Flies that mimic a finger mullet in size, and a quality reel spooled with a clear, intermediate line is best for the Florida surf mullet run. (Photo by Mike Conner)
September 16, 2025
By Mike Conner
Florida’s fall mullet run is a wondrous thing. To watch. Not so much to fish, due to the sometimes copious number of finger mullet for predatory gamefish (and birds) to eat. You either love the bait run or hate it. It all depends on your past results, and whether you can catch an occasional fish amongst the throngs of baitfish that are not “tethered on a string.”
You can make some adjustments that make your fly effective, and better stand out among the livies.
One thing you can depend on is that a school of beach-hugging mullet (or smaller baits) will bring tarpon, snook, jacks, Spanish mackerel and bluefish into fly casting range. And the mullet typically hug the beach because those gamefish are likely around.
Wheeling and sitting pelicans over a string of silver mullet within fly casting range of the beach. (Photo by Mike Conner) Questions, Answers About the Mullet Run Are there sure-fire secrets to insure fly fishing success in the mullet run? I can only offer some strong suggestions, about more than just, what’s the best fly? Or, where’s the best place?
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On the beach, take the boat out of the equation by fishing afoot whenever possible. I’ve had more tarpon, snook and jacks take my fly when casting from the sand, and in the past 15 years, did that exclusively, while watching boating anglers run around, run through the mullet schools, run up to each other, it’s really silly. And it only serves to ruin the natural cadence of things. Only once the bait schools enter inland waterways, such as the Indian River Lagoon, then boat fishing makes more sense.
I learned early on that the fish feeding activity smack in the middle of a mass of mullet are a tougher sell than those patrolling the perimeter of the school. You might be lucky and get your fly right on the spot where a snook or tarpon is making a “raid” but again, too many live ones have their attention.
A fly angler (left) battles a good snook off the Jupiter Inlet jetty on a late September day when the run was underway. Later, this big female post-spawn snook (right) took a mullet pattern on a sinking line. (Photo by Mike Conner) When the mullet and feeding are in tight to the surf trough, I cast to the far side of the mullet school, if I can reach that distance. I prefer those mullet that “line up” not ball up and extend seaward too far. Long schools that are moving steadily south (and north on occasion) sometimes extend only 40 to 50 feet out, create a great opportunity.
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If I see tarpon cruising in clear water or hopefully rolling as they move along the seaward edge of the mullet, my confidence soars. I fish a clear, intermediate 9- or 10-weight fly line without exception—it makes more sense to get your streamer down a bit before stripping it back. Sometimes the mullet are exclusively right on top, and if you fish the fly through that upper layer, it’s lost in the crowd. Fish it two to even three feet deep and it will stand out.
Rabbit strip patterns and heavily dressed Lefty’s Decievers work well on mullet run gamefish. (Photo by Mike Conner) The snook, jacks, tarpon and others tend stay well under the bait mass, until it’s time to make a rush at them. Take a hint from live and natural bait anglers who fish their live or fresh-dead mullet right at the the bottom, often weighted with a small egg sinker or sizeable jighead. They get bit more often with that approach.
Do the same with your fly. A unweighted mullet pattern (and there countless good ones being cranked out by fly tyers) can be fished in this situation, but it might pay to tie one with soft lead wire on the hookshank, or medium sized lead or tungsten dumbbell eyes. A big Clouser Minnow matching the bait size is good, but I prefer the Half ‘n’ Half, which is a Deciever/Clouser Minnow offshoot, created by Bob Clouser and Lefty Kreh to mimic bigger baits such as mullet.
You would think that “matching the hatch” would mean streamers with mullet coloration, but there are times when a dark pattern, even black or purple, is the ticket. Some of my best results came when fishing an all-black or dark olive EP Bunker fly, or a dark Sea-Ducer, when the standard all- white or green over white stuff struck out completely. And over grassflats on the inside, I was rewarded a few times around mullet by fishing a Gartside Gurgler, matching the size of the finger mullet. It “gurgles” along the surface, sounding like a struggling, injured mullet. It can be just the ticket.
The author’s mullet run streamer box, a 9-weight rod, and mandatory stripping basket. (Photo by Mike Conner) Whatever pattern you settle on, a No. 1, 1/0 or 2/0 hook can be used. And will call for a 9-, 10- or 11-weight rod, with the 11 coming in handy when big tarpon are on the scene. The clear intermediate (sinking) line will also keep your line and fly under any sargassum at the surface. And this line allows for a fairly short leader, no longer than 8 feet overall. In fact, I often fished a 5-footer, all class tippet (20-pound-test a bite tippet of 30- to 60-pound-test, depending on which species was in the mix that day. Wear a stripping basket—it’s a must to keep your loose line from getting underfoot or tangled in any waves that might be present.
Though the surf is the most visual place to fly fish the bait run, another daytime option is just inside inlets where the mullet pours in and cruise over shallow grassy shoals and pile up against seawalls, and travel under bridges.
A good bridge snook caught at night on fly during the fall mullet run. (Photo by Mike Conner) Mullet Run at Night You have not lived if you never flyfished at night, and even more so during the mullet run. Even on nights when the fish are satiated by the sheer amount of food in the water, it’s a spectacle to see hordes of mullet in bridge shadow lines, under docklights and along seawalls. And the sounds of mullet getting rushed and crushed adds to it.
I’ve had more success at night than in broad daylight on flies. No surprise, that also goes for the remainder of the year when bait is far more scarce. Under docklights, if you are not seeing snook, tarpon or jacks visibly pounding the baitfish, fish your fly at the outside edges of the lights, in the dark water.
That can pay off. Along bridge shadowlines, cast and retrieve your fly upside of the lighted water, and also take time to cast in unlit water directly under the bridge, along the abutments. And be sure to fish both slow-sinking intermediate lines, as well as a faster sinking line, to get the fly well under the mullet masses.
Top Flies for the Mullet Run To mimic mullet closely, choose from the following: Enrico Puglisi Mullet, Conner’s Midnight Mullet, Woolhead Mullet, MirrOlure Fly, Sea-Ducer (red and white version).
When the bite is slow, try fishing other flies, even those that depict shrimp and crabs. And choose dark colors—black, purple, olive. On the beach during the day, and on inside waters at night, I have scored with brown and black Sea-Ducers and even the classic tarpon Toad flies in various shades.
