Thursday brought a new champion to ICAST’s Best of Show awards while the show floor bustled with business deals and industry insights.

ICAST 2026 ramped up to full speed on Thursday inside of the Orange County Convention Center. The second full business day of ICAST was kickstarted by the first-ever Retailer Leadership Breakfast, featuring a panel of top-tier CEOs and an intimate gathering of tackle buyers sharing knowledge and feedback about the current state of sportfishing.

On the show floor, a riveting ICAST Live! session led by hall of fame angler Kevin VanDam signaled the start of a jam-packed business day where vampires, space aliens and tackle buyers mingled with manufacturers, media members and distributors on the sprawling ICAST show floor. Sprinkled throughout, brand new ICAST Best of Category Award trophies served as beacons that some manufactures had hit home runs with brand new products.

“ICAST is a special place to us” said Luke Jeskevic, events and conservation manager at Turtlebox. “Our first year, we were here in a 10×10 booth with the only five speakers we had in production on a metal rolling rack. Now, we are standing in a 30 by 30 booth as the audio sponsor of the show. We joke that this is kind of our Super Bowl.”

Jeskevic said Turtlebox has teamed up with neighboring brands like BUBBA, Yeti, Duck Camp and Mustang Survival to create a social hour block party at the end of each business day.

Elsewhere on the show floor Fabio Camocardi, owner of Amazon Spirit, and his team traveled from Sao Paolo to be at the epicenter of the sportfishing world this week to find new clients for his peacock bass fishing outfitter, Amazon Spirit.

“This is a show for traders, store owners and captains but it also shows us all of the new products and new technologies that we can use at our lodge in a very remote area. For us, ICAST is a win-win. We are meeting people not only from the United States, but also people from other countries all over the world. We just booked our booth again for next year.”

Rhino Wins Best of Show

A rod and reel claimed the title of ICAST Best of Show this year. The Rhino 30 6’6” 2pc Medium Spinning Combo is now ICAST royalty after coming out on top in head-to-head voting against more than 35 other Best of Category winners. Rhino is a resurrected legacy brand by Zebco that traces its roots to an ultra-durable line of rods and reels targeted to everyday anglers.

“Winning Best of Show is an incredible honor, and we’re grateful to everyone who believed in what we’re building with Rhino,” said Chris Littau, Vice President of Zebco. “But this isn’t the finish line for us; it’s just the beginning! Zebco has been the first chapter in so many people’s fishing stories, and the Rhino relaunch is helping make sure that first experience is one that lasts. Our focus now is simple: keep building products that are tough enough to earn people’s trust and last as long as the memories we make fishing. We’re proud of this recognition, but we’re even more excited about where Rhino goes from here.”

For the first time ever, the Overall Best of Show winner was announced at Party for a Purpose presented by Major League Fishing inside of a packed concourse at the Orange County Convention Center. There, a gathered crowd of hundreds mingled with conservation partners while presenting sponsor Major League Fishing also announced a landmark collaboration with Starlink.