About Nature Boys
Nature Boys is the lure and rod brand of Big Ocean Co., Ltd., a fishing tackle company headquartered in Rokkasho, Aomori Prefecture, with branches in Ota, Tokyo and Nishi-ku, Osaka. Big Ocean was founded in April 2000, opened a tackle shop in Rokkasho the same month, and began developing its own gear. In September 2000 company representative Shinichiro Wada met Papa Otsuru, a Hachijojima-based angler, and the two started work on lures that did not use lead. An all-stainless metal jig, FUNKYROBOTT, followed in 2001. The Nature Boys name was adopted in 2005, and the iron SwimRider jig of 2007 became the base of the iron jig range that customers named "tetsu jig". The company's own copy names the Izu Islands and Aomori as the places where the brand originated.
Products are manufactured by Aomori Hoei Industries, a metal fabricator at the same Rokkasho address. The catalog covers iron, tungsten and zinc jigs, wooden plugs, hooks, assist line, cases molded from recycled automotive resin, apparel, and rod families built for jigging and offshore casting: IRONFLICK, IRONFLICK Aggressive, IRONWILL, IRONRANGE, IRON CAT and IRONTOMAHAWK. Since 2021 the company has run a reuse program that refurbishes rusted iron jigs for resale and has shipped lures in paper packaging instead of plastic.
Sales run through an official web store with Japanese, English and Chinese storefronts and overseas shipping by Japan Post, a BASE store, and authorized dealers in Japan. Field staff are listed in the United States and Australia alongside the Japanese team, and a field report blog has documented catches on the brand's gear since 2011.
What Nature Boys is known for
Iron metal jigs. The SwimRider, Wiggle Rider, Current Rider, Spin Rider and Ikatetsu family use iron instead of lead, which the brand rates at about two thirds the specific gravity of a lead jig, giving a slower fall and a longer horizontal hang. The jigs are made in Japan, packed in recycled paper, and can be returned for refurbishment. The rods follow the same offshore focus: IRONFLICK for light jigging on 24-ton unified-elasticity carbon, IRONFLICK Aggressive for slow-pitch jerk with jigs to 700 g, IRONRANGE on 30-ton carbon for nearshore yellowtail and amberjack, IRONWILL for jigs to 800 g under Papa Otsuru's supervision, and the Japan-built IRONTOMAHAWK casting series for yellowtail and tuna. In the catalog it sits beside Tailwalk, Legit Design, Zenaq and Fisherman offshore rods.