# Mullet.. Big mullet!



## Capt. Richie Lott (Sep 26, 2014)

The Mullet made a decent run this year on the coast with good schools scattered from South Georgia into northern Florida at present. 

We ended up with 175 pounds of beautiful (smoking size) Mullet up to 16 inches or more yesterday afternoon. Josh is holding a DAWG GONE GOOD ONE in these pics. There were many like this one.

For us, the nicest thing is we're done with having to catch bait for the rest of the year. No more finding bait, no more casting the net. These are the best looking Mullet I have seen in a long time.


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## trippcasey (Sep 27, 2014)

Those are great smoking size mullet. Those are really good eatin', and its a shame that most people dont know nothing about that.


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## Flaustin1 (Sep 27, 2014)

Good lord what id give for some fresh fried mullet.  My grandparents lived in Fl. while I was growing up and we ate it all the time.  Love that stuff.


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## Nicodemus (Sep 27, 2014)

I`d love to have a mess of those to fry, and a cooler full to smoke.


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## tsharp (Sep 27, 2014)

I guess we know nothing about eating mullet, because  it consider trash here in Louisiana. At some of the dams 1 cast with a castnet you have a hard time raising it up it so full. Now how do you smoke them?


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## trippcasey (Sep 27, 2014)

Butterfly them, leaving the skin on. Soak them in salt water for a half hour or so then rinse them good. Smoke them skin side down on low heat, seasoned however you like them, until the meat on top is a good golden brown. I use oak or hickory, or you can do it on a covered grill with oak or hickory chips over a small charcoal fire. Some people like to season them with a little powdered crab boil. I like Tonys, some garlic and onion, and red and black pepper...which probably aint much different from crab boil. Im sure there are many ways to do it, but thats how Ive eaten them.


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## tsharp (Sep 27, 2014)

Do you take the bones out the center? Also do you scale them.


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## killswitch (Sep 27, 2014)

Oh Yeah!!


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## trippcasey (Sep 27, 2014)

You can leave the backbone in or take it out. Its good either way. I always leave the scales on and cook them scale/skin side down. Some say they cook better with the bone out. It really hasnt made a difference for me in taste, its just preference.


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## trippcasey (Sep 27, 2014)

My father in law caught a gar on the river with me one day. I was about to cut the line when he clobbered it on the noggin and pulled it in the boat. The thing was too big for the cooler, and I was curious why the heck he wanted it anyway. I asked him what in the name of God was he doing with that, and he looked at me funny and said "Garfish balls...you never ate garfish balls?" I think he got the answer by the look on my face. No. I had never heard of garfish balls and was curious where they were located on this particular fish. I dont eat much of anything labeled as a "ball" or "balls". We took it home and he cleaned that stinking fish and pulled all the meat off. He mixed it up like you would a salmon patty with different ingredients, shaped it in meatball sized bites, and tossed it in hot grease. Man, I ate my fill, and half of somebody else's. He laughed and said "You should of seen your face when I said we were going to eat this fish." A few months later we were out fishing when I got to see my expression on his face when I tossed some fat foot long mullet in the cooler. He asked me "What the heck you gonna do with those?" I showed him, and man was he surprised when he took that first bite. He is a bonnafide bayou man who made a living crawfishing until he moved here to build the dry docks. Of all of the things they eat over there, mullet was one I was surprised to not be on the menu. Its was cool to share a little thing like that with him, and it was cool to eat something new that has lived here with my my whole upbringing. Most people dont eat mullet, or gar. But man they dont know what they are missing. You eat gar tsharp?


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## tsharp (Sep 27, 2014)

Yes had garfish balls many times, but never mullet. I'm sure you father-in-law used mullet to bait his crawfish traps many times. I know crab fisherman use them. Thanks for the info on smoking mullet. What kind of wood do you use and how long you smoke them for?


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## trippcasey (Sep 28, 2014)

Oak or hickory, and it depends on the heat. When the top gets that good golden brown, pull a piece off and check it out. Thats the best way to tell if its done.


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## SapeloJoeBro (Sep 28, 2014)

T you will love them. I've used cherry and Apple also to smoke.  Don't forget to make some mullet dip too. Man they are so good.


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## Capt. Richie Lott (Sep 28, 2014)

Yea, these are DEFINITELY smoking size Mullet. We handed out a few to some folks that wanted to smoke them while fresh, but we needed the bait more than anything... But, we got enough to do both.

Agreed with all. They're excellent smoked. Fried isn't awful neither!


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## LureheadEd (Sep 28, 2014)

I smoked some "store bought" mullet last weekend over oak and pecan... Mmmmmm, good dip !!!


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## redneck_billcollector (Sep 29, 2014)

Spending a good bit of my youth in Panacea FLA led me to develope a taste for fresh fried mullet, so much so that I will choose it over grouper.  Most all the crackers I know feel the same way.  At least those from the panhandle and NWFLA and the big bend area.  So much so, it was the mullet fisherman in large part that led to the gill net ban in FLA.


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## Steve762us (Sep 30, 2014)

Capt. Richie Lott said:


> For us, the nicest thing is we're done with having to catch bait for the rest of the year. No more finding bait, no more casting the net.



Richie, how do you keep em for bait? I froze some in the past, and they just seemed to mush out when thawed.


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## SemperFiDawg (Sep 30, 2014)

You ever eat smoked mullet you won't ever fry it again


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## SemperFiDawg (Sep 30, 2014)

Freeze them in water and they won't mush


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## Nugefan (Sep 30, 2014)

good eatin' right there ....


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## Dog Hunter (Sep 30, 2014)

What you catch them on?


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## jimbo4116 (Sep 30, 2014)

Nicodemus said:


> I`d love to have a mess of those to fry, and a cooler full to smoke.



Me too, Nic.  Had some last wed. night fried.  My absolute favorite fish to eat.

Scale and filet out the back bone,  meal the backbones first.
Throw them in the grease then salt and meal the fillets while the backbones fry up.  Then eat on the backbones while the fillets fry up.  Put the fillets in the cooker skin side down when they flip let'em cook another 4 to 5 minutes or as crisp as you like them.  Throw in some slice onions, sweet pickles, cheese grits and hush puppies and it just don't get know better.


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## Dog Hunter (Sep 30, 2014)

jimbo4116 said:


> Me too, Nic.  Had some last wed. night fried.  My absolute favorite fish to eat.
> 
> Scale and filet out the back bone,  meal the backbones first.
> Throw them in the grease then salt and meal the fillets while the backbones fry up.  Then eat on the backbones while the fillets fry up.  Put the fillets in the cooker skin side down when they flip let'em cook another 4 to 5 minutes or as crisp as you like them.  Throw in some slice onions, sweet pickles, cheese grits and hush puppies and it just don't get know better.



You got my mouth to watering.  My granddaddy use to say the backbones would give you a headache.


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## GLS (Sep 30, 2014)

If you are going to smoke them, leave scales on. Run a knife along each side of the backbone from the top without piercing the fish's belly or bottom side.  Sometimes it's easier to scale along the dorsal of the fish to facilitate getting the knife inside the fish.  Leave tail on and break off backbone at the tail.  Don't debone from the bottom of fish.  Pull out back bone and open like a book, scrape out guts and black soot-like coating in gut.  Those that have cooked mullet know what I mean.  You can either cut the head off, or split the head.  I prefer to cut the head off first.   Lay scales side down on smoker rack after either brining or doing whatever you want to do before smoking.  The scales fuse together and you have a ready made plate to handle with one hand and scoop out meat with your fingers.  There is no better fish to smoke than fresh mullet.
About 30 years ago, a roadside mullet smoker sold fish on Ga. 17 on the Savannah side of Brunswick.  He smoked Florida westcoast mullet that were a foot and half long.  I've never seen bigger or had better smoked mullet than what he did.  Gil


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## Capt. Richie Lott (Sep 30, 2014)

Steve762us said:


> Richie, how do you keep em for bait? I froze some in the past, and they just seemed to mush out when thawed.



Freezing them will do exactly that... So, here is what we've done for many, many years.

We brine them heavily in large coolers and keep them on the salt/ice mix for a very long time.. It only requires a small amount of water to work. But, it does require daily maintenance and easy access to ice and salt rocks. The mullet will be in icy salt water, but frozen nearly solid. 

You should end up with a "glacier" floating in the top half of your cooler, and your mixture of salt and ice/water is about right.

Works great for keeping them for bait, but not for your "eating" fish. The eating fish should be cleaned and prepped the day of catch, in my opinion. If you have to go into the freezer, I would freeze in water where applicable.


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## Steve762us (Sep 30, 2014)

Interesting...I may give that a try, next time I have a surplus of bait-size mullet!


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## Redbow (Oct 1, 2014)

Yes smoked Mullet is very good, I love it. Also fillet the Mullet and cut the red out of the meat and fry it, just as good as any fish out there to me. Congrats on your catch.


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## crackerdave (Oct 1, 2014)

Nothing says "fall is here" to me like the smell of mullet on the smoker!


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## grouper throat (Oct 1, 2014)

Nice catch. I am waiting patiently to snatch hook my fair share as well. Smoked, fried, in dip, its all good to me!


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