| Kicker
25 Light colors, left tor right: silver-egg, silver-blue, redtail,
bright senorita. |
| Kicker
Jigs' 25 Light is very similar to the venerable and effective Tady 45,
but slightly less expensive. It's also, in our opinion, less sensitive
to variations in retrieve speed, which makes it easier to fish. Fishing "the iron" isn't easy, which is why serious Southern California anglers have elevated it to something verging on an art form. One of the main challenges is getting your jig to "swim" just right, which requires finding and maintaining precisely the right retrieve speed. But Kickers seem to swim correctly over a wider range of speeds than other surface iron. And they catch fish, too. While surface iron will certainly catch other species at times, it's used mainly for surface-feeding yellowtail and large calico bass. Scrambled egg and blue-white are the two most versatile yellowtail patterns, and we like Kicker's silvery interpretations even better than the originals. We typically start with silver-blue in the Pacific and silver-egg in the Cortez, just like with yo-yo iron. Although here are lots of subtleties involved, the basic tactic is to cast your jig ahead of and in front of surface-feeding 'tails and retrieve it at a steady, moderate pace. When a fish bites, don't swing back to set the hook; just keep on winding until the line comes tight and starts going back the other way. Getting stopped on the surface iron by a big 'tail is one of the most exciting moments in Baja fishing. Calicos seem to usually prefer variations on olive drab. There are tons of different olive and brown patterns available, but we've done very well with the "redtail" pattern. The "bright senorita" pattern is also hot from time to time. Frankly, fishing surface iron for calicos is a fairly specialized pursuit that requires a particular set of conditions and certain mindset. But we love doing it, so we decided to carry the lures for it. When it's working, surface iron draws explosive strikes from big bass just beneath the surface. The iron is at its best for calicos when a strong current pushes the kelp a few feet beneath the surface so you can retrieve your jig above the tops of the stringers. (With their dangling trebles, metal jigs are much more snag-prone than plastic swimbaits.) Obviously, you also need fish feeding on or near the surface. Iron works very well for fishing boiler rocks, too, since it can be cast farther than plastics. You won't get nearly as many strikes with the iron as you will with plastics, but you'll remember the ones you do get. Whether you're fishing for yellowtail or calicos, you'll want 30-lb. tackle at the very least to fish these jigs. 40-lb. is better. When the fish are aggressive enough to bite a 6-inch hunk of metal, you don't need to worry about how visible your line is. The 25 Light is 6-1/2" long without the hook and weighs 2-1/2 oz. |
 Silver-blue |
 Silver-egg |
 Redtail |
 Bright senorita |
|
Kicker 25 Light Jig $8.50 each $7.00 (ship weight .25 lbs.) Out of silver-blue. One silver-egg, one bright senorita, several redtails left. |
Kicker 15 Light Surface Iron
| Kicker
15 Light with single fixed hook. |
| Kicker's
smaller 15 Light with a fixed single hook is the ultimate lure for
barracuda and bonito. First of all, both species will hit it readily.
Second, beause it's metal, it's relatively resistant to their teeth.
The paint job won't look so great after a couple of attacks, but the
lure will work just as well. Third, the fixed single hook makes it easy
to release fish--just grab the lure, turn upside-down, and shake.
Releasing barracuda hooked on trebles is no picnic. And fourth, it's
light enough to cast easily on the 20- or 25-lb. tackle that makes
barracuda and bonito fun. Sure, they'll hit "full-size" surface iron
too, but it's tough to cast on anything less than a 30-lb., 8-foot
outfit. We only carry blue-white because that's all you need. Barries and bonito aren't all that discriminating. Usually, in fact, the challenge is not catching them when you're after white seabass or yellowtail. But hey, when nothing else is going on, both species can be fun to pull on--especially bonito, which actually some of the best fighters in Baja, pound-for-pound. Incidentally, these little jigs are great for all kinds of catch-and-release fishing. Try them for sierra, dorado, roosters and green jacks (if you haven't got anything better to do). The 15 Light is 5-1/4" long and weighs 1-1/4 oz. |
 |
Kicker 15 Light Jig $7.50 each $6.00 each (ship weight .15 lbs.) |
Back to 'Casting and Jigging Lures' • Home