Ice Gear in Orlando?

Folks don't set up ice-fishing shelters in Florida during January, let alone July, but the shelters will be going up tomorrow. At the same time everything from ice lures to augers will being coming out of their packaging. Orlando is the host city of the International Convention of Allied Sport Fishing Trades (ICAST), and all segments of the sportfishing industry -- including ice-fishing -- will be represented at the show.

One new name in the ice world at this year's ICAST show will be Ice Force, which is not a new brand but instead a new marketing alliance of several classic ice brands. Otter, Strike Master, Mora Ice, MarCum, Rapala, VMC and Sufix together make up Ice Force. Collectively, these brands offer ice-fishing shelters, augers, electronics, lures, hooks, line and more.

You can bet these brands will break out some new stuff that will have northern anglers seriously longing for colder days. One I've heard about is an ice-specific version of Sufix 832, a high-performance superline.

Set-up for the three-day show begins tomorrow. ICAST activities begin with a New Products Showcase preview reception Tuesday night. The show runs Wednesday through Friday, so look for lots of buzz about new fishing stuff.