Springtime is here. So are the sea mullet and bluefish! A few small blues have been caught on the island’s piers this week, signaling the water has started to warm up a bit. We also saw a few mullet caught, not in big numbers but a trickle to start the season. Surf City Ocean Pier opened yesterday and as is the tradition there they gave away a season pass to the pier to the first person to land a Virginia (sea) mullet. Daniel Lee of Wilmington was the lucky winner by catching the first Virginia mullet of the season at 6:45 a.m. It won’t be long now till the chopper blues, Spanish Mackerels and my favorite spring time catch, Atlantic Bonito show up just off our coast!
A bit about Virginia Mullet. In these parts this fish is also called Sea mullet or whiting. Funny thing is, this fish isn’t in the mullet family at all! What we commonly call a Virginia or sea mulllet is more properly known as a kingfish. Not to be confused with a a king mackerel which is also often called a kingfish. The kingfish family has three species that frequent the waters of the western Atlantic. They are the northern, southern and gulf kingfish. They are fine eating and can be caught on cut bait or shrimp. See my wiki entry for more info on this locally popular fish.
Hi Mike, Thanks for the report. I fished Surf City Pier Monday with friends. We caught some nice virginia mullets and whiting. The numbers weren’t bad either. But the wind was fierce! Steady wind at about 20 mph with gusts to 35 mph. (my estimate) Surf was really rough. We faced the wind for almost three hours before I wimped out and headed for the pier house with the fish still biting.
Tight lines!
Johnny
http://www.fishintopsail.com
Posted by FishinTopsail on 04/21/09 at 09:02 AM
Nice to hear from Ya Johhny. glad you caught some fish this past week-end. Looks like the end of this week will be great weather!
Posted by Topsail Angler on 04/21/09 at 09:09 AM
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