Welcome to Socal Iron Home page... for now we are limited to one brand. However we do carry the fullest line of Tady Lures anywhere in the market. Shortly other brands will be available.

What is Iron? Generally they are deep jigging and surface lures developed in the early 1930s by Southern Californian coastal fishermen. Derived from Tuna Bone jig designs of commercial fisheries and somewhat resembling those used on Jack Pole boats of old. These lures where fashioned from bone and later on, other more durable materials. One well known lure of the time was a Dodger Jig which was made of bronze and plated with nickel. Shape and sizes where pretty much constance until the late 50s.

Around this time huge advances in design and function came about by those at Tady Lures, Salas, Candy Bar and other smaller manufacturers. Sizes, shapes, actions, hooks and color were now vast. Overall there are two styles of jigs, now called Yoyo Iron and Surface Iron. Yoyo Iron being used on fish holding deep or suspended over structure, whereas surface iron to be cast out and retrieved, swimming it pass fish feeding on bait. Lure materials changed too, from that of expensive bronze to zinc/lead alloy for the heavy iron and aluminum for surface iron. Present day iron hasn't changed much, most of those manufactures in the beginning are still making the same lures today.

Sumo, Kicker and UFO make pretty much the same lures as that of the front runners, with shapes being the same, but using flashier colors and tuff impact resistance finishes on some models. Whether or not these fancier looks make a difference of getting fish to bite, that's up to the anglers which use them. All said, these have be the mainstay of metal lures in Southern Californian and Baja, Mexican water for the past five decades.

How to fish Iron~ Let us cover some of the basic rods and reels that suits both Surface and Yoyo Iron, also methods for fishing the lures. Starting with rods... most Southern Californian fishermen use 6-1/2 to 7 foot rods with softer action for heavy jigs and 8-12 footers with faster action for casting surface lures. Reels for both should be that of high speed retrieve with gear ratios of 4:1 or better... 5:1 and higher are the norm. Fishing the Yoyo Iron~ Depending on fish, current, line weight and water depth you'll have to try some different sizes, weights and colors to find out what works best. Once you've tied your line to the ring. NEVER USE A SNAP SWIVEL!  it will decrease swimming action of the lure. Simply drop it down to the bottom.... watch out on the sink, fish do bite it good on the decent, once down give it a bounce or two, reeling on the down stroke and then whined it up at a fast and steady rate to the surface. If the fish are interested... you better be holding on tight. One note on both methods is DON'T STOP WINDING till your rod is bent! Trying to hook the fish prematurely will result in missed strikes.

Fishing the Surface Iron~ This method is pretty straight forward. Cast these lures at feeding fish on the surface and retrieve it back slower than that of yoyo iron. The key is making the lure swim and kick, imitating a wounded bait fish. Fishermen on multi-day sport boats love dropping back both light and heavy iron once a trolling strike has happened. These irons work even when no visible fish are on the surface.... cast one out next to floating kelp and or over seamount's, because of shape and lighter weight of the lure it'll flutter down slowly, after a few seconds slowly whined it back and be ready to have some fun. These lures are very versatile in any waters world wide.... you just need to give them a try. ~SoCal Fishing Tackle.Com~