what a show! ICAST 2010 had so many great, new and innovative products, i almost don't know where to start, so I'll just dive in..
one of the biggest upcoming trends seems to be micro guide rods from most manufacturers. wright mcgill, falcon, laserlure, duckett fishing and many others are offering many new rods with these tiny guides. they claim distance and sensitivity are increased..they look and feel good but only time will tell if it's a true trend or merely a fad.
i knew it would only be a matter of time before power pole would be knocked off.. and minn kota won best new marine product with their new non-hydraulic anchor called the 'talon shallow water anchor'. the electrically powered pole installs in 1/3 the time and greatly reduces the noise associated with power pole anchors. the talon is adjustable both vertically and front/back tilt to 30*. it also has a quick release mount so you can remove the pole to help with storage.(what a great idea!) this thing looks awesome and WILL hurt power pole sales. fresh and salt safe $1300-$1500 for 6'-8'.
g. loomis took best in show for its extremely serious nrx series of bass rods. they're using a completely new nano silica material mixed with high density carbon that makes these rods are unbelievably sensitive and feather light. using a split grip with a skeleton reel seat, ion coated recoil guides on top and titanium-framed double footed fuji sic guides on bottom, this rod is built for ultimate performance from top to bottom. g. loomis is focusing their efforts on the serious bass angler and it shows. 6'8"-7'5", $520-$540.
shimano took home best in show honors for their Stella fresh water reel, Trinidad A saltwater reel and their new terez series saltwater rods which come in four colors and a ton of tapers. shimano always has great products and these are no exception. great looking stuff.
shimano also won best hard bait with their new waxwing swimming jig. they look good and swim with an erratic zig-zag pattern, no rod twitching required.. just cast, reel, catch fish. easy right? lol.. 14 colors, 2 sizes 88mm & 118mm, $17.99 & $19.99
the soft bait category was won by koppers live target hollow bodied frog. i can see why they won.. holding this frog in your hand you'd swear it looks like its ready to snatch a fly from the air any second. the deep textures and extremely realistic coloring of these frogs are unmatched in this category. just awesome looking frogs.
moving to the terminal side of things, sebile took best in show for terminal tackle with their improved weighted hook system with removable rubber/tungsten weights. the weighted hooks are now available separately from the baits. these hooks and weights are marketed tword bass anglers but i can see these weights being applied to saltwater baits too.
sufix won best new line with their new 832 advanced superline. its a new 8-strand line with the famous gore-tex material incorporated into the mix. the gore material is said to improve color-retention and lower line vibrations associated with some braided lines. this line feel really smooth and round, looks like good stuff.
well i guess that about covers it.. NOT! that was just the highlight reel. i will post a few more threads in the next few days to get a little more in-depth about some of the other new tackle items to hit the market at icast.
07-18-2010, 03:13 PM
ICAST 2010 Report
Linear Mode
