ICAST Presents Its New Product Showcase Category Awards for 2026Recognizing 39 new products in rods, reels, electronics, watercraft, lures, apparel, accessories and tackle storage.
The biggest accomplishments included Garmin’s new LiveScope 2 HD, three separate wins tied to the Urchin Bait trend, and multiple category wins from Symantec and St. Croix. But perhaps the biggest surprise came at the end, when a relatively simple, affordable spinning combo beat them all to take Best of Show.
Here are some of the products that stood out.
Rhino Spinning Combo Performed Best
Who won the biggest award in ICAST 2026? Rhino 30 6’6″ 2-Piece Medium Spinning ComboWhich was named the overall Best of Show winner after taking first place in the rod and reel combo category.
The Rhino Combo features a 6-foot, 6-inch medium-power rod paired with a size 30 spinning reel. The rod utilizes Rhino’s TriX Core solid-tip construction, which is designed around durability, while the combo is positioned as an accessible setup rather than a highly specialized piece of premium tackle.
That makes this year’s overall winner especially interesting. In a new product showcase filled with increasingly sophisticated fishing technology, voters ultimately gave the show’s top prize to a durable, affordable rod-and-reel combo made for a wide range of fishermen.
Something about this victory feels like this man vs machineand I like that.
Garmin LiveScope 2 HD wins in electronics
Speaking of electronics, Garmin scored two category wins at the 2026 New Product Showcase, and both focus on technology that continues to reshape the way anglers find and target fish.
New livescope 2 hd The latest generation of Garmin’s forward-facing sonar system won the Electronics category. Garmin says the new HD system delivers 50% more detail at closer distances and is optimized for use up to 125 feet, with improvements aimed at producing clearer images of fish, structure and surrounding water.
One of the biggest changes is simplified installation. Previous LiveScope systems relied on a separate GLS sonar module between the transducer and the chartplotter. The LiveScope 2 HD eliminates that extra black box, allowing the transducer to connect directly to a compatible Garmin display and power. With fishermen already running a number of electronics on increasingly crowded boats, removing another component and its associated wiring may be just as meaningful as improving the image.
Garmin’s second win comes in motorized boating accessories spy pole mountA separate mounting system designed to give fishermen more control over where the sonar is pointed ahead of them without having to tie the direction of the transducer to a trolling motor.
The urchin trend continues to grow
If there was any charm trend at iCast 2026 that was impossible to miss, it was the urchin. Spiny, many-legged soft plastics appeared on new product showcases and show floors, and the trend ultimately spawned winners in three different categories.
Rapala’s CrushCity “CEO” 21 Took the category of cool attraction of fresh water. The small 21mm urchin-style bait uses Super TPE with a weighted glass-powder core and thin legs designed to create subtle movement as it falls. It is part of a growing group of compact, unconventional finesse baits designed to produce action with minimal input from the angler.
The urchin trend extends beyond soft plastics. G-Rat Bats won the Terminal Tackle category with this urchin rigProviding anglers with a purpose-built way to catch the increasingly popular bait style.
Then there’s the problem created by all those feet. BUZBE wins the Tackle Management category with this Basic Deep – Urchin Bat BoxA storage system specifically designed around the awkward shape of urchin-style bait.
VoyaX MOSSA Series Wins Boats & Watercraft
VoyaX takes over the boat and watercraft category mosa seriesAn electric fishing kayak built on the basis of integrated propulsion and onboard technology.
Instead of treating the electric motor as an accessory to be added to a traditional fishing kayak, VoyaX designed the MOSSA as a complete electric platform. The result places the boat in one of the fastest-moving segments in fishing, where manufacturers are increasingly combining the reach and relatively small footprint of a kayak with the range and control traditionally associated with larger powered boats.
MOSSA also represents a broader change in what fishermen can expect from small fishing watercraft. Electric propulsion, integrated electronics, and more sophisticated control systems are rapidly turning high-end fishing kayaks into an increasingly capable alternative to traditional boats, especially for fishermen fishing in reservoirs, lakes, and protected coastal waters.
SHIMANO WIN FRESHWATER REEL AND SALTWATER HARD LURES
SHIMANO scored two category wins with products from opposite ends of their fishing lineup.
curado dc 150 The Freshwater Reel won, adding yet another award to one of the most renowned baitcasting families from SHIMANO. The new reel brings SHIMANO’s digitally controlled braking technology to the Curado platform, which uses a DC system to manage spool speed during casts and reduce the adjustments anglers typically make when changing lures or dealing with the wind. Given the popularity of the Curado name and the growing interest in DC reels, this is likely to be one of the winners in the category that gets the most attention from everyday fishermen.
shimano’s second win from here LaserRunner LR200SAWhich took the saltwater hard lure category. The Laserrunner is designed for offshore fishermen targeting larger pelagic fish, giving Dalmatian a win over the Curado in a very different corner of the tackle market.
St. Croix won two rod categories
redesigned Freshwater Victory Won the freshwater rod category. The updated Triumph lineup includes new casting and spinning models and is positioned as one of the St. Croix’s more accessible rod families, with new rods starting around $130. This win gives a major nod to a series designed for a much broader group of fishermen than many of the highly specialized rods introduced at ICAST.
St. Croix also won the award for Best Fly Fishing Rod with its new Royal series. Together, the two awards make St. Croix one of the few brands leaving the 2026 Showcase with wins in varying fishing categories ranging from mainstream freshwater spinning and casting gear to dedicated fly tackle.
Z-Man scores another ChatterBait victory
Z-Man wins wired and skirted lure category Chaturbate Elite EVO HDThe latest addition to the lure family that has become almost synonymous with blade jigs.
The Elite EVO HD builds on the existing Elite EVO with a heavy-duty design for larger fish and heavier cover. It combines the Z-Man’s direct head-to-blade connection and a strong hook with the vibration and prey action that defines the ChatterBait platform. The lure also features a hand-tied silicone skirt and molded trailer keeper designed to securely hold soft plastics when fishing through cover.
ArcPro wins exhibitor award for the first time
ArcPro Fishing makes its ICAST debut with a category win, receiving first-time exhibitor product award for floating aerator.
Designed to help keep bait and fish alive by increasing oxygen in livewells, bait tanks and other containers, the portable aerator floats directly on the water rather than relying on a permanently installed system. This gives fishermen a way to add aeration where needed without having to install a second pump in the boat or tank.
What the 2026 winners say about fishing
Taken as a whole, the 2026 New Product Showcase winners represent the fishing industry moving in several directions at once.
Electronics are becoming more capable and more integrated. Electric propulsion is changing what fishermen can expect from small watercraft. Forward-facing sonar has created an entire ecosystem of products around the technology. On the other end of the spectrum, one of the biggest trends at the show was a tiny soft-plastic urchin that spawned its own rig, storage system, and variations on the show floor.
Then a Rhino spinning combo won the entire competition.
For all the technology packed into the Orange County Convention Center this year, the Best of Show vote ultimately went to a relatively simple piece of fishing gear that was designed to be durable, accessible, and useful to a broad group of fishermen.
If the 39 category winners are any indication of where to aim for fishing, there is no one defined direction. Some companies are placing more emphasis on electronics and automation. Others are finding new ways to rethink basic tackle used by fishermen for decades. And sometimes the biggest idea at ICAST is still a fishing rod, a reel, or a strange bait covered in legs.
