My groundfish crate is built around the changes I expect to make during a trip. I might start on sea bass over a deeper edge, slide onto a shallow rock pile as the tide slows, and finish with a crab on a Biki Jig for tog. I want the next lure in my hand before the angler next to me has his line back down.

So the crate runs on three roll-up pouches. One holds Groundfish Biki Jigs, one holds Squinnows, and one holds teasers. You can read it at a glance with the boat moving and someone waiting on you.

The Biki is my short game. Shallow water, slack tide, fish tight to the bottom. The flat head stands the jig upright, and the hair keeps moving after the jig stops.

Flat head, upright stance, hair that keeps working. One platform for sea bass, scup and tog.

Shop the Groundfish Biki Jig

For sea bass I fish it bare. Drop it, thump once, let it settle, pause. If the taps go unanswered, I hold it still and let the hair do the work. For tog, the same jig takes a green crab, and now it's a bait you place where a tog can find it and eat it.

Squinnows cover the deeper, moving-water side of the program. They get down fast, then flutter on the fall, which is where the sea bass hit them.

The Squinnow with its assist hook. Lift it, let it flutter, and watch the line on the drop.

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I carry three weights. The 1.75 oz covers easy shallow drifts. The 3.5 oz does most of my inshore work. The 6.5 oz, the heaviest Squinnow in the line, goes on the 7' Medium-Heavy (HLTI7MH) to 130 feet, or on the 7' Heavy Hybrid (HCR7MHM) when the tide is honking. Treat those as starting points. Current, wind, line diameter and the drift decide what holds.

Pick weight before color. If the jig never comes back to the bottom cleanly, a color change won't fix it. Store them so the assist hooks can't tangle across the whole pouch. A jig that takes two minutes to untangle is out of the lineup for the best drift of the day.

The teaser rides a loop above the jig and gives a sea bass a second target. It also tells you something: are they eating the jig, the teaser, or both? No matter which jig I start with, the teaser rig is on top of it. The teasers match the jigs, so the whole rig reads as a little cluster of bait on the bottom.

The Jig-Biki Teaser rig, pre-tied and ready to clip on.

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Keep enough separation that the teaser swings free of the jig and main line. Lower the rig under control, because dumping line is the fastest way to start a drift with a tangle. More hooks mean more handling. If the rig keeps fouling or the bottom is grabby, simplify.

Heavy Minnows and Epoxy Jigs. These come straight out of my albie crate, and they're the best-kept secret in tog fishing. Short tactical drifts across a rock pile, small jig movements, a fresh pass once you drift off the marks. They're already rigged with an inline single hook, which snags less in the rocks.

Heavy Minnows on inline singles. Albie jigs by trade, tog jigs on the side.

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Sand Eel Jigs. A slim profile cuts through hard current when a wider jig won't stay down. I carry a few, not a second collection. Shorten or reset the drift first, then see how the slim jig fishes.

The Sand Eel Jig: slim, fast to the bottom, built for current.

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The tool kit. Leader material, spare rigs, replacement hooks and rings, cutters, pliers and a measuring board, all reachable without emptying the crate. Check hook points and assist cords before the trip. A frayed spot near a hook is easy to miss when everything is wet.

The crate is only as good as how fast it changes. When the next lure is in a known pouch, in a known size, you spend the tide fishing.

Salty Cape TV: the three roll-ups on deck at Eldridge Shoal, then the Squinnow, the teasers and the downshift to the Biki.