Thread: Where can I get fresh mussels??

New pier fisherman here. I've seen some guys use fresh mussels for pier fishing and they catch tons of fish.
Where did they get the mussels from??

I see them on the pier columns but looks too dangerous to swim out and scrape them off no??
Appreciate the help!

Originally Posted by fish4fun

New pier fisherman here. I've seen some guys use fresh mussels for pier fishing and they catch tons of fish.
Where did they get the mussels from??

I see them on the pier columns but looks too dangerous to swim out and scrape them off no??
Appreciate the help!

Not only is it dangerous, it's not legal to be in the water that close to the pier. Growing on the pilings are barnacles and there's a whole ecosystem there that doesn't include mussels, as far as I know.

The most successful sheepshead fishermen on the Gulf Shores pier use live shrimp or fiddler crabs (bought from bait shops like J & M in Orange Beach), or ghost shrimp, which are caught individually using a PVC-pipe device which sucks them out of their shallow-surf sand burrows.

I personally take both live shrimp and fiddler crabs, in case sheepshead are showing a preference for one, rather than the other.

Lots of structures around the bay may have mussels attached. But most of them are pretty small. I don't know that I have even seen anyone use them as bait.

This may be a stretch but seafood markets? You're not looking to buy bushels to test the theory. If they work you can redouble the search for a cheaper source.

We have used mussels to target pompano. That was on a couple of trips to Cumberland Island. Worked one time. The locals in St. Mary's, Ga. swore by them.

Me, I think I'd try Publix. I think I've seen 'em there before.

You might check with Rouses on 59 they might.

I've never seen mussels around here. Pretty sure if you find them in a fish market, they would have been imported. What your probable seeing used are soft ghost shrimp. Those shell type critters on the pilings are barnacles.

Ribbed mussels Geukensia demissa are really quite common in the intertidal marsh and bay zones of our area,
but like most invertebrates you just have to know where to look...