Not surprisingly, forward-facing sonar (FFS) products were the hot trends at the recent ICAST Show.
In looking back at the 17 different ICAST shows I’ve attended over the years, it’s pretty amazing to reflect on what was hot in previous years.
For example, the simple stickworm was the big thing when I attended my first ICAST. The Yamamoto Senko was the pioneer, and I was with Wave Worm at the time, one of many companies that came out with similar versions.
A few years later it was Hack Attack jigs and KVD crankbaits, both from Strike King. Strike King blazed the trail in deep crankbaits and giant squarebill crankbaits for several years.
And now, due to upgrades in electronics and the popularity of FFS, ICAST was dominated by 2- to 4-inch soft plastic minnow imitators and better quality jigheads for throwing at bass you see on FFS.
It’s crazy how the days of giant baits and giant hooks have been replaced by small lures that will catch crappie, walleye and bass equally.
However, there were some other cool items that I saw from my sponsors that got my attention.
Lowrance has hit a home run with its new Lowrance EagleEye, the first sonar that includes FFS and is priced under $1,000. Prior to this introduction, even the cheapest FFS cost about $1,000 more.
The EagleEye is a simple unit and I love simplicity! It has a 9-inch screen, offers traditional sonar, DownScan and FFS built-in with one transducer and with the same resolution as Lowrance’s ActiveTarget 2. It also has mapping and can take a mapping chip. In addition, you can mount it on a kayak, johnboat or bass boat with ease. It also could be adapted for ice fishing.
Strike King’s Hardliner crankbait is another winner. I’ve fished it and can say it’s the best flat-sided crankbait I’ve used. It’s heavy enough to cast and has great action.
Gamakatsu has two items that caught my eyes. First, the Nano hooks that came out earlier this year are the real deal. They won’t rust, don’t dull as easily as other hooks and are more rigid and stronger due to the coating. As a result, I now use a lighter wire hook for some applications without fear of it flexing and costing me a fish. Also, they now offer jigheads with the Nano coating.
I’m also intrigued by the Bill Dance Circle hooks for crankbaits. I talked with Bill about them, and he insists they don’t snag as easily as treble hooks and once you hook a fish, it stays on. You can’t use traditional single hooks on crankbaits because of the eye design, but Gamakatsu seems to have it figured out.
Lew’s also has offered an innovative way to reduce backlashes with their new ParaMag Inertia Transfer Braking system. While it uses magnets to control backlashes, the design is quite different and it eliminates the need to thumb the spool. It will be offered in the Custom and Custom Pro models.
I’m sure there were a lot of other cool things I missed because my time there was devoted to sponsor booths.
Someday, I hope to spend an extra day walking the aisles of ICAST looking at other companies’ offerings for all types of fishing.
