One of the things I enjoy most about publishing Spacefish is that it provides opportunities to meet new people that share my passion for fishing. Such an opportunity led to my friendship with Alan Ryland, with whom I just had the pleasure to go fishing with at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge in Titusville.

When was the last time you had a fellow fisherman introduce you to a new product that actually worked? Think about it for a minute — when was the last time someone said “hey, put this on your hook and I bet you will catch a fish” and it actually produced for you? Almost never, right? Well, I just had that “once in a blue moon” occurrence, and boy was I impressed.

What a fun, but exhausting three days, wandering the isles, visiting old friends and making new ones, and ogling all sorts of fancy new tackle I wish I could afford. I saw some good stuff, some bad stuff and plenty of stuff in between. Here is a rundown of the good, the bad and the ugly of ICAST 2018.