HEAVY METAI ACTION

PROS RIG DIAMOND JIGS WITH LIFELIKE TEASERS TO ENTICE FUSSY PREDATORS.

- CAPT. TOM MIGDALSKI

Diamond jigs and their metal cousins are among the simplest yet most effective lures ever created. With reflective chrome plating over a lead core, diamonds are fast sinking, durable, and easy to fish with a familiar baitfish profile. And unlike plugs covered in menacing treble hooks the body of a jig provides a safe and sturdy handle with which to lift and unhook feisty fish.

Diamonds can plummet in the strongest current or flutter downward like wounded prey, yet they wobble irresistibly like a fleeing baitfish when retrieved. During hot action, jigs have a speedy turnaround time. As soon as you can wrestle a diamond's hook from the maw of a scrappy gamefish, you can quickly dump it overboard again.

But sometimes the shiny hunks of metal aren't enough to seal the deal on their own. In those instances, you can often coax hesitant fish into striking with the addition of a dropper fished above a metal jig. This technique gives the illusion of a small predator chasing a wounded baitfish up from the ocean floor, which triggers a competitive reaction in large predators like bluefish, striped bass, cod, pollock, fluke and black sea bass. Of course, there's always the chance for a double hookup too.

Cod, Pollock and Haddock

One of the masters of diamond jigging in New England is Capt. Ned Kittredge, a pro out of Westport, Massachusetts, with over 45 years of experience. For groundfish, Kittredge modifies standard diamond jigs by attaching droppers above the main lure to prompt cod, pollock and haddock into striking.