On July 18th, the American Sportfishing Association (ASA) announced 41 category winners voted on by members of the media and retail buyers at ICAST 2024 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. ICAST is the largest fishing trade show in the world, bringing over 14,000 people from 75 countries to Orlando this summer to see the newest products and brands in the sportfishing industry.

The show included more than 635 exhibitors and more than 950 brands in the fishing industry. Almost 1,000 products were submitted to the New Product Showcase in 2024, including rods, reels, accessories, electronics, and apparel. This year’s showcase also included expanded fly fishing categories and boasted submissions from more than 260 companies.

Here are the winners of the Freshwater Tackle and Equipment awards:

Freshwater Rod

Ugly Stik GX2 Spinning Rod

Pure Fishing, Inc.

The NEW Ugly Stik GX2 is packed with features that make it tougher and better than ever. Known for its renowned Clear Tip design and Ugly Tech construction, the GX2 now features Ugly Tuff guides with a proprietary guide coating to improve performance, an extra durable rubberized diamond EVA handle for better grip and improved durability, and a new reel seat designed for better hand feel and increased sensitivity. 10-year warranty.

Freshwater Reel

Vanford FA

Shimano

Continuing a legacy of low start-up inertia and heightened sensitivity, the Vanford FA elevates the MagnumLite spinning reel lineup with technology passed down from Shimano flagship series. Combined with the lightweight CI4+ body, an MGL Rotor provides anglers with heightened performance when employing “start-and-stop” finesse techniques or tactics requiring immediate reel action. InfinityXross and Infinity Drive within Vanford FA enhance winding efficiency and smoothness during retrieval.

Rod & Reel Combo

GXR Bass Systems

St. Croix of Park Falls

All-new GXR Bass Systems bring St. Croix performance and SEVIIN reliability to the bass combo market. Offering 8 technique-specific precision-matched models (4 casting and 4 spinning), GXR Bass Systems combine SCII carbon fiber blanks, stainless-steel hybrid guide trains, premium-grade split-grip cork handles in proven configurations, and smooth and powerful SEVIIN casting and spinning reels for elevated fishing experiences in all of today’s top bass presentations.

Freshwater Hard Lure

Berkley Krej

Pure Fishing, Inc.

The Berkley Krej is a revolutionary hard bait that is creating a new style of fishing called “Krejing.” This lure defies conventional jerkbaiting by working its way upwards in the water column, only to fall backwards towards its target. Designed to excel with FFS, Krejing allows anglers to take advantage of being able to see how the fish reacts and work the bait up and away from the fish, better imitating a natural fleeing motion, or back towards the fish, triggering reaction strikes.

Freshwater Soft Lure

Shadtron LT (Line-Through) Swimbait

Z-Man Fishing Products

A true-to-nature shad profile swimbait, the Shadtron LT offers a pioneering over/under line-through harness for top or belly hook rigging. Driven by a rounded, wedge-shaped tail, the Shadtron swims with a genuine shad motion, activated at fast or extra slow retrieves. Precision weighted harness and tough, buoyant ElaZtech material maintain lure’s upright posture. Lifelike body sculpt with eight photo-printed/hand-painted colors. 4.5- and 6-inch sizes in Slow & Fast Sink models, sickle hook included.

Tackle Management

OCD Tackle Storage System

BKK Hooks International

The BKK OCD Tackle Storage System “Fully Loaded Kit” offers a complete storage solution. It includes an OCD Storage Box with 48 BKK ArmorPoint Hook Packs: Permalock, Weighted Permalock, Dropshot, Dropshot Long Shank, Heavy Cover Flipping, Offset Worm WG, Offset Worm WG-HD, Offset Worm Round Bend, and Hyperlatch Treble Hooks. With 270 total hooks ($360 value), it organizes your tackle. Made of durable polypropylene with a soft gasket and strong latches, it keeps gear secure and watertight.

Custom Tackle & Components

Hover Jig Mold

Do-it Molds

The new Do-it Molds Hover Jig Mold allows custom tackle builders to cast their own Hover Jigs like a breeze. This mold was designed around the Victory 10111, and features a wide span of hook size options, ranging all the way from #2 to 4/0. The Hover Jig Mold houses six cavities, spanning from 1/16-, 3/32-, 1/8-, 5/32-, 3/16- and 1/4-ounce sizes.

Ice Fishing

Panoptix PS22-IF Ice Fishing Bundle

Garmin USA

Hole hop nonstop with the ultraportable Panoptix PS22-IF Ice Fishing Bundle, featuring an ECHOMAP UHD2 7-inch chartplotter. Locate schools of fish in real time with LiveVü Forward that shows live sonar up to 100’ around you and LiveVü Down that delivers live sonar images from directly below. An all-new bracket and rotator, which eliminates the need for a pole mount, allows for easy depth and direction adjustments, plus the removable lens lets you optimize the sonar beam angle for the water below.

Kids’ Tackle

Create-A-Lure Shark Edition

Create-A-Lure

Create-A-Lure is a do-it-yourself designed to allow you to create personal fishing lures. It comes with all the materials you need and step-by-step instructions on how to go about painting your new lures. It is meant to get kids of all ages to use their imaginations and see their results of their work firsthand.