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Got out on the lake for a few hours on Saturdee. Woulda been longer but every time I pull up, if there’s even one other boat there they all wanna come over and talk about the Vexus! That’s kidna a downside Vexus peeps!
Don’t wanna say it’s my home lake cuz a) I don’t know it yet and b) it’s not that great a lake! But it was cool…for a little, Ended up spending most of the time on the phone with my son and then my wife. Managed to keep casting and even lose a bait but my brain really wasn’t processing, if you know what I mean.
Then it hit me – the pros do this a lot in practice: talk on the phone. And catch and pattern fish at the same time. Amazing. That’s like walking, chewing gum, driving a car and changing your pants all at once?
That was my first time with the new MotorGuide Tour Pro. So far I love it: GPS anchor is great, but so is what I think is called Heading Lock? Point it to a spot, hit the button and it takes you there without having your foot on the pedal.
Misc Fork thoughts: – How amazing would it be to live on ear a lake like that. Dang man wow. |
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– Still don’t dig “weigh ins” with no fish. Ever since I was a kid I love to see the fishes. Lookin’ in everybody’s buckets was a fun time man!
– Dang it I think I need to learn to fish bigger swimbaits. I’d ask Pete Gluszek to show me how but I bet he doesn’t know either. (Heehee Pete!) – Is it me or are we seeing some pretty remarkable consistency at the top in the Elites this szn? |
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Today’s Top 4
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How Lee Livesay jacked ‘n stacked ’em in his 2nd beeg bass Elite win.
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Til this weekend, no one at Lake Fork had ever heard the name Lee Livesay.
Okay that’s totally false cuz he’s a well-known Fork guide hahaha! BUT at the top levels, fishing your home waters is no guarantee of success – unless it’s the Mike Iaconelli Dead Sea Invitational on the Delaware River EMOJ – and in fact it can be a jinx. Well, not this time. Here’s Lee’s baits and a little mo’, full deets as usual on the BB site.
> He fished the threadfin spawn the first 2 days, and the gizzard spawn the last 2 days.
First 2 days baits:
> His baits were a Megabass Vision 110 [I think it was “French pearl US”], a 6th Sense MiniMag Squarebill [I think it was “shad scales”] and a Heddon Super Spook Saltwater Series (bone).
> Squarebill gear: 7′ 6″ M H Halo HFX Cranking Series Rod, 20-lb fluoro (“super-thick timber”). The parabolic rod was “huge for being able to bomb that thing and keep ’em pegged.”
Last 2 days baits:
> Saltwater Spook: “The deal was the rod – I didn’t lose a fish all week. I’ve been waiting on this rod, a 7′ MH Halo HFX Cranking Series…good parabolic bend, was hooking those fish…40-lb braid, throwing it a mile and hooking them way out there. They were surging, jumping – the rod bent enough that [the hooks] wouldn’t pull out….”
He replaced the stock hooks with 1/0 Gamakatsu trebles (he calls ’em “meat hooks”) and used a high-speed reel.
> 8″ 3:16 Lure Co Rising Son Line Thru Swimbait (dirty shad, stock hook): “It’s heavy but it’s real buoyant. When you reel it you see most of them hit – it stays about 4 inches under the water.” 7′ 9″ XH Halo KS II Elite Rod (“the same exact frogging rod I used at Chickamauga”), 20-lb fluoro. |
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> “[Had his electronics] off the whole time. I didn’t even have my trolling motor in the water most of the time. The fish get so much pressure, they’re so smart and mature – if they hear a trolling motor that shallow, they’ll swim off 40 yards and wait on you to leave.
> “…Minn-Kota Raptors…had them down the whole time. Every big one I caught the last 2 days they held me in the same spot…being quiet and making long casts.
> “I’ve won 2 Elites with my trolling motor up and my Raptors down, being patient [and quiet].
> “Lakemaster mapping…showed little points, little secondary bars, high spots – it’s the deal. It shows detail like crazy. I knew most of [the lake] already, but where I caught the 2 big ones on the squarebill I’d never fished there in my life. The Lakemaster map showed a little bitty jut-out on a spot I’d never fished before….” |
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5 Qs with the Forkmaster.
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1. How did you get Fork on the schedule every year? Did it cost you any money?
> [Laughs] “I saw what the Chamber of Commerce paid – it definitely was not me paying that.”
2. How much is the Minnow Bucket responsible for you being a dang good fisherman?
> “It probably doesn’t help me be a good fisherman, but it aided in selling a lot of water and Aleve this morning to a lot of my friends.”
[Lol – sounds like a little celly went down!]
3. Why don’t you fish pistol-grip rods like your dad?
> “I do but I gotta be on a cypress-tree lake. He’s still rolling with ’em – he’s got some ghetto stuff over there [in his garage], it blows my mind.” |
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[That’s Lee’s dad – looks like everyone’s getting along okay? ]
4. Mich Ultra or Guinness Stout after the win?
> “Mich Ultra all day. For the win, Anheuser-Busch – Mike Martin and R&K Distributors here in Long View, TX have been huge for me.”
[Take a look at Lee’s sponsor lineup. Real different, real innerestin’.]
5. Are you seriously sponsored by a country band? Can you even sing??
> “I can’t sing first of all. I do try, but not in front of a lot of people. [Get him to do it Mercer!] And yes, [Whiskey Myers] just did a new album.
> “They were in Austin doing photo shoots for the album – everyone but the tour bus driver, he followed me [on the lake] the whole time…. When they thought I was gonna win, they shut down the studio – still having to pay for it – and drove all the way to Fork from Austin, which is about 5.5 hours. They watched me win, never told me they were there, took a pic in the crowd and sent it to me, then rolled right back to Austin.”
> “…at Chickamauga [the Elite he won last year] they were in the studio recording a new album, and they were in the middle of a song, the last hour and a half of the deal, and shut down the studio…all were watching on a computer screen…. They watched the last couple hours of Live and the weigh-in, and when I won they all cried like babies. 6 grown men crying….
> “They’re fishermen, a bunch of country boys. They said, ‘If we make it big and you hit the Elites, we’ll sponsor you. Then they blew up and I made the Elites….”
How cool is that! Check out Whiskey Myers’ YT channel here. Lee, I don’t see a single tune about bassin’ man…git ’em to fix it! Other than that, Lee’s gotta be favored for any Elite on a big bass fishery that happens during a Whiskey Myers recordin’ session…? |
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2nd-5th Fork baits.
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Only unfamiliar face here is Quentin Cappo who got his first top 10 as an Elite – congrats to him.
2nd: Patrick Walters
> Glide baits were a 3:16 Work Horse Glide and a Rapala X-Rap Haku [not available in the US?]. Both on 30-lb Sufix Advance Fluorocarbon on a Daiwa Tatula 300 Reel (7.1) and 8′ H Daiwa Tatula Elite Swimbait Rod.
> Variety of jerkbaits, mostly on 14-17 lb fluoro, 7′ Daiwa Tatula Elite Jerkbait Rod.
> Shallow clay points in 3-5′ of water. Main-lake and secondary points. |
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3rd: Quentin Cappo
> I was throwing a walking topwater bait (TN shad) and a shallow-diving squarebill (sexy shad) in 2-6′ of water on points adjacent to spawning creeks. Catching pre- and post-spawn fish feeding up on the shad spawn.
> I was using a 7′ 4″ Halo Cranking Series Rod on the crankbait, and a 7′ 3″ H Halo HFX Rod for the topwater. Lew’s Hyper Mag Reels (7.5) and 15-lb Seaguar Red Label fluorocarbon. |
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4th: Brandon Card
> Yo-Zuri 3DB Jerkbait 110 (ghost sexy shad), 12-lb Yo-Zuri T7 Fluorocarbon, Abu REVO MGXtreme Reel (8.0), 6′ 9″ M iRod Air Rod.
> McGill’s Hand Crafted Baits BC Shad 4.0 (too sexy) on a 3/4-oz Z-Dews Screw Lock Swimbait Head, 18-lb Yo-Zuri T7 Fluoro, Abu REVO MGXtreme Reel (8.0), 7′ 5″ H iRod Air Rod.
> I was fishing mid-depth offshore areas but also tapped into a shallow shad spawn on day 2. Couldn’t get the shad spawn going on day 3 or day 4. I also used a hodge-podge of crankbaits. |
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5th: Chris Zaldain
> I went big. Dock talk was indicating everyone would be in the creeks and pockets bed-fishing on the full moon. I stayed on the main lake and ran windblown hard-bottom points for 4 days, targeting pre and post spawn FEEDERS.
> I only got 6-9 bites a day, but they were all big. I weighed 6 fish on the Magdraft and 13 on the glide. I used the 8″ Megabass Magdraft (whiteback shad) in clearer water and the TaterHog Hog Father glide bait in stained water.
> Both fished on 25-lb Seaguar AbrazX Fluorocarbon and a 300-size reel. Magdraft rod was a Megabass Orochi XX Leviathan. Glide rod was a 8′ Megabass Black Jungle Nephilim. |
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Is Brian Latimer working on a new hook type?
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Check it:
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Well…guess it keeps ’em pinned but looks tougher to stick ’em??
Never happened to me – you? |
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News
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> The TN Wildlife Resources Agency said 2 bass fishing boats collided on Douglas Lake on Saturday morning.
> Billy Ray Martin, 65, of Pikeville, KY was pronounced dead at the scene. The other occupant of his boat was being treated for serious injuries, the agency said.
> Both occupants of the other boat were not injured. The agency said one of the boats was involved in a bass fishing tournament.
> The cause of the crash was under investigation by the agency.
Bless you brother. Please pray for his family and everyone else involved.
2. Looks like Lee Livesay’s brother and best bud were at the weigh-in? |
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3. Seth Feider finished 6th again.
2nd time in a row, still leads AOY…BUT just by 4 points over Patrick Walters….
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Either that or he’s an acrobat, half heron or something….
5. New Lew’s Jeff Sprague rods will be “general purpose.”
> …a lot of fishermen…cannot afford a rod for each lure type, Sprague has teamed with Lew’s for a more general-purpose signature series rod that should be showing up at Walmart stores nationwide this fall.
> “…I designed them with every type of angler I could think of in mind. Not everyone has a $100,000 boat and can afford any rod. This is an opportunity to go with a high end-rod…one anyone could afford”…the base price is expected to be $99.
6. Trip Weldon says his cancer is in remission!
Outstandin’! Congrats Trip! Thank you Lord! Keep the prayers going please, and for Aaron too….
Trip also said in that deal that he only watches MLF now.
Kidding
7. Very cool Mark Pack memorial morning at Fork.
Shared by David Rosenquist of M-Pack Lures – Scott Martin and other folks were there:
> Scott did a great job getting the Pack stories kicked off. We did set up his table he ate at every day on the grounds of [Lake Fork Marina] in front of his boat with his ashes on the deck. Told Pacman stories for about 2 hours. It was a good day for all that made it. |
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Mark was good people man. Very tough. Real glad that whole deal happened.
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Alex Niapas and Jason Remmers found the bigs and won the NewJen tourney there this weekend. Tx to Matthew B for the heads….
9. MT: New state largie record caught on a worm.
Lol this is how you do it peeps!
> …from Lake Elmo in Billings Heights…9.575-lb fish tops the previous record of 8.8 lbs that has stood since 2009.
> Brandon Wright caught the 22.5″ long fish…while angling from shore with a worm on a hook and 6-lb test line….
> He arrived at the lake a little after 10am and tipped a #10 Eagle Claw hook with a piece of nightcrawler. Then…he sat back and started watching Tik Tok videos on his cell phone. Within 15 minutes, the big fish took his bait and he was able to reel it ashore.
10. KS: Dude caught 1 fish, won the B.A.S.S. Nation Regional.
Is Milford Lake the new OH River?? EMOJ Congrats to NM’s Kris Bosley whose 3-14 on the last day was enough. Had a 3-day total of 9 fish for 23-05:
> “…I really wanted to win the whole tournament, and to do that I thought I’d probably need 4 fish. I didn’t expect to win with only 1 fish today, so it’s a real surprise.”
Lol I bet!
11. TN: $310K boost to county from BM college derbies…
…at Thousand Acre Lake. But:
> Hurley said the lake needs about 60 days between tournaments for its fish population to recover from the previous tournament.
Okay could be, but I still think/wonder if most fish in a lake are not caught….
12. Rapala VMC profits should be way up this year?
13. TN: 7-yr-old saves ‘n buys own rod…
…then on the 1st trip out with it catches an 83-lb catfish. Love the saving deal – I did that too, and still remember that Daiwa combo I bought. All we had was big ol’ carp and goldfish around so that’s what I fished for…every dang day…. Get that kid on some bass!
14. UT: Koi a big problem in reservoirs?
Says they’re killin’ ’em out, but aren’t those fish worth stupid money? How ’bout net ‘n sell, then stock more bass??
Headline of the Day
Jigs get nod for springtime crappie
Not a big crappie fisherman, but I believe jigs never don’t work?
Line of the Day
A 5.85-lb largemouth is a trophy for any fisherman, especially caught on a topwater lure [Pop-R].
Gonna say no, even on a Pop-R, even in NJ! Reminder that the Rebel P70 is now available again as the P71. Same plastic, shape, size, etc. |
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On BassBlaster.rocks right now…
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> How Lee Livesay won the Fork Elite
Note: The TackleWarehouse links in this email are affiliate links, meaning if you go through them to make a purchase I might earn a commission…at no cost to you. Click here if you want to learn a little more about links in the BB.
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Tip of the Day
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It’s a short Bassmaster vid ^ so here are the highlights:
> “The #1 tip I could give you is to find wind. If you find wind-blown points on the lake you’re fishing – around the spawn [pre- to post-]….
> “Always position your boat upwind of these main and secondary points, and you have to Spot-Lock down and cast off the rear of the boat [downwind]. That prevents the wind from putting a bow in your line and disconnecting the feel of your swimbait….
> “…casting across that point abnd slow-winding that swimbait out, that’s how you catch a lot of big ones….” |
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Quote of the Day
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“They don’t see the struggles. The flat tires at 10:00 at night. The time away from family. Those bad seasons when you struggle.”
– Drew “Bagley” Benton talkin’ ’bout the real life of pros on the road, but it getting balanced out by wins and being on the cover of Bassmaster Mag, which he is. He’s durned right – life on the road is rough, whether it’s bassin’ or rock ‘n roll! |
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Shot of the Day
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Is this my long lost Japanese bassin’ bro (@imakatsu_info) with that Eddie Van Halen bumblebee (black/yellow stripes) deal on the seat and boat wrap?? Lovin’ my clean white Vexus but I’m big-time jelly man!
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Random
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Last time was when he was fishin’:
> On the way back to his car, he encountered a bear and was forced to shoo it away by hitting it with a stick, which he claimed was the 22nd time he had had to fend off bears in this manner.
Not sure what’s up with all that, but maybe he needed to pay more attention to the weather?? He passed about 40 years ago, but still holds the lightning strike record. |
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Ya got me!
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Jay Kumar’s BassBlaster is a daily-ish roundup of the best and funniest (sometimes worst) stuff in bassin’, picked by me – Jay Kumar. I started BassFan.com, co-hosted Loudmouth Bass with Zona, was a B.A.S.S. senior writer and a bunch more in bassin’. The Blaster is the #2 daily read on any given day in the wide world o’ bass so thanks for readin’!
Check out BassGold.com! (It’s FREE!)
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