TackleTour's Best of ICAST 2021 Award Winners (continued)

Best of ICAST - Casting Rod : Abu Garcia Zenon: Abu Garcia has really been stepping up their rod game over the last few seasons and following last year's unveiling of the Zenon reel the company has now introduced a matching series of rods. The Zenon rods are designed with a new resin system paired with titanium alloy guides and ultra-light nitride silicon inserts to decrease weight and provide optimal balance. We are seeing a trend across a number of manufacturers, and even component suppliers, of offering more carbon fiber grips. The Zenon implementation uses carbon split grips that are coated with a soft touch finish so they still remain grippy when wet. Abu Garcia describes these rods as the most sensitive series that they have built to date, and we had an opportunity to put them to the test right before ICAST in Florida. Our initial thoughts are very positive and we already have them in our lab for in-depth tests moving forward. The Zenon casting rods will come in four primary actions from Medium Light to heavy and retail for $399 each, all backed with a 5 year warranty. These rods are available for pre-order now from Tackle Warehouse and should start shipping in just a few weeks.

Best of ICAST -  Spinning Rod : 13 Fishing Envy Black III: If we had an ICAST award for the most improved rod the Envy Black III Series would be it. In a stark departure from the last bright silver Envy II rods these new rods return to what made the original so popular, and with some added refinement. The rods have a much cleaner more functional layout and the Japanese 46 Ton Toray graphite blanks are devoid of gloss and loaded with Fuji stainless steel k-frame guides with SiC inserts. The seats are the company's proprietary Evolve soft touch seamless reel seats and the cork grips look absolutely beautiful. These are some of the cleanest cork grips we saw at the show and are also finished with composite cork for added durability. The 13 Fishing Envy Black III Series spinning rods will come backed with a 10 year warranty and retail from $325-$375 dollars each when they start shipping at the end of the year.

Best of ICAST -  Value Rod : Ark Viper: Ark continues to prove that you don't need to spend a lot of money to own a rod that is actually fun to fish. This season the company has completely revamped their Viper Series rods to provide anglers with a lineup of rods that perform above their modest price point. The Viper rods now feature an eye-catching black and green finish built on a HM carbon fiber blank equipped with tangle free guides with zirconium rings. The grips are split grip EVA handles and each rod comes backed with a 5 year warranty. All of this adds up to a lot of rod for only $109 dollars! The new Ark Viper rods should start shipping later this Summer and are available for pre-order now from Tackle Warehouse.

Best of ICAST - Hardbait: Shimano World Minnow and World Diver: Shimano sometimes surprises us with their lure introductions and this ICAST they unveiled a series of jerkbaits with some very interesting internal features. The World Minnow and World Diver baits both feature a suspended foil in the head section that is affixed to a spring so that when the bait is retrieved this foil emits a flash that keeps moving even when the bait is at rest. The effect really brings the baits to life by mimicking a wounded baitfish on the pause and gives the lures a uniquely dynamic look. In addition to this Flash Boost feature the baits also come with a spring loaded weight transfer system in the rear called Jet Boost which helps increase casting distance by shifting the weight during the cast. The combination makes for a very intriguing bait that we cannot wait to put in front of some fish. Both of these baits will retail for $19.99 each and will start shipping at the end of this year.

Best of ICAST - Swimbait: Berkley Powerbait Gilly: This is the bait that took home top honors in the ICAST showcase as the overall Best of Show. We had the opportunity to fish the Berkley Powerbait Gilly a week before the show in our home water and it surprised us with the versatility in design and application. Designed by the team at Berkley and Pro Angler Mike Ioconelli this lure is not your traditional swimbait. Instead of segments the lure is molded with scale-shaped ribs to provide a unique whole body movement. This allows anglers to rig it and fish it on a traditional swimbait hook, on a jighead, Texas, drop shot, or even weightless wacky rigged. Each variation of the rig changes the action and makes the bait look like anything from a fleeing baitfish to dying shad. To top it off the bait is infused with PowerBait so that fish hang on longer and will be available in three sizes (90mm, 110mm, and 130mm), and a wide range of match the hatch patterns. There really isn't much limit to how anglers can get creative with the Gilly and these baits will retail from $6.49 to $7.49 depending on size. They are available for pre-order now from Tackle Warehouse and will start shipping this Fall.

Best of ICAST - Softbait: Savage Gear Duratech Toad: The team at Savage Gear know how to create some of the most realistic looking baits on the market and took home the ICAST Showcase Award in the saltwater soft lure category with their lifelike Duratech Crab, but it was the new Duratech Toad that had us the most excited. Duratech is the company's highly stretchable and extremely durable soft plastic, and the use of this material in a frog body offers anglers a new tool for topwater work. With extreme buoyancy, and a weedless design, this bait can be worked over open water with strong kicking action, or skipped underneath structure with ease. The tapered design allows the bait to navigate cover easily and the bait is even scent infused so that when fish strike they hold on longer to enable strong hooksets. With no hollow body to take on water this new frog is designed to be easy to fish through the toughest conditions, and will remain buoyant at all times. The Savage Gear Duratech Toad will come 3 to a pack and is bundled with a 4X frog hook for $8.99 each and will start shipping this Fall.

Best of ICAST - Jig/Wire Bait: Berkley PowerBait Silicon Jigs: Berkley continues to leverage their PowerBait formula to create new baits and this year they introduced a complete line of jigs with silicon skirts infused with PowerBait. Working closely with their pros they created a complete range of jigs including football, swim, flipping, skipping, finesse and even a heavy cover jig. All of these jigs have designs that are suited specifically for their application including sculpted heads, realistic eyes, weedguards, and distinct skirt patterns that are all infused with long lasting PowerBait scent. These uniquely featured jigs will start becoming available this Fall.

Best of ICAST - Blade/Prop Bait: Nishine Lure Works Abino 110F: Hiroshi Nishine is a master of lure design and every one of his baits starts as a hand carved prototype. Even the individual scales are hand carved and the head designs are some of the most lifelike on the market. With a wide range of crankbait and jerkbait options it was time to offer a topwater product and it looks like Nishine delivered with the Abino. This bait has all the bells and whistles and can be tuned for a wide variety of situations with two large props and an interchangeable belly blade. This lure is designed to flash and spray water as it is retrieved across the surface while subtle design features like u-shaped bent blades which contact the frame and create clicking noises, and a weight to make it a slow sinking wakebait all come together to create a highly customizable bait designed to incite explosive blow-ups. The Abino is available now in six detailed baitfish patterns for $26.99 each at Tackle Warehouse.