Dear Outdoor Editor: AA Worms / Optimum Bait Company welcomes you back to ORLANDO for ICAST and would like to thank you for taking the time to review our new products for 2014/2015. Please come and see us at Booth 1318. Each of these cutting-edge products offers something uniquely different to our industry—not just trendy makeovers of the same old thing. 1.Optimum Baits is proud to announce that our highly successful Opti Shad lures will now be available in 5” and 6” sizes, and our Victory Tail will be available in 6” and 7” sizes. We’ve also developed the new 5” Opti Grub, built on the same proven design, but with a wildly vibrating curl tail, and available in four new colors. Look for the Opti Grub in the New Product Showcase. 2. Japan’s finest terminal tackle brand, Zappu, has added the Pera R, an add-on propeller that will allow you to adapt any soft plastic lure to the recent Spybaiting phenomenon. There’s also new Floating Board which can adjust the fall rate and add much-needed buoyancy to any hard bait. The Pera R will be featured in the New Product Showcase. 3. Optimum’s main import, ima Japan, brings to market the Little Stik 135, a smaller version of the topwater Big Stik, and the Skimmer Grande 125, a larger size of the dog-walking Skimmer. Additionally, ima has added the “Select Series,” several models previously only available on the Japanese market. Additionally, as a result of new manufacturing efficiencies, the company will offer eight products previously available in the US at lower-prices without sacrificing any of the company’s legendary commitment to quality. 4. Japan's leading tackle manufacturer for monster bass, Deps, introduces the 175 size of the ultrapopular Slide Swimmer as well as the new Bull Shooter bluegill imitator, Evoke shallow diving crankbait and different sizes of the Balisong suspending jerkbait. The Bull Shooter and the Evoke will be featured in the New Product Showcase. 5. Reins, the industry leader in tungsten weight technology, will release a sliding football head weight that builds upon existing designs to allow for full customization of any soft plastic lure. Reins will also have two new flipping baits, the Craw Tube and the Punchin’ Predator, both of which will work well on the football head, or behind one of the company’s tungsten bullet weights. The sliding football weight will be featured in the New Product Showcase. 6. Two more imports, Kahara and Vagabond, will also be showing their newest additions. Kahara brings the Kaharaba finesse rubber tungsten jig, the Buzzy Kahara Frog and the Diving Kahara frog, but the most novel of the introductions will be their KJ Crank, a soft-bodied crankbait. With a hollow body and an extra strong double frog hook, this crankbait can go where only jigs and Texas rigs went in the past. Meanwhile, Vagabond, known for their handmade lures that belong on your mantle, introduces the Glide Hustler, a swimbait that exemplifies the best of the new “glide bait” craze. The Kaharaba finesse tungsten jig and the KJ Crank will be in the New Product Showcase. 7. AA’s celebrates over 30 years of hand pour excellence with the Flying Fish Swim Bait, imitating a tadpole in between two life stages in freshwater, and a flying fish in saltwater, but in either case vulnerable to predators and unlike any other soft plastic on the market. It will be viewable in the New Product Showcase. Again, thanks for the support you provide to our industry. If you have any questions about our new products I will be available in Booth 1318, along with Factory Reps from ima, Kahara, Deps, Reins and Vagabond, throughout the show and would be happy to discuss them with you. Sincerely, Matt Paino Matt Paino, CEO