Saltwater Brewery - What's Brewing

If you have walked a Palm Beach County beach at sunrise lately and seen the water go nervous just past the shorebreak, with pelicans folding up and dropping into it, you have seen the start of the fall mullet run. It is one of the biggest wildlife events on this coast, and you can watch it from the sand for free.

Anglers along Florida's Atlantic beaches wait all year for it. Schools of mullet push along the beach from late summer into fall, and snook, tarpon, jacks and sharks follow them. Timing moves around from year to year, so the only way to know what's happening this week is to go and look. Here is what the run is, what the rules say, and what you can do this month to make the most of it without making the coast worse for it.

What the mullet are doing

Striped mullet are the fish you see leaping clear of the water in the inlets and the surf. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's striped mullet profile puts it simply: adults migrate offshore in large schools to spawn, and juveniles migrate back inshore at about an inch long, moving far up tidal creeks. The fish are common to about three pounds and feed on algae, decaying matter and tiny marine life.

The Florida Museum of Natural History's species profile adds more detail. In autumn and winter, adult mullet move far offshore in large groups to spawn. In the Gulf, mullet have been seen spawning 40 to 50 miles offshore in water more than 3,280 feet deep. That's a long trip for a fish most of us only ever see in a few feet of water. The museum also notes that biologists still aren't sure why mullet leap so much. Getting away from predators is one explanation. Getting a gulp of better-oxygenated water is another.

The predators are the reason the run is worth watching. The museum lists fishes, birds and marine mammals as the mullet's main predators, and names pelicans and dolphins specifically. When a school slides down the beach, everything that eats mullet shows up, above the water and below it.

What changes on the beach this fall

Four dates frame the fall on our stretch of coast:

• The mullet run builds through September and October. Watch the water, not the calendar.
• Snook harvest is open. On FWC's snook regulations, the Atlantic regions are closed Dec. 15 through Jan. 31 and June 1 through Aug. 31, so the fall season runs Sept. 1 through Dec. 14. The slot is 28 to 32 inches total length, one fish per person per day, hook and line only. You need a recreational saltwater fishing license and a snook permit to keep one.
• Mullet limits tighten on boats. FWC's mullet regulations allow 50 fish per person per day year-round. The daily vessel limit is 50 fish from Sept. 1 through Jan. 31, up from 100 the rest of the year. Legal gear includes cast nets, seines, hook and line, spears and gigs.
• Sea turtle nesting season ends Oct. 31. In Palm Beach County the season runs March 1 through October 31, so the last nests of the year are still in the sand.

Five things to do before October ends

1. Go and look at first light. You don't need a rod. Walk the beach early and watch just past the breakers. Look for a dark patch moving along the shore, water that dimples as if it's raining on one spot, fish skipping, and pelicans and terns working the same place. That's a school passing close in. Bring the kids. It's the kind of thing they remember.

2. If you throw a cast net, count. Mullet are the classic fall bait, and a cast net is legal gear. Keep what you'll actually use, stay within 50 per person, and remember the 50-fish vessel limit if you're netting from a boat. FWC changes rules from time to time, so check its mullet page the week you go.

3. Know the snook slot before you set the hook. Fall snook follow the bait onto the beaches and into the inlets. Anything outside the 28-to-32-inch slot goes back. Measure total length on a flat surface, keep the fish in the water as much as you can, and if you plan to keep one, get your license and snook permit sorted before the weekend.

4. Take your old line home, or put it in a tube. A busy run leaves a lot of monofilament on the rocks and the pier. FWC's Monofilament Recovery and Recycling Program says discarded line causes devastating problems for marine life, and reports more than 1,600 recycling bins at boat ramps, piers, marinas and tackle shops in over 40 Florida counties. Re-spooling for the run? Take the old line with you to the ramp.

5. Keep the lights off for the last nests. Nests laid late in the season are still hatching into the fall, and hatchlings head for the brightest horizon. If you live or stay near the beach, turn off or shield lights visible from the sand through Oct. 31. FWC's sea turtles and lights page explains why. If you find a sick, injured or dead sea turtle, FWC's sea turtle program asks you to call Wildlife Alert at 888-404-FWCC (3922). We covered the peak of the season in Hatchling Season Is On in Delray Beach.

Keeping plastic out of the run

The fall run is a good reminder of how crowded the nearshore water really is. Everything that feeds on mullet, from pelicans to snook, is feeding right where our litter ends up. That's why we care about what goes into the water. We are the team behind the edible six-pack ring, and we told that story honestly in Sustainability at the Brewery, the Honest Version. The simplest version is the same for everyone on the beach this fall: whatever you carry down, carry it back up.

After the sunrise

A dawn watch on the beach leaves the rest of the day open. The taproom is at 1701 W. Atlantic Ave in Delray Beach, the first building off the I-95 Atlantic Ave exit, open Mon 1–7 · Tue–Thu 12–10 · Fri–Sat 12–11 · Sun 12–8. Check the events calendar before you head over. If you're planning around the tide, our guide to reading a tide prediction in king tide season pairs well with an early walk. LocAle, our 3.7% golden ale, is a fine way to end a day that started on the sand.

Please drink responsibly.