New Rods and Reels at the 2025 International Sportsmen's Expo

Introduction: The International Sportsmen's Expo in Sacramento marks the start of event season for many West Coast manufacturers. This week's show provided the perfect platform for leading reel and rod brands to debut their new products for the 2025 season. Renowned West Coast Pro Anglers and fishing legends, including Skeet Reese, Ish Monroe, Luke Johns, Kent Brown, Randy MacAbee, and others, joined the event to showcase their signature gear, share expert techniques, and entertain attendees with captivating fishing stories. We take a look at key products and highlights from the event.

Pro Angler and Ultimate Bass Radio Host Kent Brown is a West Coast legend and his seminars are always well attended

Kayak fishing continues to grow in popularity at a fast pace and Kayak City showcased fully rigged offerings from Hobie, Old Town, and Native

Pro Angler Ish Monroe talks boats with John Maes of C&C Marine

The new Vexus AVX 1980 is wide, like seriously wide with 8 more inches than last year's model!

2024 BAM Pro Tour Champion Luke Johns shares some of his most effective techniques

Bassmaster Champion and MLF Pro Angler Skeet Reese shows us his new Next 2 Series Rods which retail for $239-$259

Skeet's current line of Next 1 rods are designed for mainstream anglers

This week's ISE Sac show is the debut of Skeet's higher end Next 2 Series Rods

The Next 2 Rods feature higher grade 30-40 ton custom layered blanks

Skeet designed his own larger diameter casting seats and carbon fiber handles for a more natural feel

Real carbon grips are ergonomically sculpted and finished with soft touch coatings that are engineered to be very stable

Each rod is finished with a full carbon grip and weighted for the intended application

Spinning rods make use of Sea Guide seats and all rods are armed with Sea Guide XO guides

Skeet continues to partner with KastKing for his matching signature reels

Stealth Stixx was founded by Bryan Jordan, Randy McAbee Jr and Ryan Kuhns. Their rods have a reputation for clean tactical builds and sensitivity

Pro Angler Randy McAbee showed us his latest signature crankbait rods.

Randy is a master of crankbait fishing and has developed an arsenal specific to working different cranks

The various Fathom rods are designed to fish different weights and types of crankbaits. The 4 Fathoms is a favorite of Randy's and is designed to get crankbaits down 24' deep!

Reel seats and carbon components are clean and attractive

One of the signature elements of these cranking rods is the use of the Microwave guide. The Fathom rods retail from $289-$329 each

Daiwa is shipping a number of new reels designed for BFS techniques including the PC BF70

The PX is basically a US Pixy and makes use of a A7075 28mm Air Spool and ultra light micro ball bearings for a light startup. The PX retails for $349

Daiwa is also offering a new Tatula BF TW reel with a lightweight shallow air spool. The PX weighs 5.6oz. and the Tatula BF TW weights only a little more at 6.3oz.

The Tatula BF TW is a more accessible BFS reel at $239

Frank shows us the new Daiwa BF Concept reels

This is the first show that Shimano gave anglers a chance to handle the new Tranx 300 B reels

The new CoreSolid design is a game changer for this power oriented series

The new Tranx 300B is more compact and rigid than the previous reel will find many fans among swimbait anglers

The Shimano Gravitator 220SF was also on display

This swimabait features a number of BOOST designs

By extending or pressing in the joints anglers can alter the Gravitator's swimming action

A first look at Shimano's new purpose built swimbait rods, the Outlier Series

Mick Varela at Shimano show us the company's complete new swimbait system

We really like Okuma's X-Series rods which are the brand's most advanced bass rods to date with 46-ton carbon blanks built with a proprietary multi-directional fiber technology to enhance durability and sensitivity. These rods retail for $279-$299

Designed to pair with the X-Series rods is a matching X-Series baitcaster built on an aluminum frame and carbon side plates. The 100mm carbon handle provides plenty of leverage and a carbon drag system delivers 24lbs. of drag. These reels are $279 each

Okuma also has a high end X-Series spinning reel which features an aluminum frame and a C-40X carbon rotor and a CNC precision cut aluminum drive gear. This 10BB+1RB reel retails for $219-$229

Michael Fong of Okuma shows us the lightweight X-Series reel and rod paired together

Phenix is one of those companies that has a rod for every application. This season the popular Reaper Kokanee rods have been refreshed

The Reaper rods are built with Mitsubishi advanced carbon fiber and Phenix proprietary Nanolite resin for a thin and lightweight blank designed to handle better than traditional kokanee rods

The Reaper rods make use of SiC Guides

Vince Borges of Phenix has been designing the latest generation of rods from the popular brand

We spotted the Penn Fathom Electric reel at the Pure Fishing booth

The Fathom is a cordless electric reel with powerful brushless motors capable of providing 30-40lbs of winding power depending on size and is engineered for deep dropping techniques

A look at the charging system

Steve Carson shows us the innovative Penn Fathom and explains it can still operate without power just like a normal Fathom. These reels are built on the legendary Fathom II lever drag reels and retail from $799-$899

Pro Angler and Bass Angler Magazine and Tournament Trail owner talks about the coming season with attendees

Mark shows us the latest issue if BAM. Lot's of great tackle and technique information in this publication

While we love checking out all the new tackle at events like the ISE the best thing is talking shop and learning from legends like Kent Brown. Here is talks about Dee Thomas and the early days of West Coast Flipping