Elite

Practice on Lake Fork with Livesay

Posted on
Photography by
Shaye Baker
Tag along for Day 2 of official practice as Bassmaster Elite Series pro Lee Livesay prepares for the the Simms Bassmaster Elite at Lake Fork.
To get the morning started, Livesay steps up into his Ballistic Boats .204 …
… to dump a little water off the cover that collected during last night’s heavy thunderstorm.
Livesay and roommate for the week Caleb Sumrall grab their canine co-anglers and head out on fork for the second day of official practice.
Anglers couldn’t ask for a prettier morning, as the sun starts to break through the clouds.
Livesay idles along keeping an eye on his graphs …
… and it’s not long before he starts spotting some fish on his Humminbird electronics.
Moving to the bow of the boat, Livesay sees another good sign on his MEGA Live Imaging … a school of baitfish.
There’s standing timber galore on Lake Fork. And it’s more exposed than usual with the lake down over 5 feet for dam maintenance.
The low water isn’t slowing the bite down however, as Livesay hooks up early.
A pretty good looking flash as the fish rolls next to the boat.
Livesay looks to land the bass …
… reaching in to grab a hold of a good one.
Lee’s chocolate lab Bean moves in for a better look.
Livesay likes what he is seeing on this spot.
A quick scan of the horizon to see if any other anglers saw the catch.
And then Bean and Lee admire the fish once more.
It’s back in the water which disappointed Bean a little bit.
But Bean doesn’t hold it against her dad for long.
As she eagerly awaits the next catch every cast.
It’s not long before he hooks up again.
The battle is on.
Bean is ready.
The crankbait is working well for Livesay early today.
He drags another nice fish to the boat.
Lee grabs the fish …
… but keeps her below the gunnel in case any other anglers are in the area.
He pops his 6th Sense crankbait free …
… and has a quick look at the size of the bass before letting her go.
Bean is enjoying the day so far, having had the opportunity to lick at least a few of the bass that have come onboard.
She’s ready for more.
There are some massive stumps in Fork. And knowing that the water is over 5 feet down, this stump as well as several in the background would typically be completely covered with the water at full pool.
He hooks up again.
This one isn’t as big, though.
Still, it’s a positive sign that they like what he’s offering.
This lure is something different from the crankbait – a 6th Sense Hybrid Jig.
Looking at the shoreline, which would typically be under water, you can see chunk rock scattered on this point.
And this shellbed here as well is another good illustration of the places that the fish are staging on out in the water.
You can also see the root balls at the bases of some of these stumps.
Knowing that all of this would typically be underwater, it’s much easier to visualize the cover you’re fishing that is still underwater.
Since Lee let us ride along with him today, let’s give a quick shout to his sponsors, which include a touring band, a cold beverage and a logistics company.
And we can’t forget these littlest stickers. Livesay added a couple little pink feet to the dash of his Ballistic Boat to honor his daughter Lane who’s 7 weeks old and waiting back at the cabin for him with wife and mom Taren while dad tries to locate some big ones.
Back to fishing as Lee swings another small one in.
And another one.
A nice one, but not what Lee is looking for.
He’s testing a lot of water today to rule out some areas.
Getting bit is a good sign, but he’s hoping to hit the real honey holes during the tournament with the same baits and catch some giants.
He loads up again, always aware of any other anglers in the area.
This one gets wrapped around a stump.
And puts up quite a fight.
Finally, he frees it from the stump.
Bean is ready!
Another nice chunk on the jig.
Lee is having fun now. He knows this tournament is going to be crazy with how much they are biting right now.
Time to retie …
… and try the 6th Sense squarebill a little more.
As Livesay gets back to cranking …
… he talks over what he thinks it’ll take to win here this week, not hesitating to say he wouldn’t be surprised to see the all time four-day weight record fall. That record is 132 pounds, 8 ounces set by Paul Elias in 2008 on Falcon Lake.
And Livesay hooks up again.
This one is an acrobat.
Livesay is certainly dialed in …
… which is no surprise considering he has guided on Fork for the last decade or so.
It will be interesting to see what he can do come tournament time when he takes the restrictor plate off and tries to get on the holes where he believes the big ones are.
His only concern is that the lake is going to fish even smaller than normal with the low water level. But he’s ready nonetheless to see what he can do.
A quick look at the fish and Livesay releases it without bringing the bass over the gunnel as Bean looks on.
The heat sets in, so Bean and I both exit the boat. Her for a cool swim and me to get to work on this gallery. That’s a wrap for now.

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