Word continues to trickle in post ICAST regarding companies’ new products and colors for the coming seasons. Shortly after our return from Vegas, we received a message from our friends over at Reaction Innovations regarding their plans for 2011.

First up are two new colors for their popular 6.5″ Flirt Worm or Big Flirt. Road Kill is a sort of dark green pumpkin with no flake. Those who remember the “green weenie” craze back in the late 80’s will like this color. Though not as translucent as the “original green weenie”, this color is very similar.

The second new color for the 6.5″ Flirt is Payback. Payback can be described as a having a brown/cinnamon back and a deep purple belly with green flakes.

Brand new for the coming year will be the Big Dipper. Sibling to the Skinny Dipper and Little Dipper, the Big Dipper is a six inch bait with a much slimmer profile than the other two swimbait bodies. It features the same slit belly and ribbed sides, will be available in ten colors initially, and will retail for $6.25 per 4 pack.

Nothing ground breaking for Reaction Innovations in the coming year, but we welcome extensions to tried and true lineups.

With the micro-guided fishing rod craze in full effect, fishermen from all around who are accustomed to fishing braid with a fluoro, mono, or copoly leader are bemoaning the fact their favorite line setups won’t work with these diminutive guides. We’ve been fishing micro-guided rods since the Fall of 2009 and thanks to the folks over at Hi’s Tackle Box, we’ve been fishing them with braided line and a fluoro leader. I’ve mentioned this in virtually all micro-guided rod reviews to date yet readers are still questioning the method, so we went to the source to show just how they tie the knot and how small it can get WITH the aid of a special tool. Check out the video:

The bonus Miller Knot demonstration is for those looking for a new knot to use with fluorocarbon lines. We’re getting ready to update our Fluorocarbon Showdown from several years ago and plan to put this knot to the test in the coming months, but so far on the water, it’s been proving very effective. But one thing is for sure, if long range fisherman can depend on this knot to use in their connections when fishing for tuna, you know it’s going to hold up to bass fishing.

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.

We’re buys downloading images and working up the first few articles to go up tonight. In the meantime, here are my impressions from Day 1 at ICAST 2010…

Micros … Just about every rodnmanufacturer is jumping on the Micro guide bandwagon and many of them seem to be doing itnpurely out of peer pressure… When we explain to them our personal experience on the water hope is restored in their eyes.

Daiwa … My biggest personal disappointment… No zaion inspired Zillion, no PX68, and no Z2020 … Instead Daiwa USA concentrated on saltwater again this year and while their new offerings are worthwhile, I think neglecting the hungry freshwater reel market is a mistake especially with the strides made by Quantum and Pinnacle this year.

Shimano … The Scorpion 1000/1001 XT is coming to the US branded as the Curado 50/51 but even more exciting is the new Stella!!

Evergreen International… FINALLY!? Or maybe not …. They have a full blown pro staff team and they had an i impressive booth at the show, but they are still carefully calculating just how to enter the US market….

Quantum… One word, Smoke … Stay t uned for our writeup… It’ll be worth the wait… Quantum is ready for prime time!

Pinaccle … This Korean based rod and reel manufacturer is poised to make so me noise especially with their rods…

G.Loomis … We posted this on Facebook… Anyone who had given up on the G.Loomis brand had better take a second look… Price not withstanding, the NRX rods have a fantastic feel to them.

Kistler Custom Rods… Zbone is taking over the brand and Kistler will be bu ilsing several stock line of rods u under the Zbone monicker all on North Fork Composite Blanks AND with an over the counter warranty!

Skeet Reese … Skeet has made the move to Wright and McGiill for his new line of bait casting and Spinning reels but the real news may be. In his new combo for kids!

That’s all for now… Time to get back to our full articles and photos… Hang onas we’re almost ready to. Post our first article!

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:

I was talking to everyone’s favorite TT Girl earlier today sharing greetings and catching up on the haps. When I mentioned to her the TT Crew is busy preparing to head to Vegas next week, she pulled out her calendar to check the dates!

I told her it’d be quite difficult to get any work done with her alongside us as I can name, off the top of my head, at least six (and probably more) individuals that would be doing their best to occupy all her time. She let out a wry smile.

Just the same, she’s very anxious to check out ICAST in person and not only witness first hand the frenzy that surrounds the TT Crew every time we walk into the booth, but to actively contribute to that frenzy in her own special way.

What do you think? Is ICAST ready for an appearance from Ms. Casey?

The more exotic, high end reels I handle, the more de-synthesized I become and the harder it is for me to get excited over something new. Add to that the price gap we are now experiencing between the USDM and JDM counterpart reels and it’s just difficult to want to spend the dollars to import a new reel.

Imagine my surprise on the latest visit to my local tackle store, Hi’s Tackle Box where I was quickly shuttled to the back room to be shown a cache of JDM product.

The shining beacon in this collection? A left handed Ryoga 1016HL.

The Pluton is easily one of my favorite reels from Daiwa’s lineup and this new smaller size version may have won my “Search For One” this year. There’s just something about the purity of round reels that I love.

With ICAST fast approaching, one can only speculate whether Daiwa will be bringing this reel to the US. I imagine they will. But for those who cannot wait for ICAST or our eventual review, grab one now before they are too hard to get!

Juggling two themes at once (2009’s Crankbait Rod Wars & 2010’s The Search For One) can get a bit confusing, but what helps to clear the fog are products that excite that enthusiast spirit in us all. Though I’m still fishing some domestic flavored product for the sake of TackleTour, I’ve more or less rededicated myself to what brought me here and that’s the tackle products from other markets. In any other industry, these are referred to simply as grey market items but here on TackleTour, it’s all about enthusiasm and that special niche of tackle that inspires an inexplicable excitement – or – enthusiasm.

Earlier this year, we previewed some items from just across our northern border.. Rapala Canada’s new line of bass rods. I’ve since had a chance to fish some of these sticks and initial impressions are all very good. Of particular note are the R-Type sticks… In our January preview, we were only able to share their musky sticks from this lineup, but I’ve since acquired a couple of their split grip bass rods including a two-piece travel stick and boy, for right around $100 Canadian, these are some fun sticks to fish! And don’t forget, even the top end Shift rods are only $179 Canadian.

These might not have quite the same aura and back story as the sticks from Japan, but when our reviews on these two sticks are done, I predict there will be a fair number of tackle junkies ready to drive across the border to import these value driven, enthusiasm inspiring sticks. Oh Canada!!

Naturally we have a review already in the works on the new Velvick 3D by Rago Baits, but with the buzz surrounding Velvick’s Golden State Shootout Win on Clear Lake yesterday, I thought I’d put up some sneak peak looks at this bait designed especially for Clear Lake by both Jerry Rago and Byron Velvick. They’ve been at this for several years and finally all their hard work paid off. This bait features a line through design with an exposed treble, but when rigged correctly is virtually weedless. Here’s a closer look at the bait together with a closer look of the very bait Velvick was throwing during the tournament.

Looks like the swimbait revolution just received some serious reinforcements as it does every year when a big organization like BASSMASTERS comes out west. Who said swimbaits have to be a trout? Match the hatch with large baitfish in your area and you could very well experience some of the same success as Byron Velvick.

Better yet, want to get your hands on some? Try here:

MonsterFishing Tackle

and here:

TackleWarehouse

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.

At times, even more enjoyable than learning about something new and innovative in the tackle industry is the opportunity to meet and get to know the people behind the scenes. In this age of the Internet, a lot of times, face to face meetings come only after several years of corresponding via email or over the phone, and even more common are the occurrences where a chance to shake hands and say hello never materialize. Geographic obstacles are, afterall, still very difficult to overcome.

Nevertheless, whether the handshake greeting eventually occurs or not, bonds are made, friendships are formed, and relationships are sometimes built that extend beyond just doing business. TackleTour has afforded me the opportunity to build many such bonds over the years presenting an interesting dilemma when my job is to call it as I see it or fish it. The solid relationships withstand this test and a few even relish in the honesty no matter the outcome positive or negative.

It saddened me greatly today, to learn of the passing of one such friend, a man who looked forward to critical reviews and valued our honesty, but most of all, a man who I considered a good friend. Our early phone conversations would carry on for hours only briefly touching upon the subject at hand – the tackle – spending more time philosophizing about life and human behavior yet always finding a hook to bring us right back full circle to discussions about the product. As time went on our conversations grew less frequent, but always picked up right where we left off when re-engaged. We were like minded, understanding of each other’s position just like friends who had known each other for years and years.

News of his passing was unexpected and hit me like a ton of bricks and I still cannot believe he will not be there when I call to inquire about what’s new and exciting. In fact, while I’m sure there will be plenty of new stuff from the manufacturer he represented this year, somehow, it will be quite some time before I’m able to find any of it very exciting.

Out of respect for his friends and family, I am not at liberty to reveal the identity of my friend, but this entry is my way of giving him thanks and saying goodbye. Rest well my friend and I hope where ever you are that the sky is sunny and the air brisk. You will be missed.

Product is flying in faster than we can keep track here at TT HQ. 2010 is going to be a very busy year. Some exciting product we recently received hails from overseas and the prestigious manufacturer, Evergreen International. Here’s a pictorial sneak peak at what we have in our queue for the coming year.

Back in September, upon the announcement that Humminbird will be upgrading all their sidescan units with downscan ability – all units save my two 797c2 SI units that is, I posted a blog admonishing the manufacturer for this oversight.

Today, I received a private message from a forum member that Humminbird has “amazingly” overcome the memory restrictions that prevented them from upgrading the 797c2 SI unit in the first place and that this firmware upgrade is also now available for this unit. I’ve downloaded the upgrade and loaded it to an SD card. It’s going to be another month or two before my boat sees the water again, but I’m happy to have the prospect of some additional functionality from my two 797c2 SI units.

Hopefully the upgrade goes well. Finally.

So what do you get when you cross the beauty of a rainbow trout with the size and ocean going capabilities of a salmon and the voracity and ability to migrate back and forth from the ocean of a striped bass? Throw in some awesome river scenery and it can only mean one species of fish…

Steelhead.

Stay tuned for our full report on a recent trip up to the Smith River to fish with our friend, Gary Hix in pursuit of these beautiful and unbelievably strong fish.

Well guys, it’s about time to start wrapping up another year, and you know what that means… time to get to work on our Holiday Gift Guide. This was the occasion last year, where we took the opportunity to introduce everyone to our spokesmodel, Ms. Casey. Can you believe it’s only been a year?

To follow our 2009 theme, we decided to crank it up another notch this year and conduct our shoot out on the water right on the California Delta. We loaded up both of our TackleTour bass boats and headed out for several hours worth of shooting. Here are some behind the scenes look at what we have brewing for our upcoming article.

Back to writing and formatting so we can at least get part one of our gift guide out by this weekend. Hope you enjoyed this behind the scenes look and start saving up because I can promise you one thing, Casey delivered some rather compelling arguments for just about everything on our list

Most any athlete or seasoned professional will tell you, the key to good health and fitness is to start your day with a good meal. It is often stated that breakfast is the meal of champions. It’s little wonder then that recent US Open Bass Tournament Champ, Gary Dobyns, has his own secret to success. Now after winning the most coveted tournament of his career, the US Open at Lake Mead, Las Vegas, this bass fishing professional and CEO of his own rod company is letting this secret out of the bag in true entrepreneurial fashion. In this TackleTour producTTpreview exclusive, we are proud to announce the soon to be available Wack’em Xtremes by the newly formed company Dobyns Dough-Nut$$.

That’s right, now you can start off your tournament or recreational fishing day like the West’s most celebrated Bass Pro, Gary Dobyns. It’s true that both the Yamamoto Super and Hula Grubs were the keys to his fish catching success at the recent US Open championship on Lake Mead, but to ensure he had enough energy and focus to feel those subtle takes and in turn, swing for the fences, he started each day with is own secret recipe snack treats. The Wack’em Xtremes are what gives Gary Dobyns his edge on the competition both on the water and now on grocery store and bait shop shelves.

Official release dates have not yet been decided. In typical fashion, Dobyns is still quality testing the factory’s ability to deliver consistent results. But we understand these will in fact be US domestic made products. That’s good news to fans because keeping production local is the only way to ensure each batch of Wake’ems are delivered with the same freshness and sweetness that has earned Dobyns his reputation in the bass fishing world.

TackleTour would like to congratulate Gary Dobyns on his recent win at the 2009 US Open Bass Tournament. This parody was our way of raising a toast to your achievements and wishing you continued success in life and the bass fishing world.

Back in January of 2008, I shared both my excitement and extreme disappointment regarding an at that time, new bait from Lucky Craft. It was a full sized big bait, the Real California Supreme 200. I was excited about this bait because finally we had a realistic big bait from a major manufacturer, available in good numbers, at a price that at that time, was way more affordable than anything else of similar quality on the market. Extreme disappointment came when after one cast, only two thirds of the bait made it back to the boat.

Enter ICAST 2009 where we met, for the first time, Lucky Craft USA president Minoru Segaua. Minoru saw me inspecting the Real California Supreme’s hinges and raced across the booth to tell me he had fixed the joints. He was so emphatic about this point, he literally took the display sample used to show buyers and handed it to me insisting I take it home to test. When I tried to put it back down on the table, he picked it up and put it back in my hand. This bait was all clear, with no finish, and it was easy to see the pins that served as half of the joints had been modified so the tail ends were now much longer making it virtually impossible for them to pinch and pull out.

I tried it out on Lake Toho several days later and again at Clear Lake and the California Delta and sure enough, the bait held up. But since there was no finish on the bait, I had little confidence I was going to hook up with something to really test the bait out. I sent an email note to Minoru and to Roy Gray, Western Region Sales Representative for Lucky Craft USA, telling them I agree the bait has been fixed and that I’ll get to work on a follow up review to announce this issue has been addressed. Surprisingly, A few days later, I received baits with actual finishes to them in the mail. Here’s the result.

No, this is not intended as the follow up review, but simply a prelude to that event and an announcement that more is to come. Suffice it to say, for now, Lucky Craft has totally restored my faith in this product and the scales of my love hate relationship with this company are beginning to tip over on the positive side. Now I have another new bait to put to through the paces and I can’t wait to toss this bait for some green backs in 2010.

In my August, 2008 review of the Humminbird Side Imaging 797c2, I chose to highlight a few areas where I found this $1,200 unit deficient. The unit still received a good score levied mostly because I gave it the benefit of the doubt in a couple of areas, but I fielded some harsh criticism for my findings from individuals that inferred it was somehow my fault that I encountered the issues I did.

Afterall, don’t you know you’re supposed to check for firmware upgrades when you purchase a sonar unit? Apparently there is an upgrade that would have addressed my GPS tracking issues and no, I was not aware of this as I expect items like a sonar/gps unit to function out of the box. Apparently, my expectations are too high, and no, I still have not upgraded the unit’s firmware.

There’s more, but that’s not the point of this blog. Humminbird recently announced an upgrade to all their side imaging units. Of course, it’s a firmware upgrade, but once you download and install it, it will enable your unit to provide the same incredible detail you get in the side imaging scans in a straight down view. Available in January 2010 this sounds like a really worthwhile upgrade and something to really get excited about.

Oh but wait.. here’s an excerpt from their press release:

“A free software upgrade to add Down Imaging will be available in January to current owners of Humminbird models with Side Imaging (except 797c2 SI)…”

Unbelievable.

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?!?

With just a couple trips left needed to wrap up our Year of the Crank coverage, soon, it will be time to turn our attention to next year’s theme. 2010 marks the 10th year anniversary for TackleTour. In traditional anniversary terms, the 10th year is a celebration of tin or aluminum. Whomever dreamed up these anniversary gifted themes must have been a fisherman!

So what does TackleTour have in store to celebrate 10 years of bringing you the latest in tackle news and reviews? I can’t quite reveal that yet, but rest assured, those plans are already underway as evidenced by our 2010 Calendar featuring Ms. Casey and her friends. Incidentally, have you bought yours yet?

Speaking of Ms. Casey, what I can do at this point in time is give you a sneak peak at some of the artwork we’ve completed to kick off our 10th year anniversary celebration. Only one thing is missing from this poster, and that’s the declaration of our official theme (replaced by “xxxxx…”).

So what do you think? Are you ready to turn the page on 2009 and find out what TackleTour has in store for 2010? If you’re a follower of TackleTour, new or old, help us kick things off by responding to this blog and sharing how you found your way to our site and maybe a little bit about what keeps you around. The more excitement we feel, the sooner we’re likely to reveal what’s in store for 2010!

The fables of surf fishing on the beaches of San Francisco during a by gone era are legendary. Having grown up in the City by the Bay, it was impossible to escape the near mythical tales of thirty and forty pound striper being common sized catches off the surf, and not only striper, but salmon as well. Back then, any fish under twenty pounds was considered a schoolie.

But according to those in the know, the last good run during the hunt for giant linesides in the frothy white foam of the surf was only ten years ago. How could I have missed that?

Sitting amongst these hunters, hearing them share the details of some of their most famous days inspires nostalgic reminiscence to “the good ole days” of giant striper running the surf, appearing out of crashing waves to annihilate surface lures, turning vast expanses of ocean black with their massive numbers, and turning the water into a frothy mess of scales, fish slime, and tails as they balled up baitfish and pummeled them with their voracious appetites.

But the last good run was only ten years ago.

Toss your lure into this mess and hold on. As anyone who has experienced it knows, when a striper hits your lure, there is no doubt. But when a big striper hits on the surface, you could very well be spoiled for any other type of fishing. Is it any wonder fisherman with their obscenely long fishing rods would line up in droves, shoulder to shoulder, all the way up and down the beach waiting for their opportunity.

That’s right, surf fishing on the San Francisco coast for giant linesides was predominately a waiting game. Watching the water for signs of activity from the massive schools of striper. One sure fire indicator? The birds. The birds tell can tell you where the baitfish are when they crash into the ocean feeding on what lies below, but the birds can also tell you when the striper are below the baitfish by hovering and hesitating in the air, afraid to dive, for fear of becoming striper fodder.

And the last good run was ten years ago… or was it?

Last week, while we were at ICAST, the clock turned back and fishermen lined the shore along San Francisco’s Ocean Beach once again. The cell phone served as modern day CB radios helping dedicated anglers spread the word as fisherman after fisherman could be seen stopped on the side of the Great Highway, leaving their cars where ever there was the slightest bit of daylight, jumping out of their cars, and running down to the surf putting their waders and boots on as they ran, afterall, it’s been ten long years since the last good run.

The fish were fresh out of the bay and gorging themselves on anything they could find which, during this time were the lures of crusty ole veterans who hadn’t seen action like this in ten years. But it was like yesterday, I’ve been told, the good ole days. Over two hundred fishermen were there during this two to three day stretch. Day crews and night crews, keeping vigilance on the bite and spreading the word when indicators showed the bite was about to explode. And we were in Florida.

The bite is still there. Not as hot as it was last week… not as hot as it was 10 years ago, because the striper have eaten. They’ve gorged, and they’re about to head back into the bay. I missed it again… it’s been ten days since the last good run… ten days!

Team TackleTour has just landed at our stopover destination in Dallas Fortworth Texas enroute to Orlando Florida… Our seats aboard the American Airlines S80 plane were exceedingly uncomfortable. In another hour or so we board our conntecting flight to Orlando… ICAST here we come!

Update… 07.14.09 @ 10:00pm PDT: Well, after 3 unannounced gate changes at the Dallas Fortworth airport, we finally found our way to the proper gate only to be delayed over half an hour as the flight attendants scrambled to make their way to the plane – they obviously got lost in all the gate shuffling as well.

An additional delay was caused by the fact someone on the flight before us got sick and spoiled their seat so we had to wait while the maintenance crew changed out the seat cushions.

It was a “short” two hour hop from Dallas Fortworth to Orlando, but we did our best to get some shuteye. As we flew low over the clouds Zander could be seen alternating between catching some Z’s and checking the view out the window. JIP was crashed out against his headrest getting some much needed rest away from Daddy duties back home, and I was rocking out on my iPhone listening to some oldies but goodies.

Baggage claim went off without a hitch but the rental car agency assigned us an empty car slot that took a second trip back to the counter to resolve. Finally, after nearly 12 hours of transit time, we are in our hotel rooms trying to find a way to get to sleep so we can get up early enough to get to the show when it opens. It’s after 1:00am local time, but it’s still just 10 something to us and we need to get up in a few hours to make it to the show on opening.

That’s our start to ICAST 2009. Get ready for our barrage of articles set to be posted within the next 24 hours. First stop tomorrow? Shimano and Daiwa.

Update 07.15.09 @ 4:30am PDT: Well, it’s 4:30am back home but 7:30am here in Orlando and we’re up and ready to go. Last check on our camera and computer equipment then it’s off to the car and a short drive to the Orlando Convention Center, then SHOW TIME!!!

We know there have already been some leaks over on Shimano’s website, but we’re headed there nonetheless to bring you a closer look at what they have to offer TT style!

Lamiglas enters the value rod wars with an all new, made in the USA value line of rods… that’s right. While other manufacturers are headed overseas to stay competitive, Lamiglas is upping the ante by producing rods at the $100 price point built entirely within the United States.

Want more info? We’ll check them out at ICAST, but for now, all I know is there will be 3 spinning rods and about 7 casting rods all priced between $99 – $109 AND I have is this photo to share:

Lamiglas has always been one of my favorite domestic rod companies so I’m pretty excited about this new line of rods. Stay tuned for more during our ICAST 2009 coverage.

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.