The float and jig has been the hot artificial the last two evenings for me. I went to this lure combo for two reasons. First off, there was a lot of weed along the bottom in the area I was fishing and a straight jig (bucktail or plastic on jighead) was picking up too much of the weed. The float kept my offering higher in the water column and away from the lettuce weed which lined the bottom Secondly, I needed a long cast since all the fish were hitting way out. The float and jig is the ticket to a booming cast.
My float is a homemade wooden egg float that I make myself. The bucktail jig I used was a homemade half oz. flathead jig with a plastic curly tail added. It is cast out and bounced along with pulls of the rod tip while reeling slowly.
I have caught a good number of fish in the last two evenings while fishing with the float and jig in the Bay. All my fish have been schoolies. It's tough to catch a keeper in the Bay on an artificial right now since most of the keepers are being taken on bait. Chunks as well as livelining menhaden are accounting for most of these big fish. And, the boaters seem to be catching far more than the shore guys which is usually the case in the Bay.
