Fishing on Okaloosa Island: Bait Fish

While walking down the beach recently, Brian Higgins noticed a large dark school of bait fish that was abnormally close to the shore. Brian lives on the island and fishes frequently.

 Not sure of what the bait fish were, he stopped to talk to a man who had been fishing on the beach for several hours that morning.  The man stated that  someone had told him that they were probably finger sized mullet. These birds were quite interested in the bait fish.

Well, as anyone who fishes in the gulf knows, finger sized mullet are one of the best baits around for everything from sea trout to redfish and even large flounder. Brian quickly ran across the street to his house, changed clothes, and grabbed a bucket and throw net to hopefully scoop up some prized bait fish to use later.

 One throw from his 5 foot cast net landed nearly a full 6 gallon bucket full of bait. However, much to his surprise, the net was full of Gulf Menhaden and not mullet.

Brian offered up some of the live Menhaden to the beach fisherman and released the rest back into the ocean.  Menhaden are prized for their oil, but on this day, they were released since they do not freeze very well to use for bait at a later time.

What is your favorite fish to catch?