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Mullet Run Timing by Coast: When the Run Peaks Where You Fish

Station-by-station peak windows for the Atlantic and Gulf runs, why the Gulf runs later, and how weather can move the dates in any given year.

8 min read · Updated October 13, 2026

"When is the mullet run?" sounds like it should have one answer. It doesn't. Florida has two runs that work in different ways, and each one moves along the coast over about two months. Mickler's Landing in Ponte Vedra can be past its peak by the time Miami Beach is just getting going, and the passes around Naples are still producing well after the Atlantic beaches have gone quiet.

This guide lists the peak window this site uses for every station it scores, explains where those dates come from, and covers what can push a given year earlier or later. If you only want today's answer, the live tracker already has this timing built into every score.

Two coasts, two different runs

On the Atlantic side, the run moves along the beach. Mullet leave the rivers and estuaries of Georgia and Northeast Florida and work south through the surf zone, close to shore, past one inlet after another. A pod you see at Jacksonville Beach can be at Ponce Inlet days later. Timing there comes down to latitude: the farther south you are, the later the fish arrive.

The Gulf side is a series of departures. Mullet spend the summer feeding in protected bays, marshes, and river mouths, then leave through the passes to spawn far offshore. Fish in each bay go when their own conditions line up, usually a strong cold front with a big outgoing tide. Latitude still sets the season, but individual fronts set the days. The Gulf Coast guide covers those triggers in detail.

Atlantic coast: peak windows by station

The Atlantic season model starts with a core window of roughly September 25 to October 20 in Northeast Florida. It shifts about four days later for every degree of latitude you move south, with a cap of 20 days. Inside the core window the season factor is at its maximum. September ramps up toward it, and November tapers off a little more slowly, because the tail of the run lingers.

Do the math on that list and the whole Atlantic run covers about seven weeks, from late September in Ponte Vedra to early November in Miami. That's more than 300 miles of coast, with the core window moving south around 18 days end to end. If you can travel, you can follow the run. If you can't, the shoulder weeks at your home beach are still worth fishing: early September pods and the November stragglers both draw predators.

Gulf coast: peak windows by region

The Gulf model starts later. Its core window runs from about October 5 to November 14 in the western Panhandle, and it shifts about five days later for every degree south, with a cap of 25 days. The Gulf window is also wider than the Atlantic one, because fish leave the bays in waves, one front at a time, rather than in one steady procession.

  • Panhandle (Pensacola Pass, Navarre, Destin East Pass, St. Andrew Pass): about Oct 5 – Nov 14
  • Forgotten Coast (Cape San Blas, St. George Island): about Oct 8 – Nov 18
  • Big Bend (St. Marks, Steinhatchee): about Oct 7 – Nov 18
  • Nature Coast (Cedar Key and the Suwannee, Crystal River, Homosassa): about Oct 11 – Nov 22
  • Tampa Bay (Egmont Key and Fort De Soto, Anna Maria Island, Longboat Pass): about Oct 19 – Nov 29
  • Venice to Charlotte Harbor (Venice Inlet, Stump Pass, Boca Grande Pass): about Oct 21 – Dec 2
  • Southwest Florida (Redfish Pass, Blind Pass, Wiggins Pass, Naples, Marco Island): about Oct 24 – Dec 6

Put the two coasts side by side and the pattern is clear. When the Atlantic run winds down in Miami in early November, the Gulf is only halfway through, and Southwest Florida has its best weeks still ahead. If you live in Central Florida and can drive to either coast, October belongs to the Atlantic beaches and November belongs to the Gulf passes.

What moves the dates in a given year

Calendar windows are a starting point, not a promise. The fish respond to conditions, and conditions change from year to year. These are the things that can push a run early or late:

  • Water temperature: mullet start moving as nearshore water cools toward the upper 60s. A warm fall delays the run. An early cool snap can bring it forward by a week or more.
  • The first real cold front: the first strong front of the fall, with a sharp pressure drop and a hard north or northeast wind behind it, often sets off the first big push.
  • Wind on the Atlantic side: a run of northeast to east wind stacks bait against the beach. A stretch of west or offshore wind can push pods out past casting range, so the fish are there but harder to find.
  • Tide and moon on the Gulf side: exits cluster around strong outgoing tides, which are biggest near new and full moons. A front that lands on a spring tide tends to be the one that empties a bay.
  • Hurricanes and big storms: a late-season storm can scatter bait and muddy the water for days, then a cleaner, cooler pattern afterward can bring a strong push.

How this site turns timing into a score

Season timing is one part of each station's 0–100 opportunity score. On the Atlantic it carries 30 of 100 points, the biggest single factor, because the beach run follows the calendar so closely. On the Gulf it carries less, because fronts, tides, and river flow decide which days the fish actually leave. Every score has a "why this score" breakdown, so you can see how much of today's number comes from the season and how much from the weather.

These windows are a research-based starting point, not a trained model. Each station's inputs are logged every hour. Once a full season of sightings is in, the windows will be checked against what actually happened on the water. If you see bait, log a sighting. Every report makes next year's dates more accurate.

Planning a trip around the run

  • Pick your window from the lists above, then watch the 7-day forecast for the first strong front inside it.
  • On the Atlantic, plan for the morning after a front, when the wind has swung north to northeast.
  • On the Gulf, plan around a falling tide close to a new or full moon, ideally right behind a front.
  • Check the live map the day before you drive. Recent sightings beat any calendar.
  • Confirm current regulations before you keep bait or gamefish.

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