Carolina Slider Rig
coastal species all along the North Carolina and mid-atlantic coasts,” says Wayne Justice, a naturalist at the North Carolina Aquarium and an avid angler. “The big push in the fall occurs when the winds begin to switch to the northeast and bring cooler temperatures, which push the mullet out of our estuaries and into the ocean.”
Down in the Carolinas, the menu has changed to redfish, flounder and speckled trout where shorebound anglers and small boaters hug the coastline to pound the schools. The sheer numbers of mullet also draw speedsters such as Spanish mackerel and false albacore into the surf zone to take advantage of the abundant forage.
“Along North Carolina’s southern-facing beaches around Cape Lookout and Shackleford banks, northeast winds lay the ocean down and offer reverse surf fishing for small boats,” Justice says. “Boaters set up outside the breakers and cast to the backs of the waves where mullet schools stack up. We often stick close to the jetties and piers, which seem to disorient the mullet and provide predators ambush opportunities.”
Justice employs a slider rig with a ½- to 1-ounce egg sinker on the running line, against a 75-pound barrel swivel, tied to 30 inches of 20- to 30- pound fluoro leader. Hook size depends on the target species: a3/0 Kahle for flounder, and a 5/0 circle hook for red drum and bluefist. Speckled trout can be more discerning, thus scaling down to 15-pound fluorocarbon leader is recommended. When drift conditions are adverse, tip a light 1/4- to 1/2- ounce jig head with a live mullet and cast around the jetty pilings or off the jetty rocks. Artificial lures to mimic mullet should have a dark
back and lighter belly. “I’ll throw a chrome Rapala Skitterwalk when the fish are feeding up top but switch to a black-and-silver Mirrolure Catch 2000 when they are not on the surface,” Justice says. Soft plastics such as the 4-inch D.O.A CAL Jerk Shad or a Fathom Squirrely Tail Grub hit the mark to tempt reds, blues and specks. “Slow it down and hop it along the bottom,” he adds. If Spanish and false albacore are around, switch up to a 1-ounce gold Kastmaster spoon and rip it through the water.
Next time you feel the chill on your neck of impending fall kicking in, when oak and maple tree leaves start shifting their colors into reds, oranges and yellows, look for the shimmering, silvery V-waking schools of mullet to spill out of the bays and enter the Northeast and mid-atlantic surf waters. It’s official: The fall run has begun.