Paddle up a winner

ICAST’s top honor goes to an Old Town kayak

Something’s fishy when Christmas comes in July, and for many it is the annual ICAST (International Convention of the Allied Sportfishing Trades) show. ICAST 2014 was held in Orlando, Fla., and a spokesman for the American Sportfishing Association said it was the largest yet, both in attendance and the size of the show floor. It certainly was very impressive, with lots of new products, remakes of current products and spiffed up long-time favorites to be seen.

Manufacturers of any products related to sportfishing are eligible to exhibit at ICAST and many do. More than a half-million feet of show floor, plus seminar and presentation areas on other floors filled the convention center. I spoke with several acquaintances who had come, trying to see the entire show in a day, and we laughed at their folly. I was there all three days and missed a few booths I wanted to see and people I wanted to speak with. Take my word for it; this show is huge.

ICAST is only open to dealers, distributors, buyers and the press. Some products displayed are so new they are actually the final prototype and won’t be available until at least the fall and some not until the first of the year.

This year, 253 companies entered 700 new products in 24 categories of the New Products Showcase. It is the focal point for many in attendance and gives some insight into the focus of the movers and shakers in the tackle industry. In addition to awards in individual categories, a much-coveted “Best of Show” award is given.

It’s apparent that something is afoot in the tackle and accessory industry. High-end products generate plenty of interest, but for the past four years, the New Products Showcase has been dominated by kayaks and paddling accessories. This year’s “Best of Show” award went to the Predator XL from the Old Town division of Johnson Outdoors Watercraft.

Old Town also won the “Best Boat” category, with the Predator 13 in 2013. JL Industries’ Hobie brand won the “Best Boat” and “Best of Show” awards in 2011 and 2012 with its Pro Angler 14 and Pro Angler 12 kayaks and “Best of Show” in 2013 for the Power-Pole Micro, which was designed for kayaks and micro skiffs. There is definitely a trend here.

The Predator XL Kayak (www.predatorkayak.com) is the latest in a series of fishing kayaks from Old Town. The primary highlight of the Predator XL is the modular console system in front of the fisherman. The Minn-Kota Console was featured at ICAST, and it offers complete hands-free navigation and trolling with a specially engineered Minn-Kota electric trolling motor with 45 pounds of variable thrust.

Two optional consoles are the Utility Console, a removable sonar-electronics management system, and the Exo-Ridge Console, a flush-mount insert to open up the deck for wide-open, big-game fishing. Other innovations are a new seat with multiple positions, plus storage and changes to the deck.

Hobie introduced the big brother to the Pro Angler line, the Pro Angler Tandem, a 17-foot vessel that was the longest item in the show, with the exception of the yellowfin tuna green sticks in the Electric Fishing Reel Systems of Greensboro booth. The new Hobie is 43 inches wide and has a capacity of 900 pounds, which gives it a higher rating than many small john boats.

Engel Coolers (www.engle-usa.com) also displayed several neat new items, with a couple of cooler/storage boxes and the UC 30 cooler with rod holdlers that won a Best of Tackle Management award. Their amplified cooler must be seen to be believed. It links by Bluetooth to a smart phone for play lists and operating control. While the interior size is reduced a little, the amplified cooler can still be used to carry food and drink.

It wasn’t in the New Products Showcase, but Engel also debuting its Express Angler Stand Up Paddleboard. It features the same composition as the company’s coolers and includes a recessed well designed to fit the Engel UC13 cooler/dry box. Multiple tie-down options on the deck allow a paddleboarder to secure tackle, rods, reels or an Engel UC 30 cooler with rod holders that can be used as tackle storage, a live-bait well, a seat or fish storage.

Several tackle and accessory companies from North Carolina had displays at ICAST, and a few had products in the New Product Showcase.

Balloon Fisher King (www.balloonfisherking.com) of Wilmington makes clips that hold balloons and easily attach to fishing line to allow using balloons for flotation when using large baits. Its new product should have been a category winner but wasn’t. The BFK Night Fisher packages include small, glow-stick chemical light tubes for each balloon. The glow stick is activated and slipped into the balloon before inflation, illuminating the balloon, allowing fishermen to know where their lines are and if a float is being pulled under or run away with.

Betts Tackle (www.bettstackle.net) of Fuquay-Varina introduced its latest soft-plastic shrimp, the Billy Bay Perfect Sinker Shrimp that was designed with the weight moved a little to the rear so the shrimp sinks more slowly in a natural, horizontal position. It comes with the hook and sinker molded in to eliminate the guesswork of where it should go. This shrimp should be deadly fished under a popping or rattling cork.

Dry Case (www.drycase.com) is a Wilmington company that began by making dry cases for cell phones, iPods and such. They had some new and larger waterproof cases at ICAST for devices up to iPad size. The company’s new Basin and Brunswick roll-up waterproof backpacks and a new small, floating, waterproof speaker called the DryVIBES caught my attention. The Basin comes with removable suction cups and can be suction-mounted to SUPs and kayaks. The Brunswick is a slightly different backpack that is available in Mossy Oak camouflage and must be bungeed to a SUP or kayak.

I usually don’t care for music while fishing, but the DryVIBES speaker caught my attention. This small speaker sounds really good, is waterproof, floats and links to a wide variety of sources by Bluetooth. It also has a suction cup so you can place it where you want it.

Z Man Lures (www.zmanfishing.com) from Charleston, S.C., has built a great reputation for soft plastics with their proprietary material called ElaZtech, which is amazingly durable and flexible. ElaZtech has one other feature that most soft lure materials don’t: it floats. Z Man took full advantage of that feature with the PopshadZ.

The PopshadZ was designed to be fished on the surface in weedy areas for bass, stripers, redfish and speckled trout. A PopshadZ will float a 5/0 wide-gap worm hook, and the point can be tagged just under the skin to make it weedless. It looks enough like the fat, fall mullet that fish should whack them, and fishermen should be able to “walk the dog” with it they way they do hard-plastic topwaters.