[19471]

How do you know when you are looking at mullet waking and tailing (in a way), or reds? It was cloudy and I was on a flat on a paddleboard and on FISH, about 20(on my vacation). I just couldn't tell if they were reds or big mullet due to cloud cover. They were tailing and waking and barely nudging my top dog. Once when I stood up they spooked but instead of big swirls it was like somebody threw a handful of rocks into the water. Like dropping a rock into water from a dock. Thanks for any input

 

[NCPIERMAN]

mullet wont nudge a topwater but a red will when finicky wakes are normally a good tell tail sign there drum as well as a big swirl with a mud cloud

 

[ice cream man]

Mullets make a smaller wake, than Reds.
Spooked Mullets swim in all directions, sometimes in a circular pattern, then they regroup into a straight "V" shaped pattern.
Spooked Reds leave a visible mud trail.

Get good polarized sunglasses, in amber & never fish without them.
Standing up gives you an advantage. May not be wish to do in a yak.
Hope this helps. ....... ICM

 

[challenger]

It's very easy to tell and believe me I know. I spent literally hours looking at some decent size fish tailing over grass beds a couple of months ago and I was originally certain they were drum. As I studied these fish I realized they were not drum and I got to looking at the details and I found the easily spotted difference. The mullet have tails that are sharply pointed and drum have rounded tails. These mullet were large too. They could have passed as year old drum of 12-16". Next time you see them look for the sharply pointed tails and you will know they are mullet for sure.