Newb question!!
 

My fellow fisherman, I'm new to fishing in the West coast. Ibe got a question to some of the lingo I've been hearing. What exactly is a surface iron? And what is a flat iron? How exactly do you "free line" a iron?? I grew up fishing the gulf, so I think we just have different names for these things hahaha thanks gentlemen!

Surface iron is a lure such as a Tady, kicker, or Salas that is lightweight. It sounds weird when you say iron but they are probably made with some process and alloy that make them light. If you go to a shop you can tell whats a surface iron vs a "yo yo" or sinking iron. The surface iron will be lighter than the smaller yo yo iron. They are used for fish at the surface. Heavy irons are used for yo yo fishing or to fish the lower column by themselves or with bait pinned on.

Flat iron probably refers to the flat fall jigs. I haven't used them.

Fly line means just tie directly to your leader.

Fly lining usually means using a live bait without any sinker.

Just a line and hook to cast out live bait from the boat to the boiling school of fish.

Some do use a small egg sinker to make the bait go deeper at times.

"Fly line" or "flyline" is what locals usually say to mean "freeline" according to dictionaries -- simple bait and hook, with no weights, floats, etc.

More specifically with kayak fishing in La Jolla, it's letting your mackerel out to swim freely with a single hook, usually through the nose. Follow it around or lead the way with a slow troll to where you think fish might be waiting for you.

According to the dictionary, "fly line" is a line used for fly fishing. That definition is pretty much irrelevant around here.


If I say "freeline" to mean what I mean, locals will correct me or ask if I mean "fly line" or "flyline."

Butt hay, we're fishermen. Words mean whatever we want them to mean.

(He said "butt" .... *perk*)

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"Surface irons" feel like they are made out of aluminum to me. With a fast retrieve they swim on the surface. You will enjoy casting these when you see birds hitting surface boils of bait being driven up by yellowtail or barracuda chasing them.

Next time you are in a tackle shop, heft a Tady C or a Tady 45. Compare that to the weight of a heavy Salas. A "heavy" iron feels like pig iron or some other composit.

Salas and Tady are both historically popular choices as "irons" around here. Also compare to the weight of a Megabait. Megabait lures feel like they are lead and have the advantage of a fast, sleek drop to the bottom without wasting time fluttering around. If you want to flutter around, take a look at the Shimano butterfly flat-fall jigs. It's another style of jigging.
http://fish.shimano.com/content/sac-...flat-fall.html

Light, heavy, megabait, flat-fall are all metal jigs that address different fishing techniques at different places in the water column, under different conditions, usually different times of the year.

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Colloquialisms vary per website too. If you go to sdfish.com you will read the word "sesh" repeated more than you will in the rest of the world combined.

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The meaning of another local expression as it applies to kayak fishing is still fuzzy to me: "soaking bait" when it is expressed as a technique different from other kinds of bait fishing.

????

Sounds like casting my bait out then opening a beer or taking a nap to me, but I don't think that's the meaning.


:headscratch:

It's a derivative of the surfing term "session." Basically a trip out into the water.

Correct. Also referred to "dead-sticking" a bait. Basically throwing out your bait/lure and not working it back to the boat.