W2F Blog

We always like catching up with our friends at Jackall at ICAST. They always have some cool new technology introduced in their baits, and this year it was something called I-Motion. The concept is to naturally mimic a baitfish that is not threatened. A minnow when it swims has almost no noticable side-to-side movement.

For those that missed it, our buddy Dan O'Sullivan from BassWest Magazine shot a series of photos Greg Hackney retrieving a snagged crankbait during the Hope for Warriors tournament on The Waters. Hackney hooked a bass that took him under a dock and snagged his prototype Strike King crankbait. So he decided it was time to get his bait back.

We like to put up our own original material as much as possible on the blog, but some things are just too good not to share. A buddy sent this to us from CNN. It was filmed down in Georgia. The video is amazing but his final quote was the best.

Serious anglers tend to be gadget geeks. We certainly are. So we like a lot of detail oriented products even those somewhat ancillary to the act of fishing.

There are many great sunglasses companies out there but one in particular had a lot of great new offerings for the upcoming year. Costa (aka Costa Del Mar) unveiled several new frames at ICAST a few weeks ago. Most of the fanfare, other than their wicked cool booth, was centered around their new 580P lens.

Just a little Smoke from ICAST 2010.

Quantum has stepped up their game the last few years. They have one of the top prostaffs in bass fishing, and their new products are reflecting the quality of experience from that group. They have ultra-passionate product managers like Chris Strickland. And with names like Greg Hackney, Gary Klein, Shaw Grigsby, Tommy Biffle and oh yeah that KVD fella giving you input on what's good and bad about a reel or rod, a smart company like Quantum has got it dialed in.

Here's a quick video we shot in the driveway to help you improve your dock fishing. One key to effectively fishing docks is getting your baits as far up under the docks as possible. One way you can do this is by using the bottom of the dock to pendulum your bait up off the water so it has more air time. Check out this short video to see what we mean.

Al Lindner and the Angling Edge team will be filming for their 41st year of television fishing instruction in 2011. And they’ve partnered with Quantum for their rods and reels of choice.

NetBait sort of changed how people looked at craw trailers when they introduced the Paca Craw several years back. They are hoping to do the same with some new shapes for 2011.

We always like seeing what the gang from Normark cooks up from year to year. They are "fish heads" like us and they make some of the most popular baits out there through brands like Rapala, Luhr Jensen, Storm, Terminator, Sufix and Trigger X.

We visited with FLW Tour pro Ray Scheide for a bit in the Denali Custom Fishing Rods booth at ICAST last week. He was anxious to show off the new rods he's been fishing this season on the FLW Tour. And it was interesting to hear how Scheide got hooked up with Denali.

A friend sent this to me. Apparently Mitchum (the folks who make that green deodorant) are having a contest to see who the hardest working folks in America are. 

The POMA/ASA Homer Circle Fishing Communicator Award recognizes a journalist who exemplifies the spirit, dedication to fishing, extraordinary talent, and commitment to mentoring the next generation of sportfishing communicators as displayed by Homer Circle during his storied career.

Pinnacle has been in the game for a long time but they really haven't brought much to the market in recent years until now. They've been known more for their mid-range budget reels but now they are introducing some exciting new tournament-tested rods and reels for the more avid anglers.

Long overdue for a new look, the berkley-fishing.com website was recently overhauled. The new bold look is worth angler's time to check out.

Every year there are certain tackle trends that expose themselves at ICAST. This year I noticed several trends but not all of them necessarily new in regards to the type of tackle being offered by manufacturers.

Plano makes the analytical side of all us fishermen fun. The side of us gear junkies that wants to quantify, qualify and categorize every bait we have so we can reach it in an instant while we're out chasing little green fish.

The new EGO S2 net is worth a look. It's got the cool factor for a net and we love the colors. Another reason we thought this net was pretty cool was Terry had some input on the early stages of the design.

We got to spend a few minutes visiting with Patrick Sebile. He as always talked with a genuine passion for fishing.

Check out this new hook from Mustad called the KVD GRIP-PIN (38101BLN). It's got a barb keeper to hold plastics locked on the neck of the hook. Van Dam and Brauer were both pretty excited about the hook.That keeper barb, strong wire and sharp point will make that hook a staple in a lot of tackle boxes.

There is no official award for best booth at ICAST, but if there was we'd certainly have given the award to Costa Del Mar. The story of the booth is as cool as the booth itself.

We expect big things from Power Team Lures. They are litterally just a few months old and after seeing their lures in the tanks we know they are going to make a big impact with anglers.

We stopped and talked to Brett Ware, owner of TightLines. His company entered the market about a year ago with a line of baits that reflect Ultraviolet light. It was very interesting to hear the science behind his baits.

Koppers Live Target Lures continue to impress with their offerings. Their entire product line is not just cool shapes and colors and paint jobs. It's matching the right profile to the right color pattern for the most realistic presentation you can have.

Freshwater Rods – GLoomis NRX (OVERALL BEST OF SHOW)

G.Loomis won Overall Best of Show at ICAST 2010 for their new line of G.Loomis NRX rods. Light and sensitive the rods look amazing but the $500 price tag will keep a lot of us at bay.

Sunline makes some of the best fishing line on the market. Just look at how successful their prostaff is using their line and we can attest to its quality having used it for several years now.

Lazer Trokar hooks really were a big hit last year at ICAST. This year the terminal tackle market was very competitive with something like 208 new products introduced in the new product showcase.

We've known about the Talon for several months and even had the engineers up at Wired2Fish offices going through the product several months ago. So we've anxiously been waiting for the product to come to market.

Capatilizing on what you do well is the not-so-secret to any successful business. Big Bite Baits makes several great products but their finesse products particularly have done well like the Squirrell Tail worms and the Cane Sticks.

Spro has a fun prostaff and we like to talk shop with those guys because they are really into bait building. They make great baits and this year a lot of what they offered was new sizes that give you another, possibly more effective in certain situations, option when fishing. But they also had a few new cool introductions.

Strike King has arguably won of the largest cult followings in fishing tackle save maybe Zoom plastics or Rapala hardbaits. The make so many good products along so many lines that it's hard not to be attracted to them as a whole.

Bandit Lures makes some awesome, affordable, crazy-colored crankbaits that are equally good for bass fishing as they are for crappie trolling. The crankbaits are solid producers in that 5-10 foot range that a lot anglers overlook.

Bomber, Xcalibur and Yum have been staples among serious bass anglers and we always look forward to seeing their new products.

Damiki recently signed on as a partner with FLW Outdoors and their products have slowly started to gain momentum in the U.S. But with their new product offerings that foothold is about to get a lot stronger.

Abu Garcia has been a standard in reels for a long time, and since the introduction of the Revo, has really been making some noise in the more sleeker, trendy, but premium low-profile, quality reels. Recently they introduced rods like the Vendetta.

Reels

The first person we ran into this morning was Skeet Reese in the Wright & McGill booth. We talked reels first. We picked up the spinning reel and it felt like quality in your hand. It's got a sleek design, and it has feels solid and smooth. The oversized handle is a blessing.

Our anticipation is building for ICAST 2010. We're all hopping on planes in MN, IL and KY to head to Las Vegas tomorrow. ICAST is always a lot of fun because it's a reunion of sorts with all our friends in the fishing industry. Tackle reps, pros, and media will all be there and it's  a very electric fun atmosphere.

Welcome to our Wired2Fish Blog. And by "our blog", we mean yours and ours together. We make this site for the die-hard passionate anglers out there. We're going to talk about anything and everything related to our favorite sport here, and it's going to supplement all the great information you get from Wired2Fish.com through What's Up, Next Generation Tackle Box, Unplugged, Wired Media, Radio and more. You'll get a lot more as-it-happens information from events like ICAST, the Forrest Wood Cup, and the Bassmaster Classic as well as on the water with the pros at Writer's events, tournaments and just out fun fishing.