Each year we scour the aisles at the Richmond Fishing Expo for new stuff to use during our New Product Showcase seminars on the bass tank as well as to recognize with our Best In Show awards. This year’s show had a nice collection of new stuff, from lures to boats and everything in between for showgoers to discover. If you missed the event, here are those items we found to be the most intriguing heading into the new season as well as some trends.
A major trend affecting tackle sales all over the country is the effect of forward-facing sonar. W2 Staff Writer Steve Chaconas has been telling us for months now that real time sonar is not only changing the way we fish but also what we are buying to fish with. This was very evident in the booths at the show with many, many types of minnow baits and swimbaits intended to be used on jigheads during FFS use.
Once again, we noted a proliferation of custom-painted lures at the show. Regional artists have found they can order blanks of just about any hard bait and they are using their talents to create one-of-a-kind lures and even using unique materials to create new lures like the Rodent Series from Tiger Crankbaits.
There was no shortage of tackle displayed at this year’s show. We saw everything, including new eyewear, plenty of outstanding bass boats and some really weird new soft plastic lures.
Here’s what we voted as Best In Show 2025.
Soft Plastics
Daniel Charles of Bent Rod Fishing had a display so small you might have missed it at the Richmond Fishing Expo, but it caught our eye as we made our rounds. Charles’ has two baits that utilize a special molding process that has a weighted hook inside the body. First Charles coats the hook in a special material that permits this plastic to bond to it. Then he pours his baits around the hooks. This creates a very strong connection between hook and plastic and produces a long-lasting, durable bait anglers can use to catch many fish.
The two lures that caught our eye most in the Best Rod Fishing display was the Mogambo Grub and the something Charlies has dubbed, The Rig. Both feature the molding process described above.
The Mogambo Grub is a big tail swimbait measuring 3.14 inches and weighing a half ounce. The Rig is a five-inch split tail minnow bait perfect for use with forward facing sonar. It weighs ¼ and comes in 25 appealing colors.
We’re happy to have both as our Best In Show for hand-poured soft plastics.
Oddballs
W2 Pro Team member Noah Peters was kind enough to bring a few baits from the Feel The Payne display to our booth he thought might be worth of Best In Show recognition. One of which is a new super finesse soft plastic from Jackal Japan. The Jimmy Henge (Hen-Gai) is odd looking – not unlike an octopus with fish tails instead of arms. The bait is intended to be used with a slow-sinking presentation and created to entice bites from the most pressured and tight-lipped bass.
Jimmy Henge is rigged by hooking a wacky or mosquito-style hook through the hooking point on the flat end of the bait. Cast the thing to your target, let it sink to depth and then give it a light twitch to create a super-finesse action that triggers the instinctual feeding reaction bites from the bass. Equipped with a circle of flat tail-like appendages that kick when twitched, Jimmy Henge is said to emulate a school of fleeing baitfish or shrimp, a favorite snack for many predatory species.
The Jimmy Henge can also be rigged on a dropshot for an ultra-finesse presentation that stays right in the strike zone.
To increase casting distance, Jimmy Henge is built with a rocket-shaped body profile that cuts through the air with ease, allowing anglers to put the lure in front of the fish while keeping a safe distance so as to avoid spooking. They are available in a range of natural and finesse colorways to take on the most pressured fish with a high level of success.
Several top Japanese anglers fished with a weird-looking money bait last season known as “Dice Rubber”. However, because the bait was handmade, it and was difficult to mass-produce and obtain, it was also a bait that many anglers dismissed, so it turned into a secret lure. In order to solve such a problem, collaborative development for mold production by OSP started under the agreement of developer Hideaki Tabuchi and the Dice Rubber was mass produced and is now sold to tackle shops and online retailers.
So why does one odd lure make the bass react widely? Tabuchi says it’s because of the “escape” action, which is a small silhouette that generates a large water push and moves instantaneously when gently twitched. It is a unique worm that can be seriously eaten by letting it fall to the line of sight of the bass with a no sinker and letting it escape from the bass with a twitch when fish chase.
The dice rubber Nonsalt is a model mass-produced by OSP from the original dice rubber (about a half inch square). The size that is neither too small nor too large is compatible with various rigs and can be easily cast and operated even when used with a light spinning rod and light fluorocarbon line. In addition, by setting the material to be harder than the original dice rubber, the hook holding is improved, and it is easier for anglers to fish.
OSP also has a Max Salt, high density version made for fishing deep that cannot be captured by the Dice Rubber Nonsalt when using it without a sinker.
The Deep Creek Lures Hyper Crab is another lure we found intriguing at the show. According to Deep Creek There are 1,300 species of freshwater crab in the world so they figured why not make a lure that imitates a crab. The regions tidal river veterans know the bass in those waters definitely eat crabs. The DC Hyper Crab could be a game changing new bait that gives anglers of all skill levels a new advantage. It’s made from DC’s durable, floating plastic with a lifelike three-inch profile, combined with attention-grabbing appendages designed for hyper movement. The bait comes in three-pack with one pre-rigged on a ¼-ounce head.
These three are our Best In Show Oddball baits.
Hard Plastics
Heidi and Greg from Tiger Crankbaits have again been busy crafting their hand-painted plugs and offered a beautiful selection at the show. What truly made us linger was their new Rodent Series plugs and the Wake Frog.
The Rodent Series consists of a rat, mouse and muskrat, all built on the same crankbait body but with a different color over flocking. Yes, you read that right – these baits are flocked like a decoy head and come in a mouse brown, rat grey and muskrat black. They are not quite a square bill and run just under the surface with a single wide gap 3/0 hook on the rear arbor dressed with a complimentary colored plastic worm “tail”.
The Wake Frog is a hand-painted plug built on what appears to be some kind of Lucky Craft blank with a circuit board lip designed to keep the bait at the surface when retrieved. The colors Heidi has created are outstandingly realistic to the patterns seen on frogs. The “legs” of the bait are simulated by a generous amount of matching color silicon strands that go completely through the bait. A single treble hook lies in wait on the rear arbor of the bait.
The uniqueness of these baits definitely deserves Best In Show recognition.
Boat
There were beautiful boats of all makes at the Richmond Fishing Expo – Bass Cat to Vexus, but the one that stopped us in our tracks was a stunning Falcon F20 Tournament Edition. This boat is manufactured in South Carolina and features some of the most impressive deck space we’ve seen on a 20’ boat. At 20’3” the boat is 99 inches wide! The rear deck measures 48” long and 84” wide. The front deck is 91” long and 84” wide. If you equip it with a 250 hp motor the relatively light boat (1,890 pounds) should run over 80 mph! The console and bow have the capability to mount 16” electronics. We also noted the classic rocker switch style control panel. While there are no more “bargain” bass boats, the Falcon F20 TE seemed like a great boat for serious tournament anglers and for that we will give it Best In Show.
You find Falcons at Propeller Dynamics in Disputanta, Virginia, just southeast of Richmond.
Reel
We stopped and chatted with Vince White of Ankor Fishing Gear at the show. His display of reels ranged from baitcasters to spinning reels, all under $100. The Ankor product is imported and curated by Vince and tested by his staff prior to market release.
“We are committed to providing quality reels at an affordable price. Our product quality rivals the big stores without the big prices. All of our reels are tested, fished with by our team members and evaluated before they even sell them at our store. This process takes more time, but we want our customers that spend their hard-earned money to have confidence in their purchase,” White states on his website.
The GS Series consists of 2000, 3000 and 4000 models and for a $45 line appears to be a great value. We put the GS3000 in our hands and liked the feel. The is a little slow at 5.0:1, but has 13 ball bearings, and good line capacity, able to hold 180 yards of six-pound test, 150 yards of eight-pound test and 120 yards of ten-pound test. It’s a nice reel for nice price and for that it earns Best In Show.
Rod
We have a rod given to us over 15 years ago by famed rod maker John Ballard or JB Custom Rods. We thought it might serve well as a drop shot rod but turns out it was better suited for casting for striper. In fact, it continues to serve us well in that capacity and we brought it to the Richmond Fishing Expo to show current JB Custom Rod owner Jeremy Reid. He promptly offered to redo the guides on it!
JB Custom Rods offers three models: the ESP, the Venom and the Wicked. The ESP Shakey Man is the rod that mostly closely resembles the one we’ve used for the past 15 years. At 7’ long with a medium fast/extra heavy action this rod is intended to be used with 1/8-5/8 oz. lures and 8-15 pound test. It’s a great rod to have in your mix for shakey head fishing, drop shotting, finesse jig fishing and Mojo/light Carolina rigging. It’s also earns our Best In Show distinction.
New Event
When you see a big man walking around at a fishing show with what appears to be a championship belt like those worn by boxers you are naturally curious. This is exactly what we saw at the Richmond Fishing Expo last month and turns out it was Caleb Payne of Feel The Payne Fishing (a tackle shop in Carrollton, Virginia) promoting his new Big Money Tournament held on the Chickahominy River March 1 out of Chickahominy Riverfront Park on Rt. 5. Entry fee is $250/two-person team. February 23 is the cutoff date to register with the field capped at 125 boats. There is an 85% cash payout. Based on just 80 boats, first place is said to earn $10K, second $4K, third $2K with decreasing amounts down to 15th place at $350.
And the winner gets to wear that cool Big Money Championship belt!
Another event we heard about at the show is the first annual Tactical Bassing Summit held at Fishing Pro Tech in Toano, Virginia. Store owner Lin Bell is known as the Dean of High End Bass Tackle so you know the store will be brimming with gear you won’t find anywhere else. He’ll have a raffle for a Megabass Levante rod and Daiwa Tatula reel combo, plus special sales, special guests and food for his attendees.
These are our Best In Show New events.
Sunglasses
Featuring Hobie’s signature ultra-lightweight floating frames, the new Hobie Monarch Floating Sunglasses ensure exceptional comfort when worn throughout the day and provide added peace of mind knowing they’ll rise back up to meet you on your next adventure. These fishing sunglasses feature Hobie’s Hydroclean 360 polycarbonate 6-base lenses, a proprietary polarized film technology offers 100% UV protection, eliminates distracting glare, sheds water, resists dust and is easy to clean.
The Monarch’s come complete with removable side shields that provide wrap-around sun protection during extremely bright conditions and a removable and adjustable retainer system to help keep these shades around your neck. The shades push back against the elements with a design that prevents your sunglasses from sinking into a watery abyss, too!
All Hobie Polarized lenses meet or exceed ANSI Z80.3 standards for refractive power, light transmission, and impact resistance. Frames are RX-friendly and allow you to add prescription lenses. Each part comes with a hard case and microfiber cloth. You’ll find this Best In Show pair of sunglasses and Hobie eyewear locally at Lake Anna Outfitters.
Apparel
Best in Show for apparel had to go to Woods & Waters for their tees and caps that many showgoers found to their liking. The caps had a patch of Virginia with the woods and waters icons on it so no matter what you like to do outdoors, the cap showed your love of the outdoor lifestyle.
