with epoxy.
I take a more casual, less elegant approach. I do nothing more than drill a 1/4 inch diameter hole on top of the lure near the forward end. The first few casts fill the lure’s body cavity with water thereby adding weight. Where you drill the hole dictates how much water the lure holds and how much weight is added. All surf rods have a sweet spot, an optimum casting weight that fully loads the rod for the longest casts. I find drilling a hole about 1 1⁄2 inch from the nose of a X-Rap Walk provides just the right weight for my Daiwa Saltiga Surf SA-S 802MFS surf rod.
Speaking of surf rods, working heavy plugs on long rods can be taxing on the upper body. Finding the right rod is a compromise and ultimately comes down to personal choice. Longer rods cast further but shorter rods are less tiring and make better fish fighting tools. Most serious surf casters favor rods in the eight to ten foot lengths for throwing lures.
Reels should be rugged saltwater grade reels with smooth drags and hold at least 300 yards of 30 pound test braided Spectra or Micro-Dyneema line. Lately I’ve become a big fan of the higher speed spinning reels like the Daiwa Saltist that sports a 6.2:1 retrieve ratio. I find my cranking arm tires out much less with the higher retrieve reels.
I tie a Bimini Twist to double the end of my main line. I add four to five feet of 50 to 60 pound test monofilament shock leader to the doubled line using a double Uni-Knot. I don’t want my leaders any longer because I like to have the leader knot outside the rod tip during a cast.
Because I like to target sharks, I add 12 to 18 inches of number 8 (86 pound test) single strand stainless steel leader wire. I attach the monofilament leader to the wire using an Albright knot. Attach a heavy split ring to the other end of the wire using a Haywire Twist. Because I am bad at wrapping wire, I use a Du-Bro E/Z Twist to make the Haywire Twist. I attach the split ring to the line tie on the lure and carry split ring pliers with me so I can easily change lures. Some people shy away from single strand wire because it can kink, but the handy wire straightening tool from Du-Bro solves that problem for me.
Keep in mind all the details provided in this article are just suggestions. Different surf fishermen will have varying opinions about what kinds of rigging works best for lures in the surf. The fun part is experimenting and finding the right combination of hooks, leaders, knots and more that give you success and confidence. For current fishing reports and information on all aspects of Florida surf fishing check out surfishingflorida.com. For instructions on how to tie the knots mentioned in this article go to netknots.com/fishing_knots/.
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