Each year the same major brands seem to win the best of show awards at ICAST. Some items are unique and cool and others most likely just get votes based on the reputation and popularity the company who made it. I found many great products at this year’s show and have picked items that stood out based on their functionality, uniqueness and overall appeal.
Most Unique Reel
There were some great new reels at this year’s show. Daiwa had some great spinning reels, the 13 Fishing Concept Z was very cool (and bright orange) and some others also caught my attention. Still, I have to agree with the ICAST voters on this award and pick the Shimano Curado K.
The Curado name means quality and it has been that way for years. With each new introduction of a new Curado, they are always compared to the previous version and the still famous vintage “green Curado”. The new edition stacks up there with the best of them. I was able to cast the reel at the “ICAST On the Water” event and nearly cast a plastic casting plug across the pond. No other reel I tried was even close.
It has a more compact size than the previous edition and is very comfortable in your hand. It is smooth and the spool size is actually larger than the last version even though the frame is smaller. This one is going to be a hit.
Most Unique Rod
Like reels, there were tons of great rods unleashed at ICAST. I liked the new Phenix Feather Series, 13 Fishing Fate Black, the G.Loomis Conquest and a few more. My choice though was a rod from Favorite Fishing. The new company has been getting attention lately with their designs and online promotion. Their rods look and feel great, including the new MLB themed rods.
I may be biased as a hardcore baseball fan, but these rods look great and were definitely unique. They are not just a novelty piece or toy; they feel like a quality rod. They have all of the MLB teams available, including my favorite, the Chicago Cubs version.
They feature the colors of your favorite team, logos on the blank and even a cutout of the logo within the foam.
Most Unique Soft Bait
This is a category that is becoming harder and harder for brands to be different. Everyone makes swimbaits, flipping baits and drop-shot baits. One that stood out to me was from a Japanese company called Biovex. It is called the Bubble Pockets 7-inch Stick.
It looks similar to a seven inch Senko in both size, feel and thickness, but it has cutouts along the back to give it a slithering action on the surface. The Bubble Pockets Stick is built to be used above grass and other cover with a steady retrieve to get fish to the surface. It looked great on the video they showed and is heavy enough that you can cast it weightless a long ways and avoid spooking wary fish.
Most Unique Hard Bait
The winner of this category was a bat topwater. While that is unique, I did not pick it. There were many other cool items and plenty of new topwaters and crankbaits. Not really true hardbaits; spinnerbaits and other wire baits are grouped into this category.
My pick was the Knuckle Bait from Yo-Zuri. They describe it as part spinnerbait and part swim jig or chatterbait. It looks like a spinnerbait with a plastic ball as the blade. Definitely unique and it has a great look under water.
It comes in several sizes and both rattling and non-rattling versions. The solid colored “balls” are rattling version and come in bright colors like pearl and chartreuse. The prism colors are the silent versions. Overall it was something different and stood out from other baits in the category.
Most Unique Accessory
Power-Pole is best known for their anchoring systems, but their two coolest products at this show were not related to that category. They unveiled their Vision system that is basically a tablet for your boat. It can stream movies, sports, and run apps as well as many functions related to your boat and gauges.
The item I chose though was the new CHARGE Marine Power Station. It is a system that maintains your batteries and shares power between your cranking and trolling motor batteries. It automatically balances the levels between all of the batteries and also charges while you are running your boat. It was a really cool idea that should be of interest to all boaters and it even has an emergency start button.
There were many great items at the ICAST show and it is almost impossible to see everything. The items listed above were all things that stood out in a crowd of similar products.
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