It was interesting to see how much momentum has taken place since last year in this post Covid era.
Here are a some of this year’s items worthy of note.
The form factor of the Daiwa Tatula SV TW 70 engenders feelings of fishing with the legendary pixy. (Is it just me or are there too many Tatulas? Ever since this line of reel and rods made its debut in 2013 it seems as if Daiwa has beat this name to death with various models and variants over the years. I can’t help but feel that the individual product identity on some of these models seems to get lost in the mix.) The magnesium Monocoque body isn’t a surprise, but the new Zaion Air Drive rotor is certainly a departure from the long-heralded Air rotor you’ve seen on so many Daiwa spinning reels over the past 2 decades. Words alone cannot describe how amazing this work of art feels in handDaiwa’s popular Procyon platform gets the monocoque treatment and a cosmetic refresh in the new Procyon MQ LT Spinning ReelDaiwa’s popular inshore platform gets the new Coastal 80 casting reel with compact form factorA nonchalant way to kick ass into the $100 price point. The market has been saturated by a number of offerings over the years. The newly refreshed Tatula XTs are cosmetically on point and feel great in handAt $99 these rods are sure to be a hit with many budget conscious anglers. The popular St. Croix Legend Tournament Series gets revamped with SCIV+ blanks and a number of other feature sets. The larger swimbait rods feature new GRASP grip technology to help with ergonomics when casting and retrieving large lures.The St Croix GRASP handle is their in house tooled take on the PAC Bay revolution reel seat that was featured on a number of third-party rod companies at ICAST 2019The Avid Panfish gets a refresh with 9 differnt modelsAvid Panfish 7ft L action rod felt great in handIs this the last of the epic rods from Gary himself? This rod was insanely light. I have not felt this impressed by the power to weight ratio in a COTs build since handling the Kistler Zbone series with Next HM blanks at ICAST 2012 The new 1oz Jackall TN80 lipless crankbait is an upscale of the popular TN70 MSRP $15.99 The compact Jackall Derabuzz is a 1/4 oz buzz bait with a unique prop shapeThe popular Tranx Line gets ported down into a new 150 sizeIF you are tired of spooling your Curado 150 DC like I am, then the new 200 DC size might just be the ticketThe new Shimano Miravel Spinning Reel features a number of Shimano’s Core technologies including CI4+ Frame, Magnum lite Rotor, HAGANE Gear technology and X-ship MSRP $129.99 – $139.99The popular SLX rod range gets revamped with the new SLX A lineup featuring X wrapped carbon tape tech dubbed DIAFLASH technology The new Shimano Expride B series feature a carbon monocoque handle, CI4+ reel seat, Hi-Power X blanks and Fuji SIC guides. MSRP $299The new Flagship ultralight 4.5 oz Abu Garcia Zenon MG-LTX ($549.99) atop matching Zenon Casting rodThe new 5.1 oz Abu Garcia Zenon MG-X sits a step down from the flagship at $449.95The New 5.5 oz Zenon X rounds out the lineup coming in at $349.95 The 7.6:1 Revo RKT SP spinning reel designed for use in rod tip prevalent techniques where rod movement dictates lure action and the reel is primarily used for quick take up The 4.8:1 Reveo Winch Spinning Reel designed for techniques where the bait action is primarily reel driven, i.e. crankbaits, small swimbaits, spybaitsThe new larger Revo hybrid AMG spinning reel gearset vs the previous generations The Revo Series debuted its revamped 5th generation of baitcast reels. The biggest change was the shift to an asymmetrical form factor for the frameNew 5th Generation Abu Garcia Revo X New 5th Generation Abu Garcia Revo SX New 5th Generation Abu Garcia Revo STXNew 5th Generation Abu Garcia Revo Winch New Abu Garcia Revo RocketThe New Kistler 5.8 oz Chromium Bait cast reel and 3 oz Chromium rod series pairs together to create a crazy light premium combo The new Kistler Chromium Baitcast Reel joins their Series 1 and Series 2 lineups as a more premium offeringThe new 4’6″ Kistler Grasshopper rod was designed for kids, but man this thing feels fun as hell to fish withThe Jenko Wake n’ Bait Wakebait is constructed of Hemp Plastic Chi Huynh shows off the hidden knife in his functional work of Art Cobra DavinChi Rod. The unconventional handle design, in conjunction with cobra foregrip, and arm support removes stress off the angler’s wrist and facilitates fighting a fish in a more ergonomic positionNew Yamamoto Slinko. I have to say it was a bit strange seeing a floating ribbed Yamamoto bait in clamshell packaging. The legendary brand recently acquired by GSM isn’t afraid to take chances and bring new innovative ideas to the table. Looking forward to seeing what’s next from this crew.Bill Lewis ATV Square bill Prototypes look sweetDo It had a new bad ass Hybrid Grass Lead Jig Mold on DisplayCheck out the serious bait keeper on that thing. Awesome!The Evergreen XV-5 Shad Crankbait designed by Morizo Shimizu is a hybrid crank that can hunt like a square bill and be twitched like a jerk baitThis is starting to look ridiculous. But man I want one. Hummingbird MEGA Live Targetlock module mounted with MEGA 360 on a Minn Kota UltrexSkinny Water Marine Lithium Battery Company 36Volt 100AH BatteryBass Mafia Clear Lid Terminal Coffin with new latch mechanismBass Mafia Dangerous Swimbait
