ICAST is the vehicle for participating manufacturers to release news and information regarding planned products for the upcoming year. Many of the representatives of these manufacturers are also affiliated with other companies who have something in the works but weren’t quite ready in time to participate in the big event.

Many of these individuals have befriended us and can’t wait to see us at this or any other show so that they can give us a peak at what’s in the works. 90% of these peaks are off the record so we can’t share them with all of you until it is safe for the manufacturer in question to release said information.

This past year, we got a peak at a couple of items that we are free to share…

Coming soon from Bass Patrol - a swiveling hook jighead

This head will be released in multiple colors

Progress is quick with this new Bass Patrol offering. Just days before ICAST, we received a spy-cam image of the prototype for this jighead – unfinished and with a generic brand hook. At ICAST we were shown these intricate, finished colors and the heads featured what looked to be hooks by Gamakatsu. The last detail is still under negotiations, but that’s how quickly things are progressing. There’s no official release date but at this rate, we expect to see this product very soon on tackle store shelves and pegboards…. stay tuned.

For this next item, all we are allowed to share is the photo… no explanation of what to expect, and no explanation of when. Just look and develop your own conclusions:

what makes this product exciting? we know, but we can't tell you.

Stay tuned as we sift through more photos in an effort to bring you the unofficial word from this year’s ICAST.

TackleTour is in full ICAST mode as we are set to depart in just four short days to Las Vegas where we’ll be be pounding the showroom floor and our keyboards enroute to bringing you the best coverage we possibly can. Even with North America’s biggest tackle show of the year less than a week away, product continues to appear at TT headquarters as manufacturers compete for our time and attention.

Less than a month ago, we brought you our review of Paycheck Bait’s versatile Punch Skirt and just this morning, we received a box of new product from this aggressive young company, but are any of these items as exciting as their debut product?

Repo Man: It’s no secret that PayCheck Baits has garnered the rights to most all of the former Reaction Innovations non-soft bait products. First it was the flipping hook, now it’s the topwater bait. That’s right, the Vixen is back, but it’s undergone a gender change and is now known as the Repo Man. Packed with VMC hooks and available in six different colors, the Repo Man is shipping to retailers now with an MSRP of $16.99.

Baby Blue

Dead Man Walking

Blow Up

Sweaty Betty

Bone Crusher

Drag Stripper

Punch Stop: Finally, the punch stops are ready. These stops are larger than those Bub Tosh showed us during our on the water introduction to his product last July, and they appear significant enough to where you will not need to double stop your tungsten weight. If it ever warms up enough here in Northern California, we’ll be sure to verify, but it looks like the production version of the Punch Stop can handle stopping duties solo. The Punch Stop is shipping to stores immediately and retails for $3.99 per pack of 10 individual stops.

The Punch Stops Are Ready

And will retail for 3.99 per pack

Rubber Skirts: The answer to our first question of whether or not there was anything in the box as exciting as their debut product can be answered with a “yes!”. Although technically this last item is merely an enhancement of the original Punch Skirt, the fact that the Punch Skirt is now available in living rubber is pretty exciting. There are two colors, Nasty Nate (black), and Dirty Money (brown) and right out of the package, these skirts flare much more actively than their silicone counterparts -- a prelude to the same added bulk and pulsing action jigs made out of this same material have over the same silicone skirt counterparts. The new Round Rubber Punch Skirts are also shipping to stores now and will sell for $3.99 per two pack.

Rubber Punch Skirts!

These are a lot livelier than the silicone version

And just a tad larger too

But hang on, there is “One” more bait coming… Bub promises to show us this bait at ICAST. In fact, when we announced our “Search For One” theme this year, Bub must have been paying attention because this new bait is appropriately named “The One”. Any guesses as to what it might be? Well, if you paid attention to last year’s preview, you’ll remember there was one prototype bait Zander was throwing and got mugged with. Do you remember? Well, here’s a reminder:

At about 4:15pm Pacific Daylight Time, a little over six hours ago, what most people anywhere near Clear Lake already knew became official: Byron Velvick had won the 2010 Golden State Shootout on Clear Lake. The California Native brought the trophy home in exciting wire-to-wire fashion. Of course, what our readers care about most may not necessarily be the fact that Velvick took home the prize, but rather, what new and yet to be released tackle was he using?

Already reported last night on TackleTour.com was the bait Velvick was using to build on his lead, the brand new Rago BV (Byron Velvick) 3D hitch bait designed specifically for Clear Lake by Velvick and Jerry Rago. In fact, we previewed this bait back in October of 2009: http://www.tackletour.com/previewragobassjam.html

Today, we caught up with Velvick after he signed his last autograph and the crowds had cleared for an up close look at his new rods, the Duckett Fishing Micro Magic sticks. Here now is an exclusive first peak at what’s brewing over at Duckett Fishing!

Introducing Duckett Fishing's Micro Magic Sticks

Each stick will feature an exposed blank reel seat, no foregrip, and split rear grip

Speculation was for a split reel seat similar to Duckett's former rod sponsor, e21, but instead, Duckett's new sticks will feature a standard, exposed blank seat

Cork is the material of choice for the split rear grip

Custom accent rings adorn the rod as well

But of course the big news comes in a very small package ...

Micro Guides

Congratulations Byron Velvick on an incredible job swinging for the fences and delivering!

The talk of the weigh-in by all the pros was the swimbait bite, but what will interest our readers the most is what we just showed you, Velvick’s new magic wand built by Boyd Duckett and Ken Whiting, founders of Duckett Fishing. He may not have been using these sticks exclusively, afterall, the new Micro Magic swimbait sticks are still in prototype stages, but Velvick tells us the rods are very close to completion.

You may already be aware that the annual Southern California event held by Angler’s Marine, the Bass-A-Thon, is not being held this year. Last year was TackleTour’s first trip to that event and we were all prepped and ready to go again when we were informed in late August that it had been cancelled. Needless to say, we were disappointed.

But where one event is cancelled, the opportunity for another to rise and perhaps take its place arises, and that is exactly what is happening. That’s right, the folks at MonsterFishingTackle.com and Marine Unlimited have gotten together to create the inaugural Northern California equivelant of the Bass-A-Thon and have dubbed it, Bass Jam ‘09!

Following in the tradition of the former Southern California event, Bass Jam ‘09 already has confirmed several big bait manufacturers including Black Dog Baits, JSJ Baits, Rago Baits, Mattlures, AC Plugs, Tylure, and many more yet to be announced. Confirmed seminars will be held by the likes of Brent Ehrler, Ish Monroe, Cody Meyer, Jerry Rago, Bub Tosh, and Aaron Coleman, and this list is also not yet complete.

The event will be held at the future home of Outdoor Pro Shop and Monster Fishing Tackle at 412 Houser Street, Cotati, CA 94931. The dates are November 14-15, 2009. For more information on this event, visit http://www.bassjam09.com/.

In the meantime, you can be sure the TT boys are packing their bags in preparation to cover the event. See you there!

It’s official… one of these “fish” I’m holding up is now available for purchase at a special introductory price. Can you guess which one?

They are available in 4 different colors with three different sink rates. Normally a bait this detailed and this carefully built would retail for at least $80 if not over $100. But not this bait.

Any guesses as to the insane price of this lure? How about half a c-note?!?

Just a few short weeks ago I vacationed with my wife and kids in Disneyworld. This was our second time there and anyone who’s ever been there, or really, to any of the Disney theme parks knows about the Disney experience. They waste no expense to ensure you feel the magic during your stay and they do a darn good job of it too.

It’s not just about the attractions, the park, the characters, shows, etc.. But everything from the cleanliness of the parks, to the landscaping, to the attention to detail in each of the themed buildings and sections of the park, to the availability of snacks and drinks, to keeping you interested and entertained while you’re waiting in line for a ride.

If you can put aside the cost of getting into the park, and the relative expense of the snacks, food, and drink once you are inside, it’s difficult not to have a good time at a Disney park and it can all be encapsulated by one of their theme songs, “When You Wish Upon A Star”.

Just yesterday, we spent the day at a local theme park to celebrate the 4th of July and having just come back from our immersive experience at Disneyworld a couple of weeks ago, it was difficult not to draw comparisons with what we were experiencing… drab looking buildings, rides that rose out of the landscape with little to no decor built around them, un-motivated employees, very slow moving lines from inefficient workflows loading and unloading patrons, barely audible music from poor quality speakers, half the food vendors were closed… What’s more, there were a couple of attractions at the park that you had to pay EXTRA for in order to ride. What’s up with that? My $50 entry fee was supposed to cover all rides and attractions wasn’t enough? (Yes, I remember the days when even at Disneyland, you had to buy a book of tickets after paying to get into the park that granted you access to the rides. That’s where the whole term “an E-ticket” ride spawned from, but we are well past those days) I mean, don’t get me wrong, the kids still had a good time, but it just wasn’t Disney, you know?

Certainly there are those who could really care less for the Disney experience. “Just give me the rides without the lines and added expense,” they say. And for those people, parks like those we visited yesterday suit just fine. Certainly not I. I prefer the escape from the everyday routine and the immersive experience Disney works so hard at affording us and I really appreciate their efforts.

Is it any wonder then, my affinity for enthusiast tackle? Sure I can fish with a standard, no frills rod and reel combo devoid of the decorative highlights, fancy handles, and high end components, but why?

That’s just not how I dream, and it’s just not Disney.

Wood.

I don’t know what it is about wood cranks, but they’ve always held a certain favor with me over their plastic counterparts. Sure you get more consistency from bait to bait and better casting performance with plastic baits – and a lot of times you can save some money with them too, but the idea of fishing something someone has hand carved and painted for you just holds a different appeal. It’s similar to my affinity for the finely detailed and crafted JDM fishing rods I suppose.

In the midst of our Year of the Crank coverage on TackleTour, we have quite a list of baits we hope to write up this year. Among those baits is a custom made wood crank out of North Carolina crafted by a fellow by the name of Kelly Barefoot. Custom Lures Unlimited is the name of his company and among his collection of products is a new crank, the Ikon, something that has been in development for over five years.

The detailing of this crank is extraordinary and those who appreciate this kind of craftsmanship will be drawn in quite easily. Barefoot follows up this intricately carved blank with equally intricate and intriguing finishes – finishes that the customer is afforded the opportunity to custom tweak and specify. Try that with Lucky Craft.

The baits aren’t cheap, but considering the labor involved, they’re not outrageous either. With a list price of $25 for a standard color and just $5 more for a custom finish, the Ikon is a bait worth some serious consideration.

I’ve been waiting to get back on a shallow crank bite out on the Delta or up at Clear Lake so I can put these baits through the wringer, but the weather has been crazily inconsistent this Spring in Northern California, so success has been somewhat difficult to come by not to mention time on the water. And guess what? Summer is just around the corner.

For now, it’s back in the test bait box for my collection of Ikons, but I thought I’d get the word out sooner for a bait that’s showing a lot of promise so far. Wood cranks will continue to hold a special place with me and the Ikon is going to get an extended opportunity to stay on my good side.

By the end of this year, custom rod builders and customers throughout the world will lose one of the most highly regarded blanks in the industry. In a news release dated April 23, 2009, G.Loomis, long considered the industry benchmark for rods in North America, announced their decision to exit the custom rod blank business so they can focus on expanding their finished rods business globally.

It was just a few short years ago, where I was quite excited over the fact G.Loomis made the decision to re-release a small selection of their GLX blanks and was hoping they’d expand the selection someday to include the BCR blanks as well as the MBR842 (one of my absolute favorite rods in their lineup). But instead, today we find out quite the opposite is true

In the press release, Bruce Holt, executive director at G.Loomis made the following statement:

“This is a very difficult decision for all of us here at G.Loomis, especially since making custom rod blanks for steelhead anglers was how we got our start as a fishing tackle company back in the ‘80’s. While we realize there’s an avid following among custom rod makers for our blanks, the growth we’ve experienced on a worldwide basis for our finished rods – and especially our fly rods with both fly tackle dealers in the U.S. and abroad – makes this the right decision and direction for our business success in the future.”

The company has invested in upgrades to their Woodland, WA facility and in training for current staff in an effort to make improvements in all areas of the company. Holt continued in his statement by adding, “Our production plans include manufacturing custom rod blanks through the end of 2009, and then our complete focus will be on finished rods. Our efforts at the plant over the past few months and this decision to exit the custom blank business prepares us well for when the global economy rebounds.”

So where does that leave the custom rod builder and customer? St. Croix, Phenix Rods, Lamiglas, among a select few others will hopefully continue to offer their blanks to those who prefer to roll their own, but the loss of G.Loomis in this market segment will be significant. Personally, I’m more than just a little disappointed. Considering how conservative G.Loomis has remained with their finished rod designs, the custom wrapping route was the next best alternative to having a very stylish rod built on one of their blanks. Now that they are abandoning this segment, and removing this option, it may be time I abandon their product all together until they update some of their designs – at the very least, remove the foregrips on their bass rods.

Well, if in the past G.Loomis can re-release their GLX blanks, maybe at some point in the future, they’ll find the resources to back up on this decision as well and reopen the doors to the custom market. For now, it’s on to other resources.