ICAST 2019 fishing tackle show coverage

ICAST 2018 Hottest Articles

ICAST 2018 Coverage

	Abu Garcia Feeds the Need for Speed, and Refinement, with Two New Sleek Baitcasters Abu REVO Beast line of reels has been the series that anglers turn to when they need brute strength and winding power. This ICAST the company further strengthened their hard cranking lineup with a trio of new Beast baitcasters that exhibit a rare combination of speed and power.
	A New Trailer and Terminal Tackle from Big Bite Baits When you're a company with as large a catalog as Big Bite Baits, ICAST is usually a time to highlight one or two special projects that might otherwise get lost in the shuffle. This year, the company introduced two products that are a bit subtle, but have the potential to make a big splash.
	Spro Joins the Spybaiting Agency with the Spin Jon 80 There's nothing like a little spy mission to complete the story on a new bait. Late Summer 2018, we were afforded the opportunity to spend some time with BASS Elite Series Pro, John Crews as he was rounding out tests on a new bait. At ICAST 2019, this bait made its official debut.
	Spro Joins the Spybaiting Agency with the Spin Jon 80 Sufix is a line brand under the Rapala umbrella of fishing companies revered for their quality product presented in a very professional package. Their P2 Precision Winding ensures each spool of line is stored perfectly and kink free until you're ready to use that line.
	Abu Garcia Feeds the Need for Speed, and Refinement, with Two New Sleek Baitcasters Abu Garcia continues to expand their popular REVO family of reels and each generation keeps getting faster, more refined, and sleeker in design. This ICAST the company rolled out two lightweight baitcasters, the blisteringly fast Revo SX Rocket and feature rich Revo EXD.
	TackleTour's Best of ICAST Award Winners This 2019 ICAST show has been filled with interesting products, new entrants into mature segments, and even some bold innovations. While There are countless entrants worthy of consideration, these are the products in each category that the Editors at TackleTour highlight as the "Best of ICAST."
	Savage Gear Kicks up their Swimbait Game with the Pulsetail Bluegill Series Savage Gear is no stranger to ICAST and this year the company had a few surprises for attendees including some exceptionally detailed bluegill swimbaits, new topwater baits, and even a new take on treble hooks.
	PowerPro Shines Bright - Moon Shine Braid Wins Best of Show in Line Category These days half of the rigs I fish with on any given day come loaded with braided line. The applications for superline continue to grow, and with many techniques the strength and handling characteristics simply are unmatched. One area where PowerPro saw room to further innovate was in the realm of night fishing, and using their Super8Slick V2 as a foundation they launched Moon Shine at ICAST
	Gill Refines Their Outerwear Catalog Gill, founded in 1975 by British Sailor, Nick Gill, is a leading manufacturer in technical marine apparel. Having set their sights on the bass fishing world roughly a decade ago, the company is responsible for innovations like the Vortex Hood. This year, the company didn't have anything quite as revolutionary, but certainly a few items you might want to add to your radar.
	Two New Products from SIMMS Designed to Keep You Cool and Dry While many apparel companies are relying on alternative materials, Simms continues to leverage the power of Gore-Tex in their garment and this year's new G4Z Stockingfoot Wader features a new, proprietary Gore-Tex material in a 4-layer lower, and 3-layer upper construction.
	Arashi Glides Through The Storm Have you joined the glide bait craze? Maybe you're hesitant and waiting for a dependable, affordable alternative to the high stakes JDM offerings? If so, at this year's ICAST, Storm introduced a bait that may be the answer to your hesitation. Introducing Storm's Arashi Glide.
	Daiwa Raises the Spinning Bar with a Trio of New Reels Daiwa makes some of the most advanced and refined spinning reels on the market, and yet each ICAST they seem to find a way to make these eggbeaters even better. This ICAST the company refreshed the premium Certate, and introduced the world to two brand new lines, the Kage LT and QZ reels.
	Rapala Rounds Out Sizes to Attract Bigger Bites Always a company at the forefront of lure design, Rapala was busy extending the versatility of some proven baits at ICAST this year. Where most companies in recent memory go with smaller versions of proven baits to appeal to a wider audience, Rapala went in the opposite direction to attract bigger bites.
	Gamakatsu Expands Their G-Box Series No matter where you go, you need a method to carry your baits and no matter what bait you're fishing, but especially soft plastics, you need terminal tackle to complete setup. Gamakatsu recognizes this need and presented a couple options for both at ICAST this year.
	13 Fishing Boldly Goes Where no Bait has Gone Before with the Motor Boat and Pathfinder Lures With the same aggressive design approach to lures as the company exhibits when it comes to reels and rods 13 Fishing introduced a pair of potentially game changing hybrid styled lures including the Pathfinder topwater walking bait and Motorboat plastic buzz style lure at ICAST today.
	List of ICAST 2019 BEST OF SHOW Category Winner Minutes ago the 2019 Best of Show category winners were announced at ICAST in Orlando. After voting by buyers and industry media the best of show category winners have been announced and will now compete in another round of voting for the overall Best of Show, which will be announced tomorrow at 2:00PM (EDT)
	Shimano Refreshes Stradic Series and Introduces New Intenza Casting Rods While the SLX DC reel is getting the majority of the spotlight at the Shimano booth the company also rolled out a number of new products that also are of note including an update to their workhorse Stradic Series of spinning reels and the introduction on a new casting rod lineup called Intenza.
	Jackall Introduces iSHAD Finesse Plastics and Keeburn Blades Baits Whether you want to catch reaction or finesse fish Jackall has both sides of the spectrum covered this year with the launch of the iSHAD plastics and their new circuit body based blade called the Keeburn.
	Lew's New Introductions Are Not to Be Taken Lite-ly With each passing year at ICAST, Lew's booth seems to be filled with product that is more and more diverse. It's obvious the company wants to be known for more than just fishing reels and this year, they have a few more products that serve as evidence of their broader goals.
	AFTCO Extends Their Catalog of Product - Submersible Shorts and Leader Bursting onto the freshwater fishing scene just a few short years ago, AFTCO has done an excellent job outfitting anglers with the apparel they need to shield themselves from the elements. At ICAST this year, the company was busing filling in some needs, extending others, and branching into new realms.
	13 Fishing Integrates Carbon into their Enthusiast BOSS Reels and FUSE Rods 13 Fishing continues to be one of the most progressive tackle companies, and is willing to make bold moves when it comes to use of new materials, approaching tackle design with a fresh set of design philosophies, and pushing the envelope in sheer fun factor. This year the company has literally fused carbon into their enthusiast offerings with the Concept BOSS baitcasters and FUSE Rods.
	LIVETARGET Unveils Baits with Injected Core Tech for more Realistic Patterns and Actions If there is one lure manufacturer that seems to own ICAST it has to be LIVETARGET. The brand continually delivers hits and wins at the show with their ultra-realistic match the hatch designs. This year the company focused on their Injected Core Technology� (ICT) which strives to deliver the most realistic patterns with the most desirable actions with a specialized injection process.
	Z-Man is Ready for Some Football! Z-Man is a company always prepared for the fishing industries largest trade show. This year was no different as the company extended their investment in two specialized techniques and expanded their offering in another.
	Daiwa Expands Popular Tatula Series With New Elite and Elite Pitch and Flip Baitcasters The Daiwa Tatula has gotten good, like really good, and as good as some previous generation Zillions. Last ICAST Daiwa introduced the smaller more ergonomic new Tatula profile and the market responded. Today the Tatula Series is a top seller for Daiwa and this ICAST the company further expanded the line with the further refined Tatula Elite and Elite Pitch and Flip models.
	GLoomis Doubles Down on IMX Pro - New MBR, SJR, and CR Bass Rods The IMX-Pro line has been a winner for the company which is known by many for their high end GLX and NRX lines. Last season the IMX-Pro line went application specific and brought back many of the actions that G.Loomis Mag Bass fans loved. This season the company is doubling down, and introducing 17 new "Classic Action" rods.
	Shimano's Makes Digital Cast Braking Affordable with the New SLX DC Baitcaster The SLX Series has been a winner for Shimano, helping bolster the brand's appeal in the mainstream segment, offering anglers a reasonably priced aluminum framed everyday workhorse baitcaster. This ICAST Shimano pushes the performance to value ratio with the introduction of a new SLX reel equipped with the company's Digital Cast (DC) braking system.
	FishLab Enters the Market with a Wide Range of Baits, Including the Exciting Bio Gill Swimbaits Sure to be one of the biggest launches this ICAST was not just a new bait but rather an entire bait brand, meet FishLab Tackle, a new lure brand with the resources of Okuma behind the company and focused on what they call the "Science of the Strike."
	Plano Introduces their most Advanced Boxes to date - Meet the EDGE Series When it comes to tackle storage the first name that comes to mind is Plano. Just like "Kleenex" when anglers refer to their modular tackle boxes, regardless of the manufacturer, they call them Plano boxes. Just when you thought it was difficult to further innovate in the category Plano is introducing their most advanced storage to date, meet the EDGE.
	St. Croix's Popular Mojo Bass Gets Glass, and Greener While the majority of fishing rod manufacturers in the bass fishing space battle to leap frog one another in high-end graphite blank technology and marketing terms, this year St. Croix has taken a different tactic. Leveraging the success over the last couple of years with their Legend Glass series, the manufacturer is now trickling down that tech to a more budget friendly series of sticks for moving baits.
	Nishine Digs a Little Deeper - Introduces Nimazu Baby Catfish Bait Since our introduction to Hiroshi Nishine and Nishine Lure Works at ICAST 2018, we've been in admiration of the care and artistry that goes into each bait. We were anxious to see what he had in store for us this coming year and we were not disappointed.
	ARK Rods Calls on Reinforcements to Invade the Enthusiast Market Fresh off the successful debut of their Randall Tharp signature series of rods, what could ARK Rods possibly have in store for us in 2019? Priced at $129.99, last year's introduction has already risen to become the company's best selling series and we have several official reviews in the works. With a successful line of affordable rods on the market, for 2019, ARK Rods has turned their attention to the Enthusiast Crowd.
	Strike King Diversifies Their Product Portfolio - Meet the Rage Ned Bug With a catalog full of effective hard baits and soft plastics, what could a company like Strike King possibly do to add to their product offering? How about offer a complete bait system consisting of a soft plastic and the terminal tackle with which to fish that soft plastic? Maybe a fishing line too? Oh and sure, why not add another crankbait while they're at it?