This week in Las Vegas, the sport fishing industry has converged on the Las Vegas Convention Center for the annual ICAST show.
It's a cornucopia for any fishing enthusiast, freshwater or saltwater, only it's not open to the public. The show officially opens Wednesday, but members of the media and buyers tonight got their first up-close looks at some of the new products that'll be hitting store shelves over the next few months.
BassFan is in Sin, er, Fin City this week covering the proceedings and we've put together a photo gallery of items that caught our eye at the New Product Showcase tonight as well as some items we were privy to in advance of the show, some of which you may have seen already on our Facebook page.
We'll be following up with additional galleries from the floor as well as other news-worthy happenings at the show throughout the week.
The new craw bait from Big Bite Baits is about as real as it gets. Armed with life-life claws and too many appendages to count, Russ Lane's latest soft plastic design will be a hit among flippers for sure. A new swimming shad-style bait that figures to be lethal in open water or when fishing around weed edges, docks or wherever bass tend to stalk shad.
The tail design is unique in that's not a paddle or boot or fluke-style tail, but it gives the bait a great action whether it's fished weightless or on a belly-weighted hook.
SPRO will introduce five new incredibly detailed color patterns to the its popular Bronzeye Popper family. Pictured are Natural Frog (top), Freak (middle) and Amazon (bottom). Killer Gill and Outback will also be added. In response to a demand for a wider range of colors, Russ Lane's signature series of crankbaits will also be available in several new patterns, including mellow yellow (top), hickory shad (center) and bream bed (bottom). Gamakatsu has given anglers more versatility with its new EWG short-shank treble hook, which will be available in five sizes (#6, #4, #2, #1 and 1/0) and two wire strengths (1x and 2x).
FLW Tour pro Shinichi Fukae helped design the G-Finesse Tournament Snap in an effort to cut down on time spent swapping out hardbaits. Now, anglers don't have to open and close the snap. This will be a must-have for crankers.
John Crews' latest hardbait brainchild is a pure-bred hunter in and around shallow cover.
It's a silent and mostly flat-sided crank built with a wide circuit-board bill that imparts a wicked side-to-side hunting action on the retrieve. It's designed to cover the top 2 feet of the water column so it'll be a go-to option in shallow-water situations.
It's somewhat lighter (3/8 oz.) than Crews' other namesake crankbaits from SPRO and it's most effective when thrown on a medium-action cranking rod. Buck Knives will be introducing the Splizzors multi-tool. It's an American-made, heavy-duty pair of pliers that doubles as shears that will cut through any type of fishing line with ease. Sunline added a colorful twist to its best-selling product without sacrificing performance. While most experienced anglers know that fluorocarbon is less visible under water than nylon or braid, certain colors of fluoro, such as green, are even more difficult to detect when in the water. The new version of Super FC Sniper is already available, but will be officially launched at ICAST.
In addition, Sunline will also introduce a premium fluorocarbon leader as well as Structure FC, an abrasion-resistant fluorocarbon line designed with input from Mike McClelland for use around offshore structure. FLW Tour pro Shin Fukae helped design this hook/rig for finesse anglers looking to deliver a bigger bait down deep. Lunkerhunt won the Best Soft Bait category at ICAST last year with its Bento Baits Minnow. This year, the company has another contender with the Lunker Frog, one of the most life-like frog baits to hit the market. It's equipped with swimming legs that extend during the retrieve and retract on the pause. This 7'7" extra-heavy rod is the centerpiece of G. Loomis' new wave of NRX rods that also include Mag Bass and Spin Jig sticks, along with jig & worm and shaky-head rods.
The rod is rated for 50- to 80-pound braid. By implementing new ‘Termination Zone Technology’ to braid, PowerPro's Zero-Impact microfilament braided line will be available in 20- to 100-pound test strengths - each in 150-, 300- and 500-yards spools - and in both hi-vis yellow and aqua green colors.
What sets Zero-Impact apart from standard braided fishing line is PowerPro engineers were able to make the braid stronger in the ‘termination zones’ by 50 percent.
Every 20 feet, there's a 32-inch long "termination zone" where anglers should tie on their baits, hooks, swivels and not risk losing any line or knot strength. Featuring Jackall’s unique curved lip design, the Kawashi Mikey 140 enables anglers to crank it deep while deflecting off cover and potential snags.
Will be available in six colors (ayu, trout, pink piraruku, black piraruku, jungle and ghost pearl gill). Also features a three-piece jointed body and feathered front and rear trebles. Shimano totally redid the braking system on one of its most popular reels, introducing its SVS Infinity braking system to go along with a weight-reducing carbon frame material that adds rigidity and strength. An external adjustment knob provides for quick, precise adjustments for either the conditions or when you switch baits.
The new CI4+ will be available in right- and left-hand retrieves in 6.2:1 and 7.6:1 gear ratios, the latter of which will bring in 32 inches of line per turn. Leave it to Wiley X to continue setting the pace in the performance sunglass market. The new WX Saint, to be showcased at ICAST, incorporates the glare-cutting polarized performance anglers and outdoorsmen have come to expect from Wiley X along with the versatility of optional lenses to suit various activities.
The WX Saint features advanced Filter 8 polarizing technology built into the lenses, allowing anglers to read the water. The WX Saint also meets the impact standards set for protective military eyewear so anglers can take heart knowing the next time a flying hook, sinker or other debris is headed your way, your eyes will be protected. Featuring blanks manufactured on proprietary mandrels using 40-ton, 12-toe carbon materials that increases strength and power while reducing weight, CastAway has created an attractive and powerful new lineup of rods.
Look for technique-specific models in casting and spinning versions. The Invicta Series will have ALPS Bronze SS316 Stainless/Bronze guides with Zirconium rings and Tour Star/Winn non-slip split grips along with new CastAway/ALPS double-finger, blank-exposed reel seats with double locking hoods. This is the bait Brandon Palaniuk unleashed on the upper Mississippi River smallmouth at the recent Elite Series event in La Crosse, Wis. It's a square-bill crank featuring a circuit board lip and a self-tuning line tie which makes it a true-runner right out of the package.
These are available in four sizes – the Silent Square 3 and 5, the Rattling Flat 7 and the Rattling Deep 10. Packed with the strength of Spiderwire's popular Stealth braid, this line features a UV reflective coating that illuminates it above the water so anglers can track it better. Underwater, it holds a low-vis green color. Should be a great option in stained or muddy water. Will be available in 6, 8, 10, 15, 20, 30, 40, 50, 65 and 80-pound versions. Features 10 bearings and an aluminum spool that can handle 180 yards of 12-pound mono or 210 yards of 14-pound braid. The matte black finish paired with the green highlights make this classic fish catcher an eye catcher as well. It's not a hologram packed inside this crankbait. It's actually three small minnow bodies encapsulated inside to mimic a small school of baitfish. It'll be available in five models (2 cranks, 2 jerbaits, 1 topwater) with four color patterns each. Mustad's popular Grip-Pin series has been expanded to enable swimbait fishermen to rig their baits without worrying about the bait slipping or moving around. Designed for anglers who fish around deep-water cover and other snaggy structure. Its triple-resin coating gives it plenty of abrasion resistance and its small diameter-to-pound-test ratio offers supreme castability and strength in any deep-water situation. Shallow-water anchors have changed the game for tournament and weekend anglers alike. This 12-foot version will allow for better boat control in medium-depth situations. A clever piece of terminal tackle here allows anglers to apply a weed guard to any bait rigged on a jig head. The electronics on today's high-end bass boats just took another leap forward with the introduction of the trolling-motor mountable 360-degree imaging from Humminbird. A new topwater bait from the frog man himself Dean Rojas. The well-known frogger has teamed up with SPRO on another tantalizing walking bait – the Bronzeye Shad 65. The most distinctive feature of the Shad is the rubber-strand tails that are aligned vertically rather than side by side. This design not only gives the fish a different profile to look at when fishing around any sort of cover or in open water, it allows the bait to walk more naturally. The slightest of rod twitches can turn the bait more than 180 degrees in the water. The Bronzeye Shad features a little more slender and deeper body than the popular Bronzeye Frog, which also helps the walking action. Last year, Lew's redid its flagship reel, the BB1. This year, they're adding the BB2 to the family complete with an die-cast aluminum frame with 10 double-shielded bearings and a carbon-composite 14-pound drag system. Will be available in 6.4:1 and 7.1:1 gear ratios as well as a LH version. At 3/4 oz., the Z-Man Quadzilla is light enough to throw on spinning gear and provides the same profile of a larger umbrella rig. The silicone head slides down the arms, making the bait collapsible for easy storage.
It's hard to take your eyes off of this bait, with all the detail and stylings Megabass is known for. The Pony Gabot is designed with a Catamaran Mouth that bites into the water and uses the water resistance as a pivot-point to lift its rear up slightly so it can hit against the surface, resulting in a unique action. It'll be available in 10 different color patterns.
Big Bite Baits Real Deal Craw
Big Bite Baits Real Shad
SPRO Bronzeye Popper (new colors)
SPRO Fat Papa 55 (new colors)
Gamakatsu EWG Short-Shank Treble & G-Lock Tournament Snap
SPRO Baby Fat John 50
Buck Knives Splizzors
Sunline Super FC Sniper (green)
Gamakatsu Swivel Shot Worm Hook
Lunkerhunt Lunker Frog
G. Loomis NRX Umbrella Rig rod
PowerPro Zero-Impact
Jackall's Kawashi Mikey 140 swimbait
Shimano Chronarch CI4+ baitcasting reel
Wiley X Saint
CastAway Graphite Rods Invicta Series
Storm Arashi crankbait
Spiderwire Stealth Glow-Vis Braid
Mitchell 300 Pro spinning reel
LiveTarget Bait Ball
Mustad Grip-Pin Swimbait hook
Sunline Structure FC
MinnKota 12-foot Talon
Creative Fish Slide Off Weed Guard
Humminbird 360 – Trolling Motor mount
SPRO Bronzeye Shad 65
Lew's BB2 baitcasting reel
Z-Man Quadzilla
Megabass Pony Gabot frog
