THE LATEST NEWS
Livingston Lures To Give Away $2,000 In Cash At The Bassmaster Class
San Antonio, Tex – 2014 is off to a big start for cutting edge hard bait manufacturer, Livingston Lures. Kicking off the year at the Bassmaster Classic Expo in Birmingham, Livingston has announced cash giveaways, lure giveaways and fan opportunities to meet the Livingston Lures Pro staff team throughout the 2014 B.A.S.S. Classic.
Livingston Lures will be hosting Pro Team Anglers, Byron Velvick, Stetson Blaylock, Jacob Powroznik, Jeff Kriet & Andy Morgan, for autographs and photoshoots with fans throughout the show. Although they will be present most of the time at booth number 2401, there are scheduled times for fans to come and meet the team. Set times are Friday from 1-2pm, Saturday 11am-12pm, & Sunday 11am-12pm and also from 2pm-3pm.
Also, the legendary founder of B.A.S.S., Mr. Ray Scott will be signing autographs in the Livingston booth #2401 on Saturday from 2pm-2:45pm. In addition to signing autographs, Livingston will also be selling his book, “Bass Boss,” with all proceeds going to a charity that he helped to build.
Among the anglers fishing for the Bassmaster Classic titles are Livingston Lures Pro Team anglers Brent Chapman, Hank Cherry, and Randy Howell. All three will be fishing baits from the new Team Livingston series that they helped to design. Fred Battah, CEO of Livingston Lures stated, “We are very excited for our anglers fishing the Classic and very proud to be a part of such a great event.”
To celebrate their team competing in the Classic event, Livingston Lures is giving away cash prizes to fans in attendance. Giving away a total of $2,000, Livingston is giving fans multiple chances to win. Three lucky fans will win $100 each on Friday, seven fans will win $100 on Saturday, and 1 grand prize winner will take home $1,000 on Sunday. Fans will have to stop by Livingston Lures booth number 2401 to find out how to enter.
###
Ike talks Hydrowave
Elite series pro Mike Iaconelli talks about the Hydrowave and how he uses it. If your a tournament fisherman and not using the Hydrowave your at a disadvantage.
Carl talks Power Pole
Bassmaster Opens Pro Carl Jocumsen talks about the advantages of using the Power Pole.
Keep up with Carl on his Facebook page.
Anglers Rise to Challenge at West Point Lake on ProPatterns Exposed
As top Elite anglers prepare for the 2014 GEICO Bassmaster Classic this week, ProPatterns, Inc. releases three new Exposed episodes featuring two Classic contenders, while also offering ProPatterns fans a challenge.
Exposed anglers, including Hank Cherry, Casey Ashley, Brandon Palaniuk, GMAN Gerald Swindle, Aaron Martens, Jason Christie, Shaw Grigsby, Mike McClelland, and 48 other anglers face off at the Classic, which takes place in Alabama on Lake Guntersville on Feb. 21-23. Cherry and Ashley also appear this week for the first time on Exposed, along with Elite anger J. Todd Tucker. The three reveal strategies and tips for working through the difficult practice days that led up to the Elite Series West Point Lake Battle in May of 2013.
Hank Cherry, 2013 Rookie of the Year and Bass All-Star Champion, points out on the first day of practice that “bass and thunderstorms don’t get along” but reminds the fans, “It’s not what you catch when you’re practicing. It’s what you see and what you find.” Despite him cautioning fans that the day would be a challenge, Cherry explores shad spawns, deep docks, and bridges, getting about 35 bites, including back-to-back four-and-a-half pounders. Cherry’s success during the first day of practice would follow him to the tournament, where he would land a 4th-place finish with a total weight of 41.2 pounds.
Get Exposed here.
2014 Okeechobee Tournament Recap
I just got back from the opening FLW event on Lake Okeechobee. If you haven’t seen the results, or didn’t watch the weigh-ins online, I finished third with 81-01 for four days. Congrats to Brett Hite for taking first and Greg Bohannan for second place.
I’m happy to see Greg do so well. He is a great guy and a great fisherman. We’ve fished against each other on many of the highland reservoirs in Arkansas and Missouri for years. It was good to see two country boys go down to Florida and catch some big ones out of the grass.
The thing with Okeechobee is you have to consistently catch a big one. To contend for the top spot, you have to catch at least one big one each day. This year I was lucky enough to do that. Last year, I couldn’t catch that kicker fish the first day. I did catch two big ones on the second day that helped me place 25th. This year 30 pounds would have been 49th place. Which proves, overall, more fish were caught this year.
Okeechobee Recap
I’ve partnered with Maxima Fishing Line this year. I used it last year and was really impressed. I spoke with the company about working together in 2014, and I’m glad they came on board because it was one of the keys to my third-place finish. I had no worries getting the largest fish of my life, 8 pound 5 ounces, in the boat. I used 65-lb braided line when flipping, 25-lb fluorocarbon when fishing the speed worm, and 20-lb Ultragreen when fishing a War Eagle spinnerbait.
In practice, I spent most of my time looking for clear water. Finding clear water is a must on Florida lakes. Unlike many Midwest lakes, where fish sometimes bite better in dirty water, Florida bass bite better in clear water.
The baits I caught fish on in practice were a Medlock jig in black and blue, swimming a Skinny Dipper or a Gambler Big EZ, and a speed worm. They were staging around small areas of eelgrass mixed with hydrilla. The eelgrass was growing on harder-bottom areas, which attracted pre-spawn fish. I found areas where I could catch a lot of fish and every so often a big one. I knew I was going to have to make a lot of casts and try to figure out a more detailed pattern as the tournament went on.
Tournament Days
On day one, there was a long fog delay. I was boat 25 with a check-in time of 3:15. I didn’t get to my first spot until 8:45. Fairly quickly, I caught five keepers; nothing big, but it settled my nerves. I caught a couple on a War Eagle spinnerbait in Gold Shiner, and a 7 pound 9 ounce kicker on a speed worm. The conditions set up better for faster-moving baits.
I had a decent bag before noon, so I was feeling pretty good. I thought I had a good chance to upgrade my smaller fish with the afternoon flipping bite. I was right. I weighed in 20 pounds, 13 ounces on day one.
Since I was able to capitalize on a short day one, I felt confident going into day two and having a longer day of fishing. I knew I needed to catch at least one kicker fish each day to make the cut. Day two I brought to the scales 17-01.
I had a good day three. I brought the biggest bag of the day to weigh in with 22-04. I caught the largest fish of my life on a War Eagle spinnerbait. She weighed 8 pounds, 5 ounces. That put me in third, and I made the first top-10 cut of my career.
I fished the same pattern on day four and brought in 20 pounds, 15 ounces for a total of 81 pounds, 1 ounce and a third-place finish; a career best finish.
Equipment
I used a Bass Pro Shops Pro Qualifier 7 to 1 reel when fishing my moving baits. A Bass Pro Shops Carbonlite reel when I was flipping. These reels were on Waft Fishing Rods. Waft is a new company that makes the Iron Feather 7’6 and 7’10 extra heavy rods. These are great rods for pulling big fish out of thick grass. James Watson
I’ll be working the Luck “E” Strike booth at the Bassmaster Classic, so stop by and say hello.
Be sure to “Like” my Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/JamesWatsonFishing