Federal minimum size (35 cm) in the Southeast and South
35 cm (TL)ESRJSPPRSCRSSoutheast CoastSouth Coast
Prohibited to fish for, keep on board or land mullet under 35 cm total length on the coast of ES, RJ, SP, PR, SC and RS.
catalog
Mugilidae · omnivore
lebranche mullet
Mugil liza
EstuarySea
A traditional fish in the South and Southeast. The run from May to July, with the cold, brings beach activity, purse seining and beach seining.
Also called: tainha, tainha-verdadeira, curimã (Nordeste), tainhota (jovem), tainha-de-corso
- common size
- 40–60 cm
- maximum
- 80 cm
- common weight
- 0.8–2.5 kg
- record/max.
- 5.0 kg
- depth
- 0.5–30 m
- ideal water
- 18–24 °C
overview
who is the lebranche mullet
The mullet is the traditional fish of the South and Southeast coast. It lives in estuaries and coastal lagoons eating mud, algae and bottom detritus and, in autumn and winter, makes its 'run': huge schools leave Lagoa dos Patos and the Plata estuary with the cold fronts and head up the coast to spawn at sea, between Rio Grande do Sul and São Paulo. This is when beach seining with a lookout on the hill, purse seining and the beach activity take place. For anglers it bites on dough, bread and chum at piers, channels and riverbanks, and with cast nets where allowed. It has a small, soft mouth: it needs a small hook and a light hookset.
fun facts
- Beach seining in Santa Catarina uses an 'olheiro' (lookout) on the hill, who warns the school with shouts and signals.
- Eats mud and diatoms from the bottom and has a gizzard, like a bird.
- It used to be called Mugil platanus in the South; today it is treated as Mugil liza.
how to recognize it
identification
A round, sturdy body, broad head flattened on top, small mouth with no visible teeth, thick fatty eyelid over the eye and two well-separated dorsal fins. Grey-blue back with 6 to 7 dark stripes along the flanks. Difference from the parati: the mullet is larger, has clear stripes and an anal fin with 8 soft rays; the parati has almost no stripes, has a golden spot on the gill cover, and its soft dorsal and anal fins are covered in scales.
how lebranche mullet fishing looks
Loading the next 7 days…
Each card shows the day's index (0 to 100) and, below it, a strip with the index for each hour, from 0h to 23h. from poor to excellent.
distribution
open on the large map where found
The whole Brazilian coast. The big migratory stock is in the South and Southeast: it breeds in Lagoa dos Patos (RS) and the Plata estuary and spawns at sea between RS, SC, PR and SP, from May to July. In the North and Northeast it is known as curimã.
Habitat: Estuaries, coastal lagoons, mangrove channels, tidal rivers, piers, beaches and inlets.
native to the basins
Southeast AtlanticSouth Atlantic
coast
North CoastNortheast CoastSoutheast CoastSouth Coastcoastal
states
Amapá, Pará, Maranhão, Piauí, Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Alagoas, Sergipe, Bahia, Espírito Santo, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Paraná, Santa Catarina, Rio Grande do Sul
when to fish
best season
time of yearbest: May–Jul
JanFebSeaAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
The mullet run runs from May to July in the South and Southeast, peaking in June, pushed by cold fronts. The rest of the year the fishing is in estuaries, with smaller fish. In the Northeast, the curimã is fished all year. The commercial season and quotas change every year by ordinance.
best time of day
Daytime. Active by day. The run passes the beaches mostly in the morning, with a south wind. At piers and channels it bites more in the first hours and late in the afternoon.
what affects the lebranche mullet
sensitivity The little bars show how much each factor affects this species. Five full: it feels it a lot.
sensitivity The little bars show how much each factor affects this species. Five full: it feels it a lot.
cold and cold fronts
Unlike most fish, the cold helps: each cold front pushes new schools north. Off-season heat delays the run.
atmospheric pressure
The passage of a cold front, with a south wind and rising pressure, is the trigger for the schools on the beach.
moon
Traditional fishers associate big-tide moons with schools leaving the lagoons; moderate effect.
rain
Heavy rain muddies the estuary water, but doesn't stop the mullet, which is tolerant.
water level
Full lagoons and estuaries and saltier water favor them staying; a flood pushes the mullet toward the inlet.
noise
A school in the surf is very sensitive to noise and shade: beach seining demands silence and a lookout.
wind
A south wind brings the run; a northeast wind for several days holds the schools offshore.
tide
On the rising tide it enters channels, creeks and riverbanks to feed on mud; on the falling tide it heads down to the inlet. Fish with the water moving; at slack water the chum spreads and the fish disperse. At the river mouths, the school heads out to sea on the falling tide.
depth
Surface and mid-water in schools; in the estuary, shallow bottom of 0.5 to 3 m.
how to fish
- rod
- 2.1 to 3.0 m, light and sensitive; bamboo pole on a pier
- spinning / baitcasting reel
- spinning reel 2000 to 3000
- line
- monofilament 0.25 to 0.30 mm
- leader
- monofilament 0.25 to 0.30 mm, 50 cm
- hook
- small hook no. 8 to 12, maruseigo or chinu type
lures
- small fly imitating algae or bread crumb
natural baits
- bread dough with fish meal
- bread crumb
- small sardine fillet
- chopped shrimp (estuary)
accessories
- chum (ceva) of bread and ground sardine
- sensitive float
- landing net
tip from an angler
Chum lightly and always in the current, and use a very sensitive float. The mullet nibbles softly and has a soft mouth: short hookset and gentle fight.
guide
tides and moon in fishing
Spring and neap tides, high and low tide, slack water, rising and falling tide, tide tables and solunar theory: what really matters and how to use it without fanaticism.
guidefish preservation and cleaning
Quick killing, bleeding, the right amount of ice, a well-used cooler, filleting and transport within the law. Fish handled well on the boat is worth twice as much at the table.
guidesurf and rocky shore rigs
Paternoster, 2-to-3-hook rig, pyramid sinker, feeder float for mullet and a rig for pompano, with practical measurements and the shock leader that prevents accidents.
rules for the lebranche mullet
Summary of the regulations we found, with the source for each. Rules change; before keeping or transporting fish, check with the state environmental agency.
Conservation: Not on the national list of threatened species. The South and Southeast stock is managed with annual quotas because of overfishing.
Prohibition at estuary and lagoon mouths
all gear types except cast net15/03 to 15/08ESRJSPPRSCRSSoutheast CoastSouth Coastconfirm with the agency
On the Southeast and South coast, any type of fishing is prohibited at the mouths of estuaries and lagoons (1,000 m outside the bar, 200 m inside, and 1,000 m along the adjacent shores) from March 15 to August 15; the cast net is the exception. State compilations cite an end on September 15 after the 2015 Management Plan: confirm the period in force.
Santa Catarina: restrictions near beach seining
May 1 to July 3001/05 to 30/07SCSouth Coastconfirm with the agency
In Santa Catarina, from May 1 to July 30, several types of gear (gillnets, live bait, cast nets and others) are prohibited within 800 m of beaches licensed for beach seining and within 300 m of rocky shores. Check the list of gear and changes (IN Ibama 13/2009).
2026 season: quotas by gear type
global catch limit per seasonESRJSPPRSCRSSoutheast CoastSouth Coast
For 2026, commercial mullet fishing in the Southeast and South was regulated with a global limit and quotas by gear type (purse seine, ringed gillnet, coastal gillnet, beach seine and Lagoa dos Patos), with changes during the season. Rules are published every year: check the ordinance for the season in force.
Mullet (tainha): estuarine-lagoon mouths in the Southeast and South
15/03 to 15/08ESRJSPPRSCRSSoutheast CoastSouth Coastconfirm with the agency
Prohibits all fishing modalities at the estuarine-lagoon mouths of the Southeast and South: up to 1,000 m out to sea, 200 m upstream, and 1,000 m along the banks. Lagoons and estuaries with their own rules are excluded. The mullet season in open sea is regulated by annual portarias for the commercial fleet.
Source: IN IBAMA nº 171/2008, art. 2º
Minimum size: 35 cm
ESRJSPPRSCRSSoutheast CoastSouth Coast
Source: IN MMA nº 53/2005 (coast from ES to RS; total length)
catch and release
catch and release Releasing the fish alive, quickly and with a wet hand. During a closed season it isn't always allowed: what the regulation says applies.
catch and release Releasing the fish alive, quickly and with a wet hand. During a closed season it isn't always allowed: what the regulation says applies.
Fish with loose scales and fragile slime: wet your hands, hold it briefly and release it quickly. Releasing spawning mullet helps the next year's run.
in the kitchen
Grilled over embers, in taquara bamboo or stuffed with farofa, a winter tradition in the South. Dried or smoked roe (botarga) is a delicacy.
how much it weighs without taking it out of the water
Length-weight relationship W = a·Lb (a = 0.01047, b = 2.95; FishBase (estimativa bayesiana, comprimento total)). It's an average: a fat or lean fish can vary by 10% to 20%.
estimated weight
—
sources and references
The season weights (months), the time of day and the sensitivities (cold, pressure, moon, wind, rain, tide, strong light, murky water and noise) are the app's editorial estimates, based on the literature below and on the field experience of anglers and guides. They are not official data nor a measurement made for this species, and they may vary by region and year. Closed seasons and legal rules appear in the rules section, with the norm and a link.
- scientific FishBase — Mugil liza (ficha da espécie)Names, distribution, biology, length-weight relationship and references. Page checked on October 13, 2026.
- official Portaria GM/MMA nº 1.667, de 27 de abril de 2026 — Lista Nacional Oficial de Espécies da Fauna Ameaçadas de Extinção (peixes e invertebrados aquáticos)Most recent national list. The species is not on it (search by scientific name in the text published in the DOU, checked on October 13, 2026).
- official ICMBio/SALVE — Ficha de Mugil liza (avaliação nacional do risco de extinção)ICMBio national assessment, published in 2026. DOI checked on Crossref.
- scientific IUCN Red List — Mugil liza (avaliação global: Dados Insuficientes, DD, 05/12/2018)Global assessment. Link given on the FishBase entry (Red List, version 2025-2).
- scientific Menezes, N. A.; Oliveira, C.; Nirchio, M. (2010). An old taxonomic dilemma: the identity of the western south Atlantic lebranche mullet (Teleostei: Perciformes: Mugilidae). Zootaxa 2519: 59–68.Defines Mugil liza as the valid name of the southwestern Atlantic mullet.
- scientific Menezes, N. A.; Nirchio, M.; Oliveira, C.; Siccha-Ramirez, R. (2015). Taxonomic review of the species of Mugil (Teleostei: Perciformes: Mugilidae) from the Atlantic South Caribbean and South America, with integration of morphological, cytogenetic and molecular data. Zootaxa 3918(1): 1–38.
- scientific Menezes, N. A.; Figueiredo, J. L. (1985). Manual de peixes marinhos do sudeste do Brasil. V. Teleostei (4). São Paulo: Museu de Zoologia da USP. 105 p.Treats the mullet as Mugil platanus (synonym). Printed work; the URL is the bibliographic record in FishBase, which cites this work for the species.
