Hang Ups On The Diamond Jig

I bought some diamond jigs yesterday.

I’ll let that sink in. Yes, me, I bought AVA jigs.

As many of you know- and maybe many of you don’t- I basically despise these things. I just hate them out of principle. They’re dumb. They essentially undercut any case or evidence I might make about how the striped bass is actually a pretty refined predator that can be choosy and cunning. If they hit these dumb-ass pieces of lead dragged through the water in the middle of the day, how could that possibly be true? And then how can I justify buying a glide bait if so!?!

That’s sarcasm (mostly) but you get the point. These jigs are very simple and generally how we (yes, me too) fish them is very simple to match. Cast as far as you can. Retrieve it so it doesn’t constantly drag the bottom. Good job, you caught a 32-pound bass on a lure that could have been made 140 years ago by a farmer.

Yet, I am not opposed to anything. I may be extremely resistant at times, but I am not ever totally opposed (here’s looking at you, SP minnow). And this week, I stood staring at diving birds- a lot of diving birds- fully acknowledging the only way in hell I was going to get something in front of the hypothetical fish that were underneath those 7- to 9-foot swells was going to be with an A47 or the monstrous A67. The cross wind and sweep even disallowed a 4-ounce bucktail (of which I tried even bare).

And I had none. I stood there like a fool, sheepishly asking my buddy Corey if I could borrow one. It’s all he brought to the beach, because he has none of the hang ups that do. As soon as I clipped on that A47, I was able to fish. Yes, we didn’t catch anything (probably not the ending you were expecting) but without that stupid jig I wouldn’t have known what was possible. I wouldn’t have had that data. I would have always wondered if there were moronic 32-pound fish out there.

It was just another example of having the right tool for the job. My hang ups aside, it was just another reminder that sometimes if you really want to catch fish, you have to break through any of your hang ups and fish with the right tool. And you know what that immediately made me think of? The glide bait craze. Toby and I had been resistant for much of 2025 and 2026- despite me using them for four seasons now (really 8, but that’s another story) with success- to buy into the hysteria. But after discussing it for months, making fun of it probably far too much, we’ve come around a lot, and we’ve been fishing them nearly every tide (or just about). I even took out a slot in my bag reserved for a needlefish the other night, and slotted in an additional glider- bringing up the total in my bag to 3, and dropping the number of needles from 7 to 6. That just about says it all.

So don’t be like me. You love your SP minnow. I get it. You don’t want to fish a boring seven-inch 24/7 needlefish. It doesn’t cast far. You can’t feel anything at the end of the line. You drop some fish, and all those schoolies you usually cast never hit it. But sometimes you have to. Because that’s what works for big fish. Or, it works on those greasy calm nights when sand eels are in the wash to catch every fish- even the schoolies. Just because you don’t like it, because you think it’s lame, doesn’t mean you should skip it. Not if you want to actually catch fish. Sure: it’s a free country and this is something we do for fun. So you can do whatever you want, but then don’t complain about not catching fish, either. You dig your own plastic-lipped grave.

Just please don’t cast your AVA jig at my glass house, because it’ll shatter like a crystal chalice dropped onto a slate floor.

And remember when Toby made the AVA jig his 2026 season goal?