No, not the haircut.
But the fish.
There’s an exciting natural event for fishermen around Florida in September and October. Known as the “Fall Run” or the “Mullet Run”, this is when millions (or maybe billions) of mullet that have been hanging out and growing in estuaries, the inter-coastal waterway, brackish areas, river mouths and canals all up and down the east coast decide it is time to head out to sea and start their southerly migration. Triggered by the cooling temperatures and possibly shortened daylight hours, huge pods of mullet start to show up along our coastlines as they head south to spawn off the south of Florida in the gulf stream.
And the predator fish go nuts!
Wise fishermen know that locating a pod of these can surely promise a good rodeo on the end of your line if you drop anything in the water near a pod that even vaguely resembles a mullet.
Predatory fish such as sharks, flounder, tarpon, snook, redfish, kingfish, mackerel, jacks, ladyfish and bluefish can be found and caught just a few yard from the beach when they are crushing a pod of mullet.
But what about the mullet themselves?
While most anglers are climbing over each other to hook into the big fish, I am the guy who actually wants just the mullet.
Because they are damn tasty!
Most native Florida “crackers” will know about frying up or smoking mullet to eat.
If the predatory fish like them so much, there must be something about them taste-wise or nutritionally that is good, wouldn’t you think?
In terms of taste, they are quite delicious.
Nutritionally, they have almost zero mercury and are extremely high in omega 3 fatty acids that are so good for your health.
And there’s craploads of them to be had in the fall! Cast-netting from the beach, if there happens to be a pod right there, can fill your net so full with a year’s supply for your whole block it nearly needs a truck to haul it ashore.
Today I happened to arrive at Dania Beach pier as a good size pod of foot long mullet was just approaching from the north. No cast netting allowed at the pier so I tossed my sabiki right in the middle and immediately hooked one up. Half an hour later the pod had gone under the pier and headed south out of casting range, but I had a dozen mullet in my cooler.
Other fishermen were getting some mullet to use as bait and tossing right back in hoping to hook a snook or tarpon. But all I wanted were mullet. The mullet were gone so I was done. I headed home.
I decided to fillet all of them and skin them.
I ended up with about a pound and a half of fillets.
I loaded two thirds of it in my smoker and put the remainder in the fridge.
So how was it? Delicious. I am partial to the smoked stuff but the one jar I packed fresh came out superior to any can of tuna you ever had.
I am big on canning for the reason that it keeps in the cupboard and doesn’t overfill my freezer and also that it completely eliminates bones because the high heat of pressure cooking makes them disintegrate.
I’ve got little kids in my family and I am very conscious of mercury in fish. Unfortunately most everything traditional in these warm south Florida waters is very high in mercury.
King mackerel and swordfish are high on the list along with all tuna, jacks and even blue runners. Even grouper and snapper are way too high for my comfort.
But mullet are at the bottom of the list in terms of mercury content. Other fish that share that low place are flying fish, all the small baitfish like threadfin herring, Spanish sardines and round scad. Whiting are pretty low too. And mahi are amazingly low (thank goodness for that).
If I lived in Alaska, I and my family could eat all the salmon, halibut and cod we wanted with never a worry because up there mercury in seafood is nearly nonexistent. But unfortunately down here, even though we are the envy of the world because of our diverse number of terrific trophy gamefish, we are cursed by the mercury demon.
So I feel good that I am feeding my family tasty stuff that I caught myself and that it is completely healthy to boot.
So next time you are at the barber, try a mullet.
Help Me Fish! 