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Going Savage on Arkansas Stripers at Lake
Ouachita
Not long after
ICAST we were contacted by Brandon Cotton, Marketing Manager at Okuma to see if
we would have interest pitting their newest reels, rods and Savage Gear baits
against some big freshwater Stripers. The destination, Lake Ouachita Arkansas, a
famous lake that is known for its clean water and healthy habitat for a wide
range of fish species including Crappie, Walleye, Catfish, Largemouth and
Striped Bass. |
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Skip, Hop, Drop, Cut and Shake by Evergreen International
Over the last several years, we've combed through just about every stick in Evergreen International's Kaleido lineup. These are among the finest rods we've ever fished. But going through ALMOST every stick means there's still room for a few more. Today, we dive back into the Kaleido-scope and share with you our thoughts on the TKLS-61ULX Cut In Shake.
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Take 3 : Abu Garcia's Revo Winch
Abu Garcia has not forgotten those of us who like
to take things slow. In fact, this manufacturer has a reel they've built
especially for the purpose of slow cranking and today we take a look at their
latest version of this very reel. Here's our look at the Abu Garcia Generation 3
Revo Winch.
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Looking to Recapture the "Lighter Than Air" Magic : Kistler's New Helium 3
Domestically, G.Loomis and St. Croix dominated
the rod market but one small rod manufacturer out of Texas was pushing to the
forefront by making available to the general angling public fishing rods with
designs and aesthetics normally reserved for custom rods... |
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Phenix Adds to their
Heavy Powered Arsenal : The M1 MX72H
Phenix's MBX Classic and Recon
series of rods are now staples in tackle stores nationwide. Today we take a
closer look at a rod in their latest series with our review of the MX72H, a
seven foot two inch, heavy powered stick that's part of the M1 lineup. |
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A Little Voodoo Goes a Long Way when Fishing the Tributaries of the Columbia
River
The last time we visited Edge Rods
the company was just on the verge of introducing their new lineup of bass rods
and we were eager to make the trek back up to Woodland Washington to check out
how the company had grown, but Jon had other plans. |
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The Shimano Flagship Anatares and Metanium Baitcasters now
Available Stateside
How many times
have you looked across the pond and wondered why do the reel manufacturers keep
the best stuff exclusively in Japan? The lines between JDM enthusiast imports
and high end baitcasters has just been crossed as Shimano announced this morning
that it is now making both the Antares and Metanium baitcasters available to the
U.S. |
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Does Daiwa's Exceler Excel or Repel?
Leveraging the success of last
year's popular Lexa introduction Daiwa continues to bolster their product line
for the budget conscious angler. Introducing our look at the sub $100 Daiwa
America Corporation Exceler casting reel. |
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Abu Garcia's Workhorse - the Gen 3 Revo SX
Since the introduction of Abu
Garcia's Revo line of baitcasting reels, the company has been very aggressive in their efforts to dominate market share as is evidenced by the diversity of their lineup. Their entry into this workhorse category of casting reels? Well, that's the reel we're looking at today. Introducing our take on Abu Garcia's 3rd Generation Revo SX.
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The DUO Spinbait 80 and the Art
of Spybaiting
Every once in a while a new fishing technique comes around
that changes the very way people fish, just think about techniques like drop
shotting or shakey head for example. This season a technique known as Spybaiting
has gained attention here in the U.S. and leading the charge is a company from
Japan called DUO Realis.
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Flip-Flopping Perceptions with the Simms EbbTide Sandals
Just how much can you say
about a pair of flip
flops? That was
exactly what I was
thinking when I
decided to purchase
a pair at Tackle
Warehouse for
review. But the
longer I fished in
these sandals the
more I appreciated
just what the
company put into the
design of this
seemingly simple
class of footwear.
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The Easy Cranking, Deep Diving Megabass Deep Six
We’ve been fishing the Megabass Deep Six crank on and off for the better part of a year but have been waiting for a consistent, deep crank bite to fish them more extensively. That bite materialized this past week on Clear Lake. |
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Budget-Minded Performance with the new Mitchell 300 Pro
Shortly before
ICAST 2013 began, myself and the rest of the TackleTour crew each received one
of Mitchell's newest reels, the 300 PRO. Also offered in a smaller 308 and 310
size, these reels look very promising for the budget-minded angler. Armed with
this new reel that magically showed up on my doorstep, it was a no-brainer that
a full review had to be done! |
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Balancing Around AIR : iRod Fishing's IRA704C-H.
Yes, to accompany their entry level sticks, iRods also had another, higher end series, iRod AIR. Certainly nothing fuels my investigative enthusiasm more than a new top-end product from any manufacturer. Presenting our review of iRods' Air series IRA704C-H. |
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The Search for One: St. Croix Speaks in Xtremes
St. Croix does not promise you
the lightest rods on the market, but what you can expect is a finely crafted,
very high performing tool to add to your arsenal. Today, we take a look at the
rod that took top honors at ICAST 2012 as Best of Show Freshwater Fishing Rod. |
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FW Installment #4 : A Frog by Any Other Color is Still a Frog
We conclude Frog Week on TackleTour with a discussion of baits that look like traditional hollow bodied frog baits, but are built with different purposes in mind. What differences? Well, how about a hollow bodied frog you can crank? Or how about a bait that looks like a hollow bodied frog but instead of being soft, it’s hard? Or maybe one that doesn’t look like a frog at all... |
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FW Installment #3 : What's a Shrog?
A third classification we have for topwater frog baits are for those that look somewhat like frogs but are called something else entirely by their manufacturers. These are the topwater hollow bellied shad baits! Granted one of the baits we're reviewing today does look like a shad, but the other more closely resembles a traditional frog save for a couple of tweaks. Let's take a look! |
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FW Installment #2 : Twitch, Pop, n Lockin' Frogs
The second category of frogs
we're going to investigate is perhaps the fastest growing niche. Just about
every frog bait manufacturer that offers a standard frog now offers a popping
frog to go along with their lineup. Do you have any in your collection? |
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Frog Week (FW) Installment #1 : Standard Designs with a Twist
We're hard pressed to think of another form of angling where there are more specialized techniques to catch your prey than when in pursuit of freshwater bass. There's no doubt all the different techniques and all the different gear to support those techniques is part of the allure. One of the absolute favorite ways for any bass angler to catch thee fish is on topwater. |
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Redefining a Classic, the Lew’s BB1 Baitcaster
The BB1 is the heart of the Lew’s baitcasting lineup and it was a tall
order to redesign this legendary reel. The original BB1 was a pioneering reel
that really changed the perception of what a low profile baitcaster could, and
should be. Decades later this new BB1 seeks to channel that same forward
thinking and infuse modern day design and technology into a classic. |
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Pinnacle Hand
Tunes Tournament Class Gear
This season
Pinnacle ups the ante with new tournament class reel and rods. Just what does
that “tournament class” mean? These top end offerings blend the company’s latest
design and technology together with the features and design elements favored by
the company’s prostaff. |
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A
"Micro" Power-Pole for Anchoring Smaller Watercrafts
Looking to
anchor up quickly in the shallow? Power-Pole has had bass anglers and saltwater
fisherman in the flats covered with their quick and easy to deploy Power Poles
and this ICAST the company has expanded the lineup to include a new series for
light watercraft (up to 1500lbs), meet the Power-Pole Micro |
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Toray is
Going Full Force
When it comes to the discussion about
premium lines Toray is always in the mix and the company has continued to build
a following outside of Japan where it enjoys very high popularity. Toray’s
fluorocarbon lines are extremely popular but this ICAST the focus was on their
latest co-polymer offering, a new line called Full Force. |
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High Tech Baits from Livingston “Call” to Fish
The element of sound has been part of baits for
years and traditional lures make use of rattles and in an effort to attract
attention to the bait and draw strikes. Livingston Lures plays on the primal
instinct of fish by leveraging technology to replicate the sound and vibration
of injured baitfish. How do these new high tech lures work? We met up with
Livingston Lures Prostaffer Byron Velvick to find out. |
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From Top To Bottom: New
Baits From Damiki
It seems that
Damiki has been getting very serious about expanding their lineup recently, with
particular emphasis on the hard and soft bait segments. We covered a plethora of
new offerings from them at ICAST in Orlando last year, and things were no
different this year in Vegas. |
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The Lew’s BB-1 Lineup Expands and goes Pro
The Lew’s baitcasters look and feel like a complete family of
reels with offerings designed for various applications and at all price points.
This ICAST the spotlight was on the venerable BB1 and the new variations that
the company was rolling out which included a new Inshore and Pro Series. |
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Who’s the Boss?
Accurate Rolls out the Dauntless
When it comes to fishing for the biggest baddest fish in the sea many
offshore anglers turn to Accurate. Known for sheer power under pressure the Boss
reels dole out plenty of torque and this season the company rolls out a new
model, meet the dauntless DX2 reels. |
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From Echo To Airflo With Rajeff
Sports
Rajeff Sports
offers two well-known brands in the industry: Echo fly rods and Airflo fly
lines. With the assistance from reps Randy Stetzer and Gareth Jones, we got the
full tour of what's new from this popular name. |
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Thinking Outside The Box With The New
Legend X Fly Rods From St. Croix
These new fly rods
are designed to do battle with large warm water species. Utilizing a blend of
four carbon fiber materials, Legend X blanks incorporate super-high modulus SCVI
graphite in the lower section, premium SCII graphite in the tip
portion, and SCV graphite throughout the blank length. What does all
of this mean for you? |
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New Storage Solutions And More From
Fishpond
Known widely
amongst the fly fishing crowd, the brand has been enjoying steady growth, and at
the IFTD show in Las Vegas it was apparent this growth is continuing. With a
bunch of new product offerings and updates, Fishpond has some great stuff coming
that might be just what you're after. |
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A Win in Softgoods, the Shimano Dryfender 3T Jacket
Shimano had a great ICAST and their
wins extended beyond traditional tackle as they took home
Best in Show in the apparel category with the Dryfender insulated jacket. This
jacket is often called the Dryfender 3T for the 3 layer construction which is
waterproof, breathable and durable. |
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Owner Showcases Some Sharp New Offerings
Owner is known for
making some of the sharpest hooks on the market. Some people may not realize
that they also make various other products like rigs, terminal tackle, and even
baits. With several new products to show off at ICAST, the Owner crew was eager
to walk us through each item. |
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Just
Skimming the Surface with Halco
Halco's offerings are known for their quality and
ability to stand up to the torture of big game and this ICAST the brand
introduced a number of new offerings ranging from more big game lures to tools
to help anglers manage these baits in the field. |
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A Full House Of New Rods From Hardy
And Greys!
Utilizing their
SINTRIX silica nano-matrix composite material, these rods have been earning rave
reviews from fresh and saltwater anglers alike. At ICAST this year, Hardy looks
to continue their hot streak with the release of several new rods, including
something special for conventional anglers! |
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