Thread: if you only had one jig...

Just brain-pickin' the shallow water regulars here, wanna further narrow/refine my choices... only one, what would it be? pompano? looney? size/color? plastics/gulp? I hate carryin' a ton of gear, wanna go with the tried and true... any suggestions? Thanks in advance, keep yer tip up... thinkin' mainly of flounder + pomps...

Just for flounder and pomps?
White pompano jigs, in multiple sizes, with a pack of pink & orange FishBites to tip the hook.

That said, pompano jigs also work fine for Spanish, ladyfish, blues & hardtails.

The answer to your question is in another question: "What is your target species?" Okay, another question: "Have you ruled out just bringing an insulated bucket with an aerator and using live/fresh-dead shrimp?" You can catch trout, redfish, flounder, pompano, and whiting, all in the skinny water! You can use larger fluorocarbon leader and catch Spanish and Blues, as well.

But back to my first question, regarding targeting, if you're committed to only using jigs. Are you targeting flounder? Looney jig with a strip. Pompano? Pomp jig. Trout? They rarely hit lures, but I'd try a paddletail plastic, which flounder and reds will also hit. All that you can do, to my way of thinking, is put the odds in your favor and I think that you do that by broadening your offerings instead of limiting them. In bays and lagoons, I like lures. From the pier, I like live bait, especially near the surf.

thanks eym, used to do just that on the old pier years ago - 2-3 rods, tackle box, ice chest, bait bucket... these days i like to travel light - 1 rod, pocket box, ice chest. just thinking to "keep it simple"...

The generic choice is white. The size is the smallest you can cast (including bubble, bait-load (strip, minnow, etc), or tandem rigging) with the rod/reel combo you carry. Shape is less important than action imparted by depth, speed and rod action.

If you carry 2+ rods, you bring jigs for each; a crappie jig on a bubble rig and a large jig to bombard cobia in the next time zone are scarcely interchangeable.

List of 21 'edible' fish species I've caught from the pier using a white Looney jig:
spanish mackerel, king mackerel, bluefish, redfish, flounder, pompano, blue runner, ladyfish, ling, black drum, dolphinfish, african pompano, banded rudderfish, pinfish, pigfish, horse-eyed jack, jack crevelle, southern kingfish ("ground mullet"), sand seatrout ("white trout") and little tunny ("bonita").

One of these.....white/white ....green/white or white with red nose/white

For sheer numbers...speck rig. One white and one yellow.

I really have to type out ten characters just to post a picture? Dang it.



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