Neil Taylor, www.capmel.com
Underutilized: Jigging with pompano jigs and teasers. So few people do it and miss out on so many of the most reliable species in the Gulf of Mexico. The pompano jig is a weighted jig which gets the combination down to the bottom where the fish are. The teaser gets most of the strikes. The teaser is essentially a small fly. I tie most of mine with pink fabric and add flash. Pink is the main pompano color.
I have them in white, yellow, chartreuse and some other choices. They all work on Spanish Mackerel. They all work on silver trout. My main target with this setup is the pompano. Pompano are an incredible fighting fish and among the best to eat that swims. The other species I use this for is the black drum. 60 to 90 pounds, this species eats the same lure the pompano like. This is on the bridge pilings. I might catch ten species in a day. The one specialty teaser I tie is the “Cobia Teaser.” Cobia are caught regularly on this outfit. My cobia teaser is a little longer. It is a thrill to get a 40 pound cobia on a pompano jig.
I sell the teasers. $1 each on the Mustad 3407 hook. I also have them on the C70SD hook. Those are $1.25. Buy 20, they will last you a year. Buy 100 and give them away to your fishing friends. It is a no-miss. My teasers are catching fish all over the country.
You won’t find them cheaper anywhere else. If you do, it isn’t going to last very long. I tie mine tight and I make three knots at the finish. I then seal the thread with clear nail polish making it a durable teaser.
Using a jig and teaser you want a jig that has the minimum weight needed to sink the lure down to the desired depth. For mackerel, this could be deeper water with heavy current and a heavier jig is necessary. In most of my scenarios I go with a lighter jig which creates more action. The gentle jigging is the action of the lure that gets the fish to eat it. A majority of the jigging I do is right on the bottom.
Jig choices out there: Doc’s Goofy is an original. Silly Willy is one I have used for ten years. Dave Blanchard’s Crazy jig. They all work.
Rigging: I use 25-pound fluorocarbon and I loop knot the jig and teaser together with each hook pointing outward. This leads to more hookups. Companies that pre-rig them will have both hooks facing the same way. To me, that is an error. Some people will use a split ring instead of doing the loop knot. This will work. I would just rather have the action of the hooks sliding on the line rather than the rigidity of the metal split ring.
Safety: Avoid a HOOK IN THE HAND
- The Neil Blog… - July 26, 2023
- The Catfish - July 26, 2023
- update - July 22, 2023
