Been a few good suggestions so far. Mirrolures are a standby as well as spoons but one of my biggest producers has been a Cocahoe soft plastic rigged on a 1/4oz jighead. I prefer avocado and red flake color but root beer and smoke are also good.
Vudus are getting a lot of success as well. Another standby that predates the Vudu is the DOA shrimp. You can cast and retrieve like a grub or tie it under a Cajun Thunder popping cork (about 18-24" leader) and cover some ground with that. Pretty hard to beat that combo when using artificial.
If you can get your hands on some live shrimp it would trump any artificial. Best bet is the same popping cork mentioned above with the same leader length but a smallish hook with a split shot or two just a couple inches above the hook. I prefer an Owner #4 light Mutu circle hook but any comparable hook will work. Just hook them through the horn on their head but avoid piercing the brain.
If you are stuck to beaches and piers I am not sure I would bother with the 20lb+ rigs. The cobia run is about to get going any time now (still not hearing any local reports yet) but that is really only happening around the barrier islands, reefs and gas rigs several miles offshore from Biloxi. Any standard bass tackle should get you taken care of and a 6-7' m. heavy rod with 10-15lb test line will work. I usually run 10lb or 12lb for most of my speck and red fishing. It looks like we should have a couple weeks of dry weather so there is a chance the water could clear up a bit before you get here. If that is the case the lighter lines/leaders could be beneficial as specks can be a little leader shy at times...reds, not so much.
