Mullet — Sebastian, Florida

The fall mullet run is the yearly migration of huge mullet schools down the Atlantic beaches and through Sebastian Inlet, from September well into November, with predators feeding on them.

The Sebastian Inlet District describes the run in the fifth part of its series on the inlet fish. Every year, the district writes, millions of mullet set out on the migration known as the mullet run, and Sebastian Inlet anglers hope to hook the tarpon, snook, redfish, jacks and sharks that feed on them. Biologist Dr. Grant Gilmore, the series' chief source, calls the mullet the buffalo of the lagoon and says they come down through the inlet.

In Gilmore's grouping, the mullets, striped, red eye, liza and fantail, belong to the small migrators that rarely enter the fishery themselves but support it by feeding the top predators. The fourth part of the same series lists striped mullet among the fish that move between Sebastian Inlet and the Indian River Lagoon and spawn in both the Atlantic and the lagoon's shallow estuarine waters.

Mullet move through Sebastian Inlet because adult striped mullet migrate offshore in large schools to spawn, while their young return inshore to the Indian River Lagoon.

The FWC striped mullet profile states that adults migrate offshore in large schools to spawn, and that juveniles migrate inshore at about 1 inch long, moving far up tidal creeks. The agency lists the species as common to 3 pounds, a frequent leaper that feeds on algae, decaying matter and other tiny marine life. That diet keeps mullet low on the food chain and abundant in the lagoon behind Sebastian.

The white mullet, or silver mullet, is the other common species. FWC's white mullet profile says it is found in a wide range of salinities, including fresh and brackish water, often forms large schools and spawns offshore in spring. FWC adds that white and striped mullet are important forage for a variety of finfish, birds and marine mammals, which is why the run sets off feeding across the whole Sebastian Inlet food chain at once.

Wind and surf move the schools along the Brevard and Indian River County beaches. In its report for the week of September 7, 2026, the district said the mullet had thinned out but would be back when NNE breezes began moving them down the coast. Two weeks later the forecast came true: after a couple of days of NNE winds and surf up to five or six feet, the district's report titled The mullet are coming described finger mullet pushed down and onto the beaches, with hand-size and bigger mullet behind them.

District reports show the 2025 run starting in early September at Sebastian Inlet and lasting into late October, and the 2026 run peaking in the week of September 21.

The 2025 season began with a forecast. On August 25, 2025, after hurricane Erin produced 8 to 9 foot waves, the district's guide wrote that September is when the mullet arrive, sparking the fall bite, and noted jack crevalle already following mullet schools into the inlet. By the week of September 8, 2025, he believed the run had officially started, with thousands of mullet around the inlet and the beaches and schools passing nonstop on both sides all weekend.

Bait does not guarantee a bite. For the week of September 22, 2025, the district reported that the finger mullet are still around with no predators after them, because the water was 84 degrees when it should have been in the upper to mid 70s. On October 7, 2025, storm seas of six to eight feet left plenty of finger mullet at Sebastian Inlet with nothing chasing them. When the water finally cooled to 75 to 78 degrees, the week of October 20, 2025, found the inlet chock full of finger mullet and the predator fish tearing them up. By October 27, 2025, the mullet were pretty thin but still around.

The 2026 run at Sebastian Inlet peaked fast. During the blow in the week of September 21, 2026, the guide saw finger mullet as far as the eye could see in the entire inlet, with water at 83 degrees, and the catch mixed Spanish mackerel, ladyfish, bluefish, snook and tarpon. A week later, strong winds and rough seas turned the water murky and most of the mullet moved out, with the district expecting them back once conditions settled.

During the run, Sebastian Inlet anglers cast net mullet for live bait and fish them for snook, redfish, tarpon and jacks around the jetties and the surf pocket.

Size matters in the reports. In the week of September 21, 2026, the district noted that most snook taken in the north jetty surf pocket on live mullet were too big to keep because anglers were using large mullet, and that the hand-sized ones suited the smaller slot fish. The September 8, 2025, report listed big mullet, small fingerling mullet and the hand-sized mullet that snook prefer all passing at once.

The same 2025 report carried a jetty rule. With greenies, pilchards and mullet thick around Sebastian Inlet, the guide asked cast netters to keep only what they need and return the rest to the water quickly, calling it both a rule for fishing on the jetty and an FWC regulation. It also asked anglers to keep carts, coolers and chairs out of the safety walkway between the railings and the yellow guidelines during the crowded snook opener.

A cast net is the one piece of gear the Sebastian Inlet mullet run asks of most bait catchers, and nets along with the hooks and leaders used for live mullet are among the fishing supplies on Digital Towns Market. Digital Towns Market is our marketplace.

The run passes closest to shore along the beaches north and south of Sebastian Inlet, at both jetties, and under the Sebastian Inlet Bridge, where catwalks sit just above the moving bait.

The bridge is part of the run's stage. The Sebastian Inlet District history of the James H. Pruitt Memorial Bridge, commonly known as the Sebastian Inlet Bridge, says it was completed in 1964, dedicated on February 27, 1965, and built with catwalks below the deck, while jetties extend along the inlet to the Atlantic. The span is 1,548 feet long, and its dedication linked Brevard and Indian River counties across the manmade waterway for the first time.

Storms can close the viewing spots. During the October 7, 2025, report, waves washed over the south jetty and broke over the north jetty deck and along the shoreline between the jetty and the bridge, leaving the inlet east of the bridge mostly unfishable even with finger mullet everywhere. Florida State Parks notes that boaters at Sebastian Inlet State Park reach the Indian River Lagoon, the Intracoastal Waterway and the Sebastian River, the waters the juvenile mullet use behind the barrier island.

South of the inlet, the Indian River County beach parks on Orchid Island are public access points to the same schools. The county lists fishing among normal beach activities at Treasure Shores Park, an unguarded beach on Highway A1A, and allows fishing at Wabasso Beach Park outside of guarded areas, where lifeguards are on duty from 9:10am to 4:50pm.

FWC allows 50 mullet per person per day near Sebastian, with no minimum size, and cuts the vessel limit to 50 fish during the fall run season of September through January.

The FWC mullet rules apply to striped, silver or white, fantail and redeye mullet. The season is open year-round, and legal gear is hook and line, spears, gigs, seines and cast nets; spearfishing mullet in fresh water is prohibited. The vessel limit of 50 fish from September 1 to January 31 rises to 100 fish from February 1 to August 31, so the tighter number covers the months when the run passes Sebastian Inlet and the Indian River Lagoon. Last verified: October 10, 2026, on the FWC mullet regulations page.