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What I loved at the biggest fishing event of 2025

(spoiler: it's not really about the gear)

Author

Keith Lusher
July 23, 2025

Hey, Keith here.

What's coming next in fishing tackle innovation might improve your fishing success. I know this because this past weekend at ICAST 2025 in Orlando, Florida, I got my first look inside the fishing industry's biggest showcase event.

Walking through those massive exhibition halls for three days, surrounded by industry insiders, buyers, and media from around the world, I learned what the show was all about. 

Today, I'm going to share with you my take on the show and the three most impressive innovations I discovered that you may want to take a look at in 2025.

Fellow Fishing Fanatic of the Week 🔥

This week’s Fishing Fanatic is Julio Robinson, who landed a feisty smallmouth on a Rapala Shad Rap.

Nice catch, Julio!

P.S. Want to be featured here? Just reply to this email with your favorite fishing photo, your name, and a short story behind the catch if you'd like.

BEST LINKS

What I looked at this week

Deals of the week

  • Amazon has Berkey Choppo hard bait marked down 27% from $12.99 to $9.49

  • Googan’s Squad has their Micro Recon Crankbait marked down from $5.99 to $2.99

  • Tackle Warehouse has the 5” ICAST Winning Prawn Starz Shrimp Lure marked down from $8.99 to $5.00

DEEP DIVE 

Inside ICAST: Where fishing's future is born

Everything clicked immediately as I walked into the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, surrounded by the controlled chaos of ICAST 2025.

I'd heard about this event for years but never understood its true significance until I stepped onto that massive show floor packed with every major fishing company, buyers from retailers worldwide, and media covering the industry's biggest announcements.

ICAST isn't just a trade show; it's where fishing's future gets decided.

Companies spend months preparing their most innovative products for this single event, knowing that winning an ICAST award can launch a product from concept to must-have tackle almost overnight.

As I navigated booth after booth of cutting-edge tackle, I started to understand why industry insiders guard their ICAST discoveries so carefully.

The products on display weren't just improvements on existing tackle, they were solutions to problems I didn't even know I had.

The real power behind ICAST

Most people think ICAST is just a product showcase where companies display their latest lures, but I discovered it's actually where the fishing industry's biggest deals get made.

Walking through the booths, I realized each company had private meeting rooms in the back with tables and chairs; that's where the real business happens.

These aren't just display areas. Companies are actively listening to feedback and making decisions that shape their product lines for years to come.

Costa’s “booth” has numerous private rooms to conduct business.

I walked into booths as a writer and shared ideas about what I'd like to see in their lures, and representatives genuinely took notes and asked follow-up questions about my suggestions.

But the biggest eye-opener was witnessing the deal-making happening behind closed doors. Sponsorship agreements, partnership deals, and product-review arrangements were being negotiated constantly.

If you're a social media influencer or content creator with any following, attending ICAST could change your fishing career. I watched influencers secure sponsorship deals by simply visiting booths and having conversations about their audience and content.

As a writer, I walked away with commitments for dozens of new product reviews throughout the upcoming year; opportunities that simply don't exist anywhere else in the fishing world.

My top 3 ICAST discoveries

Based on my three days examining hundreds of new products and testing them hands-on, here are the innovations that impressed me most:

#1: Z-Man SWAG LT Line-Through Swimbait (Best New Freshwater Soft Lure Winner)

This 5″ and 6″ swimbait completely reimagines versatility with its cutting-edge keeled SWAG tail and over/under line-through harness system.

What grabbed my attention wasn't just the unique wide wag action at any retrieve speed, it was the multiple rigging options that let you switch between dorsal single hook and belly double hook configurations.

When the Z-Man representative let me test the durability, I genuinely tried to tear it apart and couldn't. The ElaZtech composition provides incredible softness for natural action while maintaining 10X Tough durability that could save serious money on replacement baits.

The SWAG LT handles everything from slow presentations to fast retrieves with the same bait.

#2: Z-Man PrawnstarZ LB (Best New Saltwater Soft Lure Winner)

Even though this 3.5″ shrimp imitation won the saltwater category, I'm excited to test it on freshwater bass, especially during their crawfish feeding periods.

The true-to-life undulating action and natural shrimp posture caught my eye immediately, but watching it perform in ICAST's bass tank sealed the deal.

As it sank, the tail fan and swimming legs created an incredibly realistic movement that looked exactly like a live shrimp descending through the water column.

The convenient hook slot makes weedless rigging simple, and the twelve hand-painted patterns match various shrimp color phases for different water conditions.

#3: Whisker Seeker Solar-Powered Bait Cooler (Best New Fishing Accessory Winner)

This innovation solves my biggest live bait frustration—guessing aerator battery life and dealing with dead batteries at crucial moments.

The solar-powered system with three aerators and up to 10 days continuous runtime eliminates battery anxiety completely.

During my hands-on examination, the automatic operation impressed me most—just add water and bait, and the system handles everything else while solar charging maintains power through overcast conditions.

For serious anglers who depend on live bait, this cooler transforms bait preparation from a complex process into a grab-and-go solution.

The bank angler’s edge: Pay attention to ICAST award winners throughout the year. These products typically hit retail markets 3–6 months after the show, giving you time to plan purchases and be among the first anglers using them in your local waters.