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Long before Toby Hogan ever poured his first fishing lure, he was chasing fish.
It started in the 1950s, when a young Toby went fishing with his uncle Julius, his dad and his brother Jim at Placedo Creek near Port Lavaca.That trip changed everything.He fell in love with the water, the boats, the outdoors—and most importantly, the challenge of figuring out what would make a fish bite.
More than six decades later, that curiosity is still at the heart of every Toby Hogan lure.
Toby's story isn't one that started in a factory.It started in Texas.
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Toby and his brother Charlie spent countless days fishing the Texas coast, rivers, creeks and nearby lakes. He learned the water the old-fashioned way—by being on it.In the 1960s,
Toby served in the U.S. Navy during Vietnam. After returning home, he opened a taxidermy shop.
But fishing never left him.If anything, those years gave Toby an even greater appreciation for the details that matter—the way a baitfish moves, how predators feed, what makes a lure look alive and what separates a good day on the water from a great one.
By 1980, Toby was no longer satisfied with simply fishing existing lures.He started making his own.That eventually led to the creation of the Hogie Lure Company in El Campo, Texas, where Toby produced both hard and soft plastic lures for freshwater and saltwater anglers.
This wasn't about making something that looked good sitting in a tackle box.It was about making something that caught fish, and Toby kept experimenting.Different shapes. Different actions. Different colors. Different ways of rigging and presenting a bait.Years on the water became years of testing.And the fish were the ones giving him the answers.
In 2010, Toby decided it was time to develop a new line of fishing lures.With the help of his brother Jim Hogan, a retired Navy Master Chief and Vietnam veteran, and his wife Takako, that new chapter became Toby Hogan Fishing Lures.
Today, Toby continues to hand-pour and hand-paint custom baits in Palacios, Texas.That's important.Because these aren't mass-produced baits designed by someone sitting in an office hundreds of miles from the water.They're made by a fisherman who has spent a lifetime learning the waters they're designed to fish.
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The Toby Hogan lineup is built around the forage that predators actually eat—and the conditions Texas anglers actually face.
From shallow bays and grassy flats to rivers, creeks and rough coastal water, these lures are designed with real fishing situations in mind.That's why the lineup includes everything from soft plastics and shrimp imitations to slow-sinking and suspending baits, weedless rigs and specialty presentations.
And Toby doesn't just make the bait.He knows how to fish it.
His knowledge of Texas rivers, creeks and coastal waters has also been put into books and fishing guides, passing along techniques developed over a lifetime on the water.
Walk into Toby's world in Palacios and you'll find more than fishing tackle.
At New Frontier Gallery, Toby and his wife Marie have created a place that celebrates the history and culture of the Texas coast.There's artwork, collectibles, handmade pieces, rare plants, bonsai and—perhaps most fitting—a fishing history exhibit filled with artifacts, records, local history and fish mounts. And, of course, fishing lures. Lots of them.It's a reminder that fishing isn't just something Toby does.It's the story of his life.
Fishing has changed a lot since Toby's first trip to Placedo Creek in the 1950s. Boats have changed. Rods have changed. Technology has changed, but fish are still fish and a fisherman still has to put the right bait in the right place at the right time.
That's where Toby Hogan Fishing Lures come in. Every lure carries a little bit of that history—a lifetime of fishing, experimenting, learning and trying to fool the next fish.
