Orlando, Fla. — America’s largest sportfishing show, the International Convention of Allied Sportfishing Trades (ICAST), ran July 11-14 in Orlando, Fla., and attendees witnessed another remarkable parade of angling innovations.
ICAST is produced by the American Sportfishing Association, a national, nonprofit trade association made up of more than 800 member companies and organizations that share a stake in promoting sportfishing for community and commerce.
This year, the show’s 13,346 attendees came from all 50 U.S. states and Puerto Rico as well as 80 countries. More than 630 exhibitors set up booths inside of the Orange County Convention Center, featuring an astounding array of products from full-size bass and bay boats to camper trucks, live trolling motor demonstrations, lounges, and social hours.
“Best of Show”
Florida-based American Tackle Company took home ICAST’s most prestigious honor, the coveted “Best of Show” award with an all-carbon fishing rod handle, the G2 Tsuka 2 Complete Carbon Handle. The innovative custom rod component beat out a field of more than 1,000 other entries in the ICAST New Product Showcase Awards, coming out on top of 37 other category winners to give rod builders industry bragging rights.
“It’s great to be representing the rest of the custom rod builders and rod component companies in the industry,” said American Tackle Company Vice President Darrin Heim, who noted that the product itself was more than a decade in the making.
See sidebar for the complete list of New Product Showcase category winners.
Top new launches

Minnesota’s own Rapala marked the launch of its new soft/plastics line called CrushCity, designed by pro B.A.S.S. angler Jacob Wheeler. Through months of testing, including tournament settings, the Rapala R&D team, working closely with Wheeler and other pro members, perfected the first five bass baits in the CrushCity lineup: the Bronco Bug, the Freeloader, the Ned BLT, the Cleanup Craw, and the Mayor. While designed for largemouth bass and smallmouth bass, CrushCity soft baits can be used effectively to crush all types of species.
Speaking of Rapala, late in the show, attendees learned that Rapala VMC Corporation and James Coble, current majority shareholder of DQC International, which manufactures and markets 13 Fishing rods and reels, reached an agreement in which Rapala VMC will increase its ownership of DQC International to 60% of the Florida-based company.
Under the agreement, Coble will retain 40% and continue as chief executive officer of 13 Fishing with an emphasis on building the brand and driving new 13 Fishing products into the market.
The Pure Fishing family of brands, which includes Berkley, Fenwick, and Plano, is re-releasing all four lines of Fenwick rods, including World Class, Elite, HMG, and Eagle rods.
Rather Outdoors, including the Lew’s, Strike King, and Zebco brands, introduced a new line of Lew’s baitcast and spinning reels, and combos, called MACH Jacked.
The consortium also introduced the Lew’s American Hero Camo reels and combos that benefit American veterans with a portion of each sale. Learn more at www.lews.com/en/learn/american-hero-program.
Daiwa released a new line of muskie rods called 23 ProRex XT Muskie Series. There’s also a new tackle storage system made out of recycled plastic called D-BOX. Available in a range of sizes and depths, Daiwa’s D-BOX range is made from recycled polypropylene, a low-impact material which delivers no toxic waste, no emissions, no fluorocarbons, and no halogens in its process.
Garmin introduced the new Garmin Force Kraken Trolling Motor in a growing category that saw new releases from Minn-Kota (Instinct) and Power Pole.
Coupled with Garmin’s precise anchor lock technology, Kraken is designed with longer shaft lengths and a pivot-style mount for easy installation on boats where bow space is limited, like skiffs, bay boats, center consoles, and multi-species fishing boats.
Lakewood Products introduced the Swimbait Deposit Box designed for larger, expensive swimbaits with a deep-hanging storage compartment and the box fits easily into deeper boat storage areas.
Exhibiting for the first time at ICAST, Minnesota-based Clam/Blackfish won the Cold Weather Technical Apparel for Men category with the Blackfish Gale Pullover.
Illinois-based Dubro Fishing released its new Dewey Baits, a line of molded soft baits in variety of patterns and colors, and all made in America.

St. Croix Rods, of Park Falls, Wis., released its new line of decades-in-the-making reels called SEV11N. The all-new GS Series spinning reel has been designed to give anglers a smooth, lightweight, rock-solid, and reliably dependable performance for an attractive and competitive retail price of $140. Lightweight and durable, they’re available in five versatile sizes from 750 to 3000 to appeal to a wide range of avid anglers. The St. Croix team engineered GS with a carbon body, side plates, and rotor to maximize rigidity and minimize weight, and rounded out the external design with strong and lightweight aluminum handles and spools.

Kast King has moved into the “intelligent fishing smart reels” arena with the new iReel, which is bluetooth-equipped to connect with a smartphone to track precise casting metrics, including number of casts, average distance, farthest cast, retrieve speed, and more. The iReel IFC reel also features a digital braking system.
The company also unveiled the FishIQ Polarized sunglasses which, in the future, will pair with the iReel with a stat display appearing on the lenses as well as the ability to listen to any audio through the glasses while on the water.
Aqua Vu’s booth stood out on the show floor, as the Minnesota company had the only wheelhouse in attendance at the show. The company introduced its new Multi-View camera that uses Aqua-Vu technology and offers the ability to display on any Lowrance, Humminbird, or Garmin screens that accept video input.
Sunglasses are a quickly growing category with lots of competition and booths on the ICAST floor. Three-year-old Bajio Sunglasses offered sunglass frames for all sizes in both standard and prescription sunglasses.
Z-Man Fishing Products won the Freshwater Hard Lure category with the ChatterBait Elite EVO swimjig.
The 67th ICAST show will occur July 16-19, 2024, at the same location.
2023 ICAST New Product Showcase Best of Category Winners
Novelties and Wellness The GoMist Drink and Misting Bottle – ExtremeMist Personal Cooling Systems
Motorized Boating Accessories PowerPole Move ZR – Power-Pole
Non-Motorized Boating Accessory Bote Water Hammock – Bote
Boats and Watercraft Old Town Sportsman BigWater ePDL + 132 – Johnson Outdoors Watercraft
Footwear Ankle Deck Boots – Black – AFTCO
Ice Fishing LiveScope Plus Ice Fishing Bundle LI – Garmin USA
Eyewear King Tide 8, Black 580G Blue Mirror – Costa Sunglasses
Lifestyle Apparel for Women Women’s Coverup Dress – Huk Performance Fishing
Lifestyle Apparel for Men Ocean Bound Hooded Performance Shirt – AFTCO
Warm Weather Technical Apparel for Women Mojeaux 1/4 Zip Performance Shirt – AFTCO
Warm Weather Technical Apparel for Men Channel Hooded Performance Shirt – AFTCO
Cold Weather Technical Apparel for Women Women’s Barricade Rain Suit – AFTCO
Cold Weather Technical Apparel for Men Gale Pullover – Blackfish Gear
Soft and Hard Coolers Flop Box 10 – Flop Industries
Electronics Westin EscapeCam – Westin Fishing
Cutlery, Hand Plies or Tools Pro Series Smart Fish Scale – BUBBA
Fishing Accessory Rechargeable Lithium-Ion XL Live Bait Aerator Pump – ENGEL Coolers
Kids’ Tackle ProFISHiency Next Gen Crazy Combo – Anything Possible Brands
Tackle Management Pontoon Boat Tackle Center – Boat Outfitters
Terminal Tackle VMC Swingin’ Ned Rig Jig – Rapala
Custom Tackle and Components Tsuka 2 Complete Carbon Handle – American Tackle Company
Fishing Line Mastiff Fluorocarbon – Shimano
Fly Fishing Waders & Wading Boots G4Z Stockingfoot Wader – Simms Fishing Products
Fly Lines, Leaders, Tippet and Line Accessories BUZBE Colony 8T (THIN) – BUZBE
Fly Fishing Packs, Bags & Luggage Flyweight Vest Pack – Simms Fishing Products
Fly Fishing Technical Apparel Master M6014 Edition – Renzetti
Fly Fishing Reel Cheeky Spray Fly Reel – Cheeky Fishing
Fly Fishing Rod Hardy Marksman Z – Pure Fishing
Freshwater Soft Lure Berkley PowerBait Nessie – Pure Fishing
Saltwater Soft Lure Mulletron LT (Line Through) Swimbait – Z-Man Fishing Products
Freshwater Hard Lure ChatterBait Elite EVO – Z-Man Fishing Products
Saltwater Hard Lure MIrrOlure The Duke Dog – L&S Bait Co.
Freshwater Rod St. Croix Mojo Bass TRIGON – St. Croix Rods
Saltwater Rod NRX+ Inshore – Shimano
Rod & Reel Combo Abu Garcia ZATA Baitcast Combo – Pure Fishing
Freshwater Reel Stradic FM – Shimano
Saltwater Reel Seapower 1200 – Daiwa Corp.