MIAMI -- One of the angling downsides of the unseasonably warm weather this fall is the fizzling of the annual mullet run along southeast Florida's beaches.
According to Fort Lauderdale captain Jeff Maggio, the season of what he calls "happy bait" is now over.
"What we call 'happy bait' usually starts the last week in August," Maggio said. "By mid-September, the bait starts getting bigger. Between the second week of September and the second week of October, it usually peaks."
Typically, Maggio says happy-bait season kicks off with silver and finger mullet being trailed by tarpon in the 15-20-pound class. By mid-October, the coastline is literally black with huge schools of black mullet, with large tarpon in tow.
But the warm weather threw off the entire migration this year, Maggio said.
"This year, we got all small bait. We didn't see anything but pilchards and sardines till the middle of October," he said.
During the peak of the abbreviated mullet run about 2 1/2 weeks ago, Maggio and his customers battled one big tarpon after another in four consecutive nights, releasing an average of two per night out of 10-15 bites. The large "silver kings" played havoc on the party's heavy tackle, breaking 80-pound leaders tied to 6/0 circle hooks on 20-pound gear.
When the weather warmed up again after the mid-October cold front, the mullet run petered out. Still, Maggio was able find customers a few big tarpon along the beach north of Port Everglades Inlet and inside the Intracoastal Waterway and New River at night.
But Maggio, who has posted scores of lively fishing videos on YouTube, is disappointed that the mullet never really got too happy this season. He was hoping to produce a feature film about the bait migration along the lines of the surfing classic, "Endless Summer." But Happy Bait: The Movie will have to wait until next fall.
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