The fishing tackle industry crowned an unlikely champion on the opening day of ICAST 2026. Zebco, the heritage brand best known for putting a spincast reel in the hands of generations of first-time anglers, took the show's coveted Best of Show award for its reengineered Rhino, a rod rebuilt from the ground up after months of development. In an aisle stacked with $2,000 sonar units and carbon-fibre everything, the win for an accessibly priced comeback product was the talk of the floor.
ICAST, run by the American Sportfishing Association, is the largest trade show in the sportfishing business, the place where manufacturers unveil the gear that will fill tackle shops the following year. Best of Show is decided by the buyers and media walking the aisles, which is what made Zebco's result notable, beating a field crowded with far pricier technology.
If Zebco took the single biggest prize, Rapala dominated the category awards. The lure maker collected four Best of Category honours, two of them for its soft-plastic CrushCity line: "The CEO" 21 won Freshwater Soft Lure and the IMPOSTER took Saltwater Soft Lure.
The electronics category, the epicentre of the sport's running argument over how much technology is too much, went to Garmin's LiveScope 2 HD, the newest generation of the forward-facing sonar that tournament circuits have spent the past year trying to rein in. Elsewhere, Shimano's Curado DC won Freshwater Reel, St. Croix's Triumph took Freshwater Rod, Daiwa's 2026 BQ SW claimed Saltwater Reel, and Z-Man's Chatterbait Elite EVO HD won the wired and skirted lure category. BUBBA's Pro Series Gen 2 electric fillet knife was named the top cutlery product.
The show also paused to honour one of the sport's most familiar faces. Bill Dance, the 85-year-old television host whose fishing programme has run for more than half a century, received the ASA's Impact Award for lifetime achievement, presented by 2025 recipient Steve Harvey alongside Bass Pro Shops founder Johnny Morris.
"I learned a long time ago that fishing is not about the fish you catch, but about the friends you make along the way," Dance told the audience.
For smaller exhibitors, ICAST is less about trophies than access. Caleb Sutton, owner of tackle-storage brand Buzbe, which picked up two organisation awards, framed the week as a relationship business.
"ICAST is so great to connect with dealers. When we come to the show, it's not only about exposure but it's also about making a connection with dealers as well," Sutton said.
Ryan Grubbs, national account manager at Star brite, said the company had built its booth around hands-on selling. "We have designed meeting places for buyers to come and see the products in person. They can sit down with us, touch the products and really map out a game plan for what the year is going to look like."
The awards cap only the first day of a show that runs across the week, with the reels, rods and baits on display now set to trickle into tackle shops through 2027.
