NOT SO LONG AGO, IN AN OCEAN NOT SO FAR AWAY

Big game fishing came into its own as a sport in the early 1920s. It didn't take long for the highly adaptable captains running out of south Florida to realize that to catch the species they targeted, they should feed them what they prey on naturally After experimenting with several species of baitfish sewn onto books in rough configurations, they discovered that the silver mullet was an obvious choice.

However, using them presented several problems. Unlike today, the boats they used weren't equipped with live wells to hold large quantities of live baits, even outriggers
had yet to be invented for trolling.

When they dragged dead mullet, the baits appeared bulky and stiff in the water When a gamefish did hit one, the mullet's wide head and thick body made setting the hook a
difficult proposition.

Hook-ups really suffered before mates and captains started trying to taper and streamline the baits. Mates were forced to experiment with different variations, cutting and removing parts of the fish during the rigging process, and that how the whole evolution process got started.

Although the silver mullet wasn't a regular part of most pelagic predator's diets, they did exhibit several qualities that caught the eye of these early fishermen "The silver
mullet was a plentiful baitfish that was easily caught with cast nets, gill nets or snag lines.

It offers a large, flashy target for gamefish to key in on. It closely resembles the flying fish, a staple for most pelagic gamefish throughout the tropical and subtropical oceans
of the world.

When prepared correctly, mullet offered a very rugged and durable bait that lasted longer behind the boat and provided gamefish with a taste of the real thing." In attempting to solve the problems associated with early, crude rigging methods, the first rigged, natural bait in the evolutionary family of mullet was born.