A STACK of interesting new lures are amongst the stand-out releases at the 2014 AFTA trade show at the Gold Coast today.
Fisho has spent the past two days filming and photographing a swag of new gear being released by local and international tackle companies.
Stand-out lure releases include the C-Gar sinking stick bait from Halco, the four-inch Nemesis (in Gulp and Powerbait formulas) from Pure Fishing, a couple of cool prawn imitations from Squidgy, an innovative aluminium popper from WA-based Vent Right, a CrusteaZ shrimp/prawn/crab pattern from Z-Man and a Rapala X-Rap designed for casting off beaches and rock platforms.
The “micro jigging” craze looks set to continue with Storm releasing a 20-30lb version of its popular Gomoku series plus a shore-based model. Pure Fishing also had a nice rod from Abu Garcia called Salty Stage.
The innovative Lynx rigging tool was on show at AFTA.
One of more interesting releases was the Precision from UK company Lynx, which has previously been featured in Fisho. This innovative tool provides 100 per cent strong connections and attracted quite a bit of attention from retailers and buying groups.
Jarvis Walker displayed a great series of rod designed by Gary Howard called “Aussie Natives”. These quality sticks cover the gamut of Australian fishing styles and feature the attention to detail you’d expect from a master rod builder.
Shimano had the latest Stella on display. Typically drool worthy, this reel featured a special coating called “Core Protect” that prevents water intrusion – stand by for a short vid detailing how this works – it’s pretty amazing stuff.
Rapala’s new XXX-Rap Cast.
We also checked out a range of “predator” lures from Danish company Westin. Designed for pike and zander, many of the Westin lures look more than suitable for natives such as cod and yellowbelly.
Queensland-based Wilsons displayed a full range of Zerek products including the new Flat Shad, a soft plastic stick bait with a collapsible body designed to maximise hook ups on strike.
Samaki had its hot new Pacemaker range of diving minnows, which are available in various sizes. These lures feature excellent colours, through wire construction and can be trolled at speeds of up to 20 knots. Should be excellent for tuna and mackerel …
Halco’s sinking C-Gar stickbait.
We’ve only really covered about half the show so far – we’re keen to catch up with the Daiwa guys (we understand they have some great new lures, plus the usual top class rods and reels on display) and there are a plethora of other displays and stands we literally haven’t had a chance to visit yet.
And tonight the annual AFTA dinner will feature results of the best tackle store and best magazine awards. Thanks to everyone who voted for Fisho in the mag awards and keep your fingers crossed for us!
We’ll have our product videos up on the website over the next week or so – stay tuned. And we’ll report further on the latest tackle releases.
Scott Thomas filming Rapala’s Chris Beldon.
