In Search of Algae!

  Mark and  I often use little mullet as bait for the trout, red drums and flounders that we catch from the pier.  Right now, the Bay is full of schools of the mullet.  Thousands upon thousands of the tiny, three inch long fish swim by the pier each day.  When the tide is falling, the fish are usually headed west.  When it is rising, they make the trip back east.   This twice daily migration is rather curious!  Why were they traveling in these directions with the tide changes.  It is simple.

  The main part of the Bayou lies on the east side of our pier.  To the west, the waters gradually deepen.  During the high tide eastward migration, the mullet are headed to the Big Draw (an old time name for the Bayou).   School after school of the fish pass by the pier and it is all for one reason.  Mullet do not feed like other fish.  They, like catfish, are bottom feeders.  They sift through the mud finding tiny pieces of plant material.  Once they are in the Bayou, they feast upon algae and can be seen actually sucking the stuff from the surface of the water.  The brackish, almost stagnant water of the Bayou holds literally tons of algae making it the perfect feeding ground for the baby mullet.  The abundance of food coupled with the protection that shallow waters provide, is quite desirable for the fish.  Mystery solved!