ICAST 2007 Overview

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ICAST 2007

ICAST 2007 Overview

ICAST was held at the Las Vegas Convention Center on July 11–13, 2007. It celebrated its 50th year this year. The show is only open to buyers and media, not the general public. This is the show that brings together all the big names in the fishing business, 3 days a year, and allows them to showcase their new products which will be hitting the shelves at tackle shops within the next few months. Here’s some of the highlights this year…

Awards:
These are the best of show awards for 2007, as voted upon by buyers and media who attended.

Category: Company: Product:
Best of Show E21 Carrot Stix Rod
Boating Accessory Berts Custom Tackle Berts Track System
Clothing: Old Harbor Outfitters Technical Shorts
Electronics: Lowrance LCX-38C HD Sonar
Eyewear: Costa Del Mar Man ‘O War Sunglasses
Fishing Acessory: Pure Fishing Berkley TEC Pistol Trigger Grip
Gifts: MacDaddys Fishing Lures Pink Ribbon Collection
Kids Tackle: Outdoor Adventure Kids Miss Fisherman Series
Fishing Line: Pure Fishing Stren Microfuse: Blue Glacier Fluorescent
Soft Lure: Pure Fishing Gulp Alive!
Hard Lure: Emmett Stacy Rollo Lures
Freshwater Reel: Shimano Stradic F1 Spinning
Saltwater Reel: Shimano Trinidad DC Reels
Freshwater Rod: E21 Carrot Stix
Saltwater Rod E21 Fusion
Rod/Reel Combo: Pflueger PFlex Fly / Spin Kit
Tackle Mgmt: Shimano Bristol Bay Portable Livewell Bag
Terminal Tackle: Dee’s Diamond Flasher Double Dees


Most Wins: (Tied)
E21: 3 (Best of Show, Freshwater Rod, Saltwater Rod)
Pure Fishing: 3 (Fishing Line, Soft Lure. Fishing Accessory)
Shimano: 3 (Freshwater Reel, Saltwater Reel, Tackle Management)

Highlights:

Abu-Garcia: The Revo’s have been revised again and will be the lightest reel not made out of Magnesium.

St Croix: For 2007 St Croix revamped their Avid series rods this year. They now feature IPC blanks , which is the same technology used on the Legend Elite series. The reduced weight was a large factor for this change. The MSRP is around $180.

E21: The Carrot Stix rod that won ICAST 2007 Best of Show was spearheaded by Ken “Wizard of Rods” Whiting. The bright orange Carrot Stix Rod features a makeup of 30% Scandium metal backbone, and 70% carrot fibers that come from recycled brokers. The Saltwater rod, Fusion, is a lightweight rod geared for the salt fishermen and took Best of Show Saltwater Rod.

Shimano: This year Shimano has revamped a whole line of freshwater spinning reels, and added a new rod that trumps the Crucial. Thenew freshwater rod dubbed the Cumara is now the top end freshwater rod for the Shimano company. It features an IM-10 blank, and most a custom split reel seat design (as seen below). These rods also have an over the counter 1 year warranty. All information on the below products is already available on Shimano’s website.

Shimano Cumara spinning rod
Shimano Cumara Spinning Rod

The MSRP will be between $199.99-219.99 depending of rod application.

Shimano Cumara Casting Rod
Shimano Cumara Casting Rod

In addition to the rods, Shimano also released a line of spinning reels, pictured below are the comparison of the new Stella spool vs. the old one.

Shimano Stella spinning reels
New design on the left. Old one on the right.

The newly revamped Shimano Stella, available in sizes, 1000,2500,3000,4000
with an MSRP of $599.99-699.99. Ouch!

Shimano Stella reel
Shimano Stella spinning reel

Show winner for Best Freshwater Reel, the new Stradic F1 (pictured below).
This reel will be available in (1000,2500,3000,4000,5000,6000,8000)
with a price of $149.99-199.99.
This years Stadic has definitely changed it looks from the all pearl white coat it used to have.

Shimano Stratic F1 spinning reel
Shimano Stratic F1 spinning reel

The only baitcasting reel lined up this year for Shimano.
I can see a deadly Cumara and Core (pictured below) combo in the near future.

Shimano core reel
Shimano Core lightweight baitcasting reel
Other 2007 Shimano Reels:
Sustain FE $249.99-299.99 (pic)
Stradic MGFB  $229.99 (pic)
Saros $129.99 (pic)
2007 ICAST was a record year, not only due to the 50th anniversary, but that it featured 180 companies introducing more than 600 new tackle products. Next year, 2008, will be heald at the same location in Las Vegas. Check out the American Sportfishing Association website for more information.
When not working his heart out on websites, e-commerce, and programming, Branson like to enjoy time on the lake. His best times are spent with friends trophy bass hunting.

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