Sea mullet are one of those underrated bread-and-butter fish plenty of Aussie anglers grew up catching. They fight better than people expect, travel in big schools, and are great fun on light gear from beaches, estuaries and river mouths.
In Australia, sea mullet are common along the southern half of the country, from coastal beaches and surf gutters to estuaries, harbours and lower rivers. They like clean, moving water and often cruise shallow flats, channel edges and around sandbanks where food gets stirred up.
They mostly graze on algae, weed, fine organic matter and tiny critters mixed through the bottom. Rather than smashing bait like a predator, they peck and sift, so bites can be soft and fiddly. Schools often feed best when current is pushing food along edges and shallow banks.
Tide matters a lot, with mullet usually more active on making and falling tides when water movement stirs up food and pulls schools onto flats, drains and channel edges. Low light around early morning and late afternoon can help, but they’ll still feed through the day if the water is clean and there’s enough run. Light to moderate wind is usually best because a bit of ripple makes them less spooky, while strong wind can dirty the water too much or make fine presentation hard. Smaller swell is easier to fish and often keeps schools comfortable near beach gutters and entrances, while heavy swell can scatter fish or make them harder to target cleanly.
Keep it simple and light: a small estuary rod, light line, tiny long-shank hooks and just enough sinker to hold bottom. Berley helps a lot with breadcrumbs, bran or mashed bread, and baits like dough, bread, prawn pieces or green weed can all work. Long, fine leaders and a quiet approach matter because mullet can be very wary in shallow water.
Sea mullet often jump clear of the water in schools, and nobody really agrees on exactly why they do it.