TackleTour's spy team digs up the latest scoop on what's to come in 2005 for the Zebco Family
 

Introduction: It's that time again, time for all the manufacturers to start preparing their next season offerings for ICAST. We did a little detective work to uncover some very exciting new offerings that will be available in 2005. While you won't be able to pick them up at a tackle shop yet, it certainly is stirring to get a preview of what next season has in store for Zebco fans.

New for 2005 is the Depth Locator on Zebco's spincast and spinning reels

Zebco: "Don't let your kid be the one that got away," Zebco, a company that puts a great deal of attention on making sure your kids have a positive experience fishing strives to develop unique products for anglers of all experience levels. For the coming fishing season, we have discovered a new tool that's implemented into some of Zebco's spincast and spinning reels. This unique and useful tool called "Depth Locator" allows the reel to remember the exact depth of the previous strike, taking the guess work out of targeting the successful strike zone again. The two reels will be name Slab Seeker SLDL and SLDL20.

Bringing a new design and attractive colors to the Accurist baitcast reels

Quantum: Anglers who enjoy using baitcast gear will surely like what Quantum has done with the Accurist AC500CX. Newly designed for the next season, the AC500CX has a fresh new look that comes from the revised frame construction and the 3 exciting colors; Fusion Blue, Iridium Red, and Firemist Gold. The new reels step up the performance delivered by the current version, and are designed to be much more ergonomic.

New sizes, left-hand models, and a totally re-designed Accurist PT are just some of the additions for 2005

   
Quantum PT: The Performance Tuned freshwater series made big headlines in 2004 with the introduction of the Energy PTi and Energy PT-XMetal reels. For 2005 this popular series of reels benefits from fresh additions. The Energy PT-XMetal will now be made in a Left-handed model and the Energy PTi will have a 40 size for anglers who demand a workhorse with more line capacity. Also new is a totally re-designed Accurist PT baitcast reel that has an attractive new look and an ergonomic palming shape made for flipping.

Quantum adds the Catalyst Inshore PTs to further strengthen their line up of saltwater reels.  And the addition of the conventional reel with a built on line counter is a plus

Quantum Saltwater & PT: After unleashing an entirely new line of Saltwater PT products in 2004, Quantum brings newly designed tools to help target gamefish in and offshore. For this new season there are a few notable reels we discovered that definitely deserve a close look such as the new Catalyst Inshore PTs that sport many well thought-out features, and a conventional Blue Runner reel with a Line Counter built on.

Here's the top secret Q-Rated spinning reel

Q-Rated: Quantum never stops to impress anglers as they continue to innovate and introduce new series of reels. This time around it's not Performance Tuned, but it's labeled Q-Rated. We currently don't have much information on products that are Q-Rated, but we know that these reels have been overly stressed in the Quantum labs to ensure superior performance. Keep your eyes peeled for more information on these refined reels.
  
Conclusion: TackleTour brings you the latest news on what's to come, and this time around we have obtained unreleased product information about reels developed by the Zebco divisions. From the look of things the upcoming products are fresh, enhanced, or all of the above.  Unfortunately we don't have exact information like we do in our detailed reviews, but be sure to check back with us to find out the nitty-gritty details once we come back from ICAST in July. Until then stay tuned for more hot information on other upcoming next season products as our undercover team pounds the pavement in search of more undisclosed information.