One of the great trade shows in all of fishing is about to begin, ICAST. It’s not a consumer show. It’s more of a trade-type show. Nevertheless, it offers whatever is the newest and the best in the industry, as well as some really crazy unique stuff developed by some really crazy unique thinkers.
If you’re a fishing fanatic, or just a casual fan, you’ll want to follow it because most of what you see will be available for purchase in the near future.
You can see what’s being offered in a number of places but one of the best is right here on Bassmaster.com. There will be videos and photos as well as interviews and commentary by the top pros and tackle designers in the industry. What you see will stretch your mind when it comes to catching fish. Checkout Facebook and Twitter, as well. It is one of the best weeks of the year for following the pros’ social media accounts.
Following ICAST is a great way to get fishing tips, too. Almost all of the companies there will be represented by professional anglers and tackle designers. Almost all of them had a hand in designing the products they’re talking about and a few actually totally design the whole deal like I do. They know what works and what doesn’t, and how to use them to the best advantage.
That’s not all hype either. Those anglers and designers genuinely want you to catch fish with their lures and tackle. It’s the only way they’ll be able to sell them over the long haul. It’s information well worth having.
As far as specific companies and products are concerned I’m especially excited to see what River2Sea does with their Whopper Plopper. I have no sponsorship or financial connection with them, but as a person who owns a tackle company I respect what they’ve done with that lure. It’s been hot as firecrackers for sales.
I wonder what they’ll do to move it forward — new colors, new sizes, new sounds, new tweaks in design? And, I want to be around when their pro staff starts passing out tips on how to fish it. I have no doubt they’ll show me things I haven’t thought about.
Of course, I’ll be there with my company, Missile Baits. We have a couple of new lures that I think you’ll be interested in trying. One is our 48 Worm. It’s a plastic stickworm that’s 4.8 inches in length. With that size and any one of our 10 colors it’s simple done better.
We’ll also be presenting our new Mike Iaconelli designed jig, the Flip Out. It’s a heavy version of our Mini Flip Jig. The custom VMC hook might pull a battle ship because that is what Mike wanted.
SPRO has a new Little John crankbait that’ll be showing publicly for the first time at the show. It’s called the Super DD and runs in the 24-foot range. When you add this bait to your arsenal you can cover all depths with the same style of crankbait.
Sunline will be in the mix, too. They have a sweet, new Crank FC line that I have personally tested a lot and love. They will also be showing off some of their new specialty braided lines. Check them out. You might find a line that fills a gap in your presentations. I know I have.
And that’s just the highlights that I know about right now. I can’t imagine what I’ll see when I start wandering around the show. It’s truly an event worth following.