Each year at ICAST, hundreds of new lures are released and the fishing media and public get their first glance at what the companies have been working on the last year. The tradeshow is also a time for retail buyers to make their orders for new items and those products generally start hitting store shelves and online retailers by fall.
Plenty of great new items are now available at Fisherman's Warehouse, including the following must-have new bass fishing baits that will help you catch more bass.
New From Yamamoto
Traditionally, Yamamoto Baits has not released multiple new products every year like some brands. They have many tried-and-true baits like the Senko, but this year they added several new baits that should be on your radar.
The Ned Rig craze has proven that it's here to stay, as the technique has become one of the most popular finesse approaches in several years and shows no signs of slowing down. Yamamoto has always had baits that you could use for a Ned Rig, whether a 5-inch Senko cut in half or the 3-inch Fat Senko. But now, they have a specific bait designed for the technique, the Yamamoto Ned Senko.
This bait is unique because its "Mega Floater Formula" allows it to stand more vertically on a jighead. This is a key with the technique. This puts the bait in a perfect position and is also easier for a bass to eat. The bait comes in 17 colors and still has the soft plastic that shimmies with every rod movement, just like the rest of the Senko family.
Also new from Yamamoto is the Shad Shape Floater, which uses the same floating plastic material. The new bait is the same great shape as the original Shad Shape Worm but in a larger 5-inch version. It can be fished on a drop-shot and the floating plastic helps to make the bait stand up on the rig, but there are many other ways to fish it.
The new design can also be used on the back of a scrounger head or slightly cut down and on a vibrating jig or spinnerbait to get an excellent wobbling action. There is also a new 3-inch version of the Shade Shape Worm with standard plastic material.
Berkley Goes Big with Several New Items
The team at Berkley does not rest and continually adds new products for bass fishermen. One of the highlights this year was their new award-winning vibrating jig, the Slobberknocker.
This new bait is unique compared to other popular vibrating jigs because it has a through-head design to connect the blade. It's great for fishing around the grass but works well around wood and other cover. The skirt has PowerBait scent infused right into it and the bait is equipped with a sharp Fusion19 hook.
Designed as the perfect pairing for the Slobberknocker, the Berkley Power Stinger is a trailer with some unique features. It has a durable honeycomb molding that also gives the plastic plenty of movement behind a vibrating jig, but it can also be rigged in other ways, such as solo on a swimbait head. It comes in great colors, both standard options and their HD Tru colors and the thick profile perfectly imitates a baitfish.
Another new item from Berkley is the PowerBait Shape 108. They call it that because it is said to be the 108th version of the design, showing just how much time they spent on making it perfect.
It's a compact, craw-style bait with flapping wings for superb action and vibration. You can fish it on the back of a jig or solo on a Texas-rig, making it a versatile little bait in two options, 3 and 3.5-inches.
For finesse fans, the Lil Super Trooper is an addition to the Lil Trooper design. It's MaxScent, so it has plenty of fish-attracting scent and can be fished on a Ned Rig or as a trailer on the back of finesse jigs. The main difference between the new Lil Super Trooper and the original is the flapping claws on the latest version.
The popular Berkley Frittside family of crankbaits now comes in a Clickin' version which has a unique single ceramic ball inside. This gives the great baits a new sound option.
The final new item from Berkley is a collection of new spinnerbaits called the Berkley Power Blade. They come in all the popular skirt color options and blade combinations but also feature a hand-tied PowerBait infused skirt for scent appeal.
Getting new lures is something that every bass angler enjoys and the good news is that the latest items are now hitting store shelves. The baits listed above will surely be favorites and help you catch fish this fall and for years to come.