This Is Core Sound: Mulleting with Cayton Daniels

In Core Sound mullet fishing is more than just a way to make a living — it is a way of life.

Mullets have been important here long before Europeans set foot on this sand. In fact, when Sir Walter Raleigh’s reconnaissance party came upon Roanoke Island in 1584, Native Americans were roasting mullets.

As the United States grew so did mullets' commercial value. The 96-mile-long stretch of railroad between Morehead City and Goldsboro became known as Mullet Line.  

But the mullets history now lives in piles of net, in the few men and women who are dedicated to the art of an age old tradition, and in the kitchens of mullet stew and the backyard of countless Core Sound mullet roasts.

Cayton Daniels, a sixth-generation commercial fisherman from Cedar Island, shows us how it's done and tells us a little more about the importance of this tradition.