THE LATEST NEWS
Matt Lee Skunked Before Launch
Bass anglers often refer to not catching anything as “getting skunked.” Unfortunately, Alabama rookie pro Matt Lee had already crossed paths with one of the smelly black and white mammals before ever making a cast on Day One of the Evan Williams Bassmaster Elite Series tournament in Waddington, NY.
Elite Pro Mike McClelland Hoping for Big Bags of Bass on St. Lawrence River
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WADDINGTON, N.Y. (July 29) — The St. Lawrence River, site of this weekend’s Evan Williams Bourbon Bassmaster Elite tournament, is widely known as the outflow between the Great Lakes system and the Atlantic Ocean. It’s also known as one of the best smallmouth bass fisheries in the world, a fact not lost on Cabela’s/GEICO For Your Boat professional angler Mike McClelland. “This is such an awesome fishery,” McClelland said. “I’m really excited to get this event underway. The potential to catch a 20-pound bag of smallmouth bass on this river is better than anywhere I’ve ever fished but you have to make good decisions. They’re not just going to jump in your boat; you have to find them. “I love fishing smallmouth. Being up here in the Northeast, the home of GEICO, and having a boat full of Cabela’s gear, I feel like the odds are in my favor to have a big weekend. But like I said, I’ve got some work to do if I want to make it to the final round. I need to catch big bags every day, starting tomorrow.” Having spent the last few days practicing alongside his fellow anglers and plotting out some potential honey holes, McClelland has reached the same conclusion as many of his peers: The bite is a little off from the last time the Bassmaster Elite tour visited this area. “The fishing is nowhere near as good as it was two years ago,” said McClelland, who hails from Arkansas. “It’s definitely hotter outside than it usually is up here, but the water temperatures are about the same, in the mid 60s, so it may be more a product of what the fish feed on than the fish themselves. “I definitely ran through my bag of tricks in practice and nothing really jumped out at me as the sure-thing way to fish. We’ll have to just get out there and fish hard and find the best way to get them in the live well. It’s not the first time we’ve faced a situation like this.” While applying most of his focus on this weekend’s event, McClelland also admitted to keeping a wary eye on the Toyota Angler of the Year points and his positioning for the 2016 GEICO Bassmaster Classic, which will take place next March in Tulsa, Okla. “That tournament is not only the biggest one in our sport, but next year it’s nearly in my backyard at the Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees,” McClelland said. “I just have to be a part of it. I know that fishery better than almost any other and I desperately want to fish that event. “The best way to do that is to keep fishing hard. Of course, winning an event is an automatic berth, so that would be the best way possible, but if I can’t do that, then I need to keep the pressure on myself at every tournament left on the schedule.”
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Livingston Lures Unveils New Series of Technologically Advanced Baits
SAN ANTONIO, Texas – As has been the case for the past several years, Livingston Lures wowed the fishing world at the recent International Convention of Sportfishing Trades (ICAST) convention in Orlando, Florida. Already the world leaders in bait technology thanks to Electronic Baitfish Sounds™ (EBS) and EBS MultiTouch™, Livingston unveiled a series of exciting new baits and technologies that will again change the way we fish, including the world’s first BlueTooth®-compatible lures.
Here’s a brief look at the new offerings that Livingston unveiled at ICAST:
B Viper and B Venom: Designed by Team Livingston pro and swimbait pioneer Byron Velvick, the 6- and 8-inch B Viper and B Venom swimbaits will be the first lures in the world to incorporate BlueTooth® Low Energy (BLE) technology, and connectivity to a smartphone app that will allow the angler to choose between 30 EBS sounds. The baits are equally revolutionary in their design, with uniquely lifelike action, removable/adjustable ballast weight systems that will allow them to be fished from the surface down to 25 feet, and details (360-degree rotating hooks, sideways line tie, etc.) that only a swimbait master like Velvick could design.
Walking Boss Part II: This bait has already proven to be a difference-maker for several Team Livingston pros throwing early-run models for post-spawners. The Walking Boss II takes the elongated walking-bait body of the original Walking Boss, adds a second/jointed body section and a flared, double-cupped lip and dressed treble hooks, and ties it all together with EBS MultiTouch™ to produces the most unique, sashaying/plopping/bubbling topwater action and sound anyone has ever seen.
Howeller Deep Plus: Attentive fans of the sport will recognize this 4 ¼-inch, 1.76-ounce ultra-deep diver from BASSFest on Kentucky Lake and Lake Chickamauga, where Livingston pro Stetson Blaylock piled up a handful of 21-plus-pound bags cranking the Howeller Deep Plus on the deep ledges of these two Tennessee River fisheries. The Deep Plus takes the wicked action of the original Howeller Dream Master Classic body, dives to the 25- to 30-foot range, and enhances it all with EBS MultiTouch™ to create the most unique combination ever unleashed on deep-structure fish.
Deep Impact 6 & 12: The Deep Impact 18 was a slight departure for Livingston in 2014, with smoother lines, a slightly wider wobble, and a different EBS™ “footprint” than baits like the PrimeTyme and Howellers, but the DI 18 was a smashing success for mid/deep cranking. New for 2015-16, the Deep Impact 6 and 12 bring the original 18’s EBS MultiTouch™-enhanced action to a wider range of depths and applications.
FlatMaster: Built on the hard-vibrating foundation of the PrimeTyme 2.0 SQ and then compressed into a tight-wobbling flatsided form that Team Livingston pro Jacob Powroznik developed prior to the 2015 Bassmaster Classic, the FlatMaster is your new best weapon in the cold waters of late fall and winter. The FlatMaster will run slightly deeper than similar baits – 7 to 9 feet on 10-pound fluorocarbon – and brings the added attraction of EBS MultiTouch™ (Original™ or Shad™ in clear water, Craw™ in stained water)
SpinMaster: The hand-carved propbait is a staple in topwater tackle boxes throughout the South, but the Team Livingston SpinMaster takes the old tried-and-true prop and adds the following: the PrimeTyme body, which imparts more action than the old, elongated wooden bodies; castability on windy days, where the old wooden models are brutally uncastable; EBS MultiTouch, which allows the bait to draw fish in with both the commotion of the bait’s two propellers, and at rest as EBS Shad™ or EBS Original™ call the fish to the bait.
Walk N Pop 65: When the Walk N Pop 77 hit the market early this year, it instantly became THE popper of choice for serious topwater anglers, thanks to its design and the power of EBS MultiTouch™. Now the smaller Walk N Pop 65 provides the same dramatic topwater commotion and sound technology, but in a smaller body that provides even more pinpoint accuracy and increased castability into isolated windows (under docks and overhangs, small openings in lily pads, etc.).
FOR MORE INFO: Log on to www.livingstonlures.com & follow Team Livingston on Facebook www.faceboook.com/LivingstonLures.
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Louisiana High School Team Wins National Championship With 15-pound Lead
Alex Heintze (middle) and Justin Watts (right), members of the Livingston Parish Bassmasters out of Baton Rouge, La., win the Costa Bassmaster High School National Championship presented by TNT Fireworks held on Kentucky Lake out of Paris, Tenn., with a three-day total weight of 66 pounds. Photo by Ronnie Moore/B.A.S.S.
MCKENZIE, Tenn. — From start to finish Alex Heintze and Justin Watts of Baton Rouge, La., held the lead at the Costa Bassmaster High School National Championship presented by TNT Fireworks. read more…
Toyota’s 4th Annual Bonus Bucks Team Event Heads to America’s #1 Bass Lake
The 4th Annual no-entry-fee Toyota Bonus Bucks Owners Tournament will be held October 10 & 11, 2015 at the massive reservoir on the Texas-Louisiana border that Bassmaster just ranked the #1 Bass Lake in America – Toledo Bend. read more…