Finally, September is here! In Jersey, we’ve got the beaches back, and sights of colorful umbrellas and scents of sun tan lotion are replaced with the constant hum of diesel truck engines running the sands and the smells of stripers and bluefish wafting from the surf.

The cool nights are going to spark mullet in the backwaters to move on out and hug the coastline from north to south, and with them will be the first signs of big bluefish and striped bass. Mullet in the northeast are generally “finger mullet” meaning they are only about 4 to 7 inches in length, unlike their southern brethren which can grow to a few pounds.

Many swimming plugs can be cast to mimic the profile of finger mullet at this time of year. The Bomber A-Salt, Mambo Minnow, Rapala Sub Walk, and Daiwa SP Minnow are all offerings I’ve had great success with. Follow the dark patches of mullet as they hug the beach and cast the plugs around the edges of the schools. If bass and blues are feeding aggressively, you can switch up to a popper like a Creek Chub Knucklehead or Yo-Zuri Bull Popper to get the reaction strike.

Or if bait fishing is your game, the tried and true Fireball mullet float rig will always work wonders to attract roving packs of slammer bluefish. Simply slide out the double hook on the end of the rig and thread on a whole mullet, then replace the hook onto the rig and cast out with a size 2 to 4-ounce Pyramid sinker. If you are proficient with a cast net, you can throw on the mullet in the undertow, gathering prime live baits, and send them back out on a fishfinder slide type rig, with a 75-pound barrel swivel, 24-inch section of 40-pound Seaguar Fluorocarbon leader and size 5/0 Gamakatsu Octopus hooking the mullet through the lips, sending it out to flail behind the mullet school where bigger bass are working clean up duty.

Mullet run rods can generally be 8 to 10 foot surf sticks rated 20 to 40-pound medium to fast action such as a Tica TC2 or Lamiglas Insane LIS 10MS. For reels, if bait fishing, match up the rods with a Penn 5500 Slammer III, if casting plugs, go with a smooth drag Shimano Stradic 5000 or Okuma Avenger A65. Spool up with 30 to 50-pound braided Power Pro line and tie your rig directly to the braided line.