Last week, I visited Orlando with several of my co-workers to check out the newest in fishing tackle at the International Convention of Allied Sport Fishing Trades (ICAST). Every year, a few trends dominate the conversations at the show, with attendees either praising the innovation or rolling their eyes at the apparent gimmick. This year’s trends had a bit of both.
1. Urchins
I’ll be honest, I kind of turn my back on the freshwater scene when the stripers come back each spring, so I was one of the few fishermen walking the ICAST floor who’d never heard or urchin baits. Best I could tell, these are a further evolution of the “fuzzy dice” trend from a year or so back. These were the talk of the show floor, with attendees loving to goof on the baits, however, lure manufacturers have a surprisingly good explanation for why a sea-urchin-shaped bait catches freshwater bass – it imitates a bait ball. The many undulating arms of these baits apparently look like a tightly packed school of small baitfish, and bass can’t seem to resist. I counted about a dozen urchin style baits in the New Product Showcase, but it was the Rapala CrushCity “The CEO” that rose above the rest to win the award for best Freshwater Soft Lure.
Adjacent to the urchin craze were all the accoutrements regarding rigging and storing these awkwardly shaped soft baits.
2. High-Tech Baitcasters
For a few years now, companies have been incorporating microcomputers into their baitcasting reels to apply resistance at just the right times during a cast to help reduce backlashes while maximizing distance. Shimano has been at the forefront of this trend and continues to lead the way with two new tech-saavy baitcasters this year, the Curado DC and the Calcutta Conquest DC A. Now, bear in mind, the Conquest is also Shimano’s first saltwater rated DC (for digital control) reel. While it’s only available in the 200 size right now, when the 400 size hits in a year or two, this could become the go-to reel for casting large glidebaits at striped bass.
3. Glidebaits
Glidebaits aren’t going anywhere. The last few years, we’ve seen more companies add glidebaits to their lineups as the technique becomes more mainstream in both fresh and saltwater. Rapala entered the glidebait fray this year with the PXR Stryda 180. Strike King and SPRO expanded their existing glidebait offerings. Strike King introduced the smaller profile Hustlin’ Hog and SPRO added a larger KGB Chad Shad.
For More ICAST Recaps, check out OnTheWater.com