MINNETONKA, Minn. - Bolstering its already solid ice fishing selection, Rapala® VMC Corporation (Rapala) announces it has acquired the assets of Minnesota-based StrikeMaster Corporation, the leading supplier of ice augers in the United States. In a symmetrical maneuver, Rapala also acquired the Mora ICE brand – Europe’s preeminent name in ice augers and cutting blades – from Mora of Sweden AB (Mora, Sweden).

Amid an annual flood of fishing industry product launches, there is one reel that is turning heads the most – and surprising the hands of those that hold it – EXO from Quantum. For sure, EXO is one of the biggest, lightest things to hit the fishing reel market in years.

Minneapolis based Coolibar, a manufacturer of sun-protective clothing, announced today it has reached a sponsorship agreement with professional bass angler Chad Grigsby of Maple Grove, Minn. Grigsby, a four-time Forrest Wood Cup qualifier and recent winner of the FLW Tour Kentucky Lake qualifier, will sport a variety of Coolibar shirts, shorts, hats and gloves during the 2012 season.

Minnetonka, Minn. - This year, Trigger X® Aggression sets the soft bait market on fire with a barrage of new product introductions, rounding out an angler's arsenal for any application.

Collierville, TN – Strike King Lure Company recently announced the addition of Andy Montgomery of Blacksburg, S.C., to its national team for 2012. At age 29, Montgomery is a young star on the rise, is very competitive, loves shallow-water fishing yet has the ability to adapt to any situation on the water, and has the desire and work ethic to grow in the sport. He is married and being a successful professional fisherman has been a lifelong dream of his.

Collierville, TN – Strike King Lures announced today the release of the Strike King Fishing Log App, which is now available at iTunes for download. This app will change the way you capture data, log trip information and ultimately analyze patterns for future trips. Built as a partnership between Strike King Lures and My Code Matters, LLC, this app has a robust offering that will benefit most any angler.

JOSEPHINE, Penn. - Picasso Lures is proud to announce the addition of Bassmaster Elite Series and FLW pro Fred Roumbanis to their pro staff.

Houston – Biobor® Fuel Additives is proud to announce its sponsorship of professional bass angler Keith Combs for the 2012 season. Combs, who owns the heaviest five-fish stringer in FLW history, had a monster year in 2011 which culminated in winning the Texas Bass Classic (TBC) by tying his closest opponent and then winning the fish-off.

MINNETONKA, Minn. - Rapala®, the world’s favorite fishing lure and Versa Electronics, the owner of MarCum Technologies and Showdown brands, industry-leading fishing sonar and underwater viewing systems, have formed a strategic manufacturing and exclusive distribution partnership.

Awards available to FLW Tour, EverStart Series, BFL and Walleye Tour winners
Power-Pole has ramped up its Captains Cash contingency program for the 2012 FLW tournament season, offering bonus dollars to professional anglers in more competitive circuits than ever before. In addition to the Walmart FLW Tour and EverStart Series, registered anglers using Power-Pole anchor systems who compete in the Walmart Bass Fishing League (BFL) and the National Guard FLW Walleye Tour can now earn Captains Cash as well.

Returning for a second year, the All-Star Walleye School is back for anglers ready to ramp up their skills in 2012. Moving to one of the hottest walleye factories around, the event will take place August 9-12 on Lake Mille Lacs in central Minnesota. McQuoid’s Inn will host the event. All-Star instructors include Mark Courts, Kevin McQuoid, Paul Meleen, Brian Brosdahl, Bill Shimota and more depending on the size of the class. The plethora of high caliber National Guard FLW Walleye Tour anglers is what sets this school apart from others.

Jackson, Wis. - Time was, procuring a ponderous string of trout, catfish or sunfish involved little more than a willow stick with hook, line, sinker, and a coffee tin filled with lively critters-angleworms, nightcrawlers or even crickets. Fish gobbled 'em up like candy. Life was easy, until the bait fried and died. Along came Styrofoam, which offered a hint of insulation, but when you accidently stepped on the container - Vegas odds of 2 to 1 of it happening - the flimsy walls collapsed and lid cracked like a peanut shell. And even before, water had likely seeped in and created an icky stew of unusable bait. Guess fishing from the bank wasn't so peaceful and romantic after all...

Nick Tassoni, a 15-year-old high school freshman, set a new walleye state record for Illinois on Saturday, Jan. 7, when he boated a 14-pound, 12-ounce fish on the Pecatonica River. According to Illinois Wildlife Officer Brian Alt, who verified the catch, Tassoni was fishing with his father, David, and trolling a Rapala No. 7 Minnow (fire-tiger) when the fish hit.

An arrest has been made in the fatal shooting of former FLW Series Angler of the Year Jimmy McMillan. McMillan was killed Jan. 2 during an attempted robbery at his business, the Alabama Georgia Grocery Store.

Numa Sport Optics announced recently that it’s added veteran FLW angler Bill McDonald to its pro staff. McDonald is registered for each of the four Walmart FLW Tour Opens in 2012, including the season opener on Lake Okeechobee Feb. 9-12.

Premium rod builder Denali Rods has agreed to terms with professional angler Charlie Evans of Gilbertsville, Ky. Evans is best known for his more than six years as the president and CEO of FLW Outdoors and thirty years with FLW in total.

Though bass tournament fishing has grown into a worldwide sport, in many ways it’s still a close-knit community in which the participants follow each other’s triumphs and tragedies and react accordingly. So it was in the FLW family when the news of Jimmy McMillan’s murder telegraphed along the fishing grapevine.

A week before Christmas, well-known FLW regular Fred Martin was shot during what was apparently a robbery attempt at his home in North Little Rock, Ark. The 44-year-old Martin was in the process of warming up his truck when an unknown assailant approached him and shot him in the abdomen, according to local police.

Another founding giant was lost to the bass-fishing world Monday evening when Ray Murski died of injuries sustained in a car wreck on a central Texas road.

Jack Wingate, one of the seminal figures in the foundation of tournament bass fishing, succumbed to prostate cancer earlier this week at his home on the banks of his beloved Lake Seminole. Wingate, 82, was the former proprietor of Wingate’s Lunker Lodge, a crossroads gathering place for many of the iconic figures in the bass-fishing world, among them Forrest Wood, Ray Scott, Tom Mann, Roland Martin, Bill Dance and all of the tournament greats of the past 40 years.

Luck “E” Strike Lures has begun shipping the first batch of its new American Originals series of hard baits. The first lure in the line is the Wart Hog crankbait, a deep diver that soon will be joined by two other versions.

Compact standalone models offer high brightness, feature-packed performance at affordable prices
TULSA, Okla. — Lowrance, a world-leading brand in marine electronics since 1957 and GPS navigational systems since 1992, announced today its new lineup of compact, dual-frequency fish finders with DownScan Imaging? (DSI) and fish-finder/chart-plotter options: the Mark-4 grayscale and Elite-4 color series. Both series feature high-brightness, LED-backlit, 3 ½-inch displays that provides exceptional visibility at wider viewing angles as well as readability in all weather conditions, including direct sunlight.

LAKE HAVASU CITY, Ariz. — FLW Tour pro Justin Kerr broke the Colorado River System smallmouth bass record with a 5.63-pound fish from Lake Havasu on Nov. 9. Kerr used an Evergreen Combat Crank 480 in Bluegill color to entice the record-breaking fish. At 5.63 pounds, Kerr’s fish eclipsed the old mark of 5.39 pounds by almost 4 ounces.

Elwood, Ind.-based Red Gold Inc. recently announced a 2012 title sponsorship with professional angler Todd Hollowell of Fishers, Ind. Hollowell will fish the Walmart FLW Tour in 2012 and will sport the bright and beautiful Red Gold logo and boat-wrap design. Fans will also see Red Gold and Hollowell at the popular FLW Outdoors Expo at FLW Tour Majors events.

Bell’s boat, truck wrapped for 25,000-mile-long promotion
MINNETONKA, Minn. — Ham Lake, Minn.-based angler Jimmy Bell has signed on with Crystal Farms Cheese to support his 2012 campaign in the National Guard FLW Walleye Tour. The company will outfit Bell’s Ranger boats and Chevy Silverado pick-up with graphics advertising its products.