Here's an oldy but a goody from early September 2013. Those were the years when we had a solid mullet run. It lasted for days, or a week or so, and you could pretty much see or catch bass every morning while it lasted.
It's mullet that was on the menu and may be this week or next. Mullet spend the summer in the back bay nurseries maturing before making the trek out into the big ocean heading south, or at least in a south direction. They swim in the upper third of the water column and leave a v-wake when they are
just below the surface. If they bass are there they can't resist and they can be seen patrolling the troughs and groins where the mullet follow the structure going south. You can see swirls or blow ups when they are on the bait.
Richie has seen decent sized pods as he hits it just about everyday. Yesterday morning I saw two mullet in rough waters. It's great when the water is calm and you can see them coming down from the next beach up above. On Facebook Captain Chris Buchta was scouting yesterday and reports the
waters in the Manasquan Inlet teaming with mullet. All you need are the bass to sniff them out to have a good time. Hopefully this Hurricane Lee blow doesn't mess it up and we have them on the beach after it passes this weekend.
For fly rodders the bait of choice is Lou Tabory's Snake Fly. It's a combo of ostrich plume, marabou, and tightly stacked deer belly hair. They like them up in the water column and retrieved on the backside of the waves as they approach the beach. It's a visual thing so most times you be witness to the chase and the take.
When fishing bigger water some dumbbell eyes can help with the cast and cutting into the waves. They can be tied in all your favorite colors, my favorite is black, but also chartreuse, white, yellow, olive and blue. Get out there and find the mullet and hopefully you'll find some bass. Just be careful in the sporty weather either fishing from the beach or the rocks.