In April, thousands of people will descend on the state line for the ‘Gulf Coast’s Greatest Beach Party.’ Moms, dads, sons, and daughters will each reach into a bucket of ice water, grab a dead fish, and throw it from Florida into Alabama at the annual Mullet Toss at Flora-Bama.
The Flora-Bama website describes mullet as “one of the more popular and plentiful fish indigenous to this area. It is the only fish with a gizzard and is said to possess mystical properties.”
As effective as a dead mullet is, a live one is tough to beat. “A live mullet under a kite around the deep water rigs is nearly impossible for tuna to resist,” said Michaleski. “The charter boats that are out there everyday use a lot of live mullet to catch those big tunas.” The kite keeps the bait just under the surface, and that leads to explosive bites from tuna charging up from the depths.
Mullet come in all sizes. Although the bigger the bait, the bigger the fish theory does indeed prove true many times, there does seem to be a preferred size mullet for tuna. A mullet about the size of a candy bar, six or seven inches, is often called tuna candy because they are so tempting to tuna.
Using your cast net to load up with live bait before heading offshore is best for catching bigger mullet. Docks in canals hold larger mullet, and there always seem to be lots of mullet around the piers of Orange Beach Marina. As the weather and water warm up, they will also be found more consistently in shallow water.