It’s an understatement that Lee Livesay is amped up for the next stop on the Bassmaster Elite Series calendar.
“I put a circle and a box, a rectangle, and a parallelogram and a rhombus, five or six stars … everything around that sucker,” the Elite rookie said.
And just where is that derby, Lee?
“Lake Fork, Texas, big bass capital of the world,” he said.
The high anticipation is because Livesay has worked as a guide there the past five years, making about 300 bass fishing trips annually. The largest bass one of his client’s landed was 13.88 pounds, and he has caught a best of 12.89. It stands to reason he’s licking his chops for the May 2-6 Toyota Bassmaster Texas Fest benefiting Texas Parks & Wildlife Department.
“I’m not mad about being on there, for sure,” he said.
While Livesay forecasts plenty of big fish catches, he said the event might be outside the optimal windows to eclipse B.A.S.S. records.
“We’re going to miss the good stuff — a couple weeks early, a couple weeks late — but it’s still going to be good,” he said. “There’s so many big fish in it, we’re going to smash them. It’s not going to be great, great fishing, but there’s so many 4- to 9-pound fish we’re going to have crazy weights.”
Livesay doesn’t think the four-day weight record will be broken, although he’s pretty sure B.A.S.S. will be awarding its first Century Club belts since Lake Falcon in 2013. The overall weight record was set on Falcon in 2008, when six anglers topped 125 pounds, including Paul Elias’ top weight of 132-8.
“Wrong timing,” Livesay said. “Right now, two weeks ago, I’d catch 40 pounds every day. When we’re there, nope.”
Lake Fork produced the top weight for a three-day event in the 2014 Toyota Texas Bass Classic, the predecessor of Texas Fest. Behind his 10-14 big bass in his 42-pound bag, Keith Combs totaled 110 pounds to shatter the previous three-day tournament mark by 26-11. Livesay doesn’t think Fork will fish that well this time.
“It’s not like when Combs won TTBC. It’s two weeks later in the month when they were out deep, and it was 7 foot low,” he said. “It was a perfect storm. They had just got out there. Not many of them are going to be deep when we’re there.
“The lake’s high. They had a lot of rain. It’s kinda muddy. It’s going to kinda be off for us, for what it could be, but it will still take 30 pounds a day to win.”
Wait, it’s off a bit but it’s going to take an average of 30 pounds a day? Four times 30 is 120 pounds. Is that right?
“It’s going to take 120 pounds to win,” Livesay said.
Oh my.
Yet Livesay doesn’t see records, like Dean Rojas’ single-day bag of 45-2 on Lake Toho in 2001 or Mark Tyler’s 14-9 on the California Delta in 1999, going down, but he admitted, “It’s possible.”
“It’s going to be tough as far as catching fish, but there’s so many big ones somebody is still going to have close to 40 one day,” Livesay said. “Somebody is just going to get right. You can catch five 8-pounders on a frog right now, or you can catch five 8-pounders out deep. When we’re there, you could catch five 8-pounders on a shad spawn if it got right. But it’s going to be a one-day deal. Somebody’s going to do that and then they’re going to catch 25 to 30 every other day.”
Lake Fork is the jewel of Texas bass fishing. Thirty of the top 50 largest bass caught in the state have come from Lake Fork, the smallest of which is a 15.45-pounder at 49th. Fork boasts the top six, including Barry St. Clair’s state record 18.18 from 1992. Livesay said it’s a testament to TPWD management.
“There’s nothing else like it in the world. They are the best in the world at managing the fish populations, especially at Lake Fork. It’s just a special place,” he said. “The slot limit allows them to grow fish in that 4- to 10-pound range. Nobody can mess with them. It’s catch and release only, from 16 to 24 inches. The fish just get to live, and they grow.”
B.A.S.S., which has a special exemption at Texas Fest, is visiting Lake Fork for the first time. Marshals will oversee anglers weighing their fish on the boat, enter the weights into BASSTrakk and watch the angler release them. The anglers can bring in one “over” fish to the weigh-ins.
While Livesay hopes his knowledge of Fork is beneficial, he hasn’t been doing too badly in his first four Elite events.
“Oh, it’s going great,” he said. “Had a little hiccup at Hartwell — chose the wrong section of the lake. Besides that, it’s going awesome.”
At Hartwell, Livesay missed his first cut with a 62nd-place finish. He was among the big climbers at Winyah Bay, going from 46th to third on Day 2 before settling for 16th. That came after a bountiful February, when he finished 15th at Lake Lanier after posting a sixth on the St. Johns.
Livesay had one of the more remarkable fish landings in B.A.S.S. history at the St. Johns. Hooking a fish over a walkway, he found himself in a bit of a conundrum when the big girl was on the opposite side of a gangway. Unable to flip it over or reach all the way under for the fish, Livesay positioned his boat as close as possibly, laid down on his deck and, using his rod butt, brought the line close enough to grab the fish.
“I’m used to stuff like that,” he said. “I’ve probably done something like that in my life before, but I didn’t have it all the way planned out. But I had an idea what I was going to do.”
There was no swinging that 6-and-a-half pounder since it was on a Texas-rigged hook, and he can’t imagine what might have happened if he had hooked the 11-pounder he saw in the reeds there the day before. But that circus catch on Bassmaster LIVE went viral on Facebook, accumulating half a million views so far. Livesay certainly received recognition for it at the Classic Expo.
“It’s amazing,” he said. “They were just calling me ‘The Dock Guy.’ It was crazy walking around the Classic, everybody was, ‘That’s the Dock-Catch Guy.’ It’s a good thing.”
Greater name recognition is certainly coming for Livesay, who is definitely on the radar of Elite competitors, if not Bassmaster fans. He made the Elite jump after qualifying from the Central Opens, and midway through the season stands 14th in the Toyota Angler of the Year standings.
“I was always into the tournament stuff, but probably never dreamed it would happen,” he said. “I started fishing the Opens because one of my clients told me I should get in. That’s kinda how it happened. It was always a dream, but it wasn’t ever anything I thought I could do.
“It really hadn’t set in yet. I’ve always dreamed of fishing the Classic and fishing the Elites. I’d thought that’s something that won’t ever happen because of money or time, or whatever. It happened quick. I’m all about it. I love it. It’s been a great year and great season so far. I’ve been LIVE in three out of the four events — just enjoying it. I enjoy bringing everybody that follows me into it.”
At Fork, Livesay is among the favorites, then he hopes for success fishing new places. He figures he can certainly find the boat ramp at Fort Gibson, and after that is Guntersville then the northern swing to the St. Lawrence and Cayuga Lake before the top 50 meet on Lake St. Clair for the AOY Championship. He ain’t scared.
“I usually do better somewhere new because I don’t have any preconceived notions of what’s going on,” Livesay said. “I’ll be all over the northern stuff. I love fishing deep. That’s my deal. Those are ones I’m definitely not scared of. I like to fish deep and I don’t mind going finesse. It’s going to be awesome.”
While his guide trips have become more sponsor related of late, Livesay isn’t cutting back too much. The avid hunter said the outdoors will always keep him busy.
“Fish, fish and hunt. That’s it,” he said. “That’s all I got time for. No time off. Just hunting and fishing. And enjoy a Michelob Ultra at night. (Hey, his first sponsor plug). Just enjoying life. That’s it. It’s a lifestyle. It’s an addiction, it’s everything in between. That’s all I’m good for.”
Since a few days before Hartwell, Lake Fork has been off limits, so Livesay is having to guide elsewhere in the area and do some other stuff to get his mind off the event that has a big bull’s-eye in his eyes.
“I’m going to do a couple other lakes and catch up on some sponsor work,” he said. “Probably going to drive down to Venice and catch some big ol’ bull reds and get that out of my system, come back, get my mind right and hit the pond.”
With the famed Lake Fork fishery looming, there are stars in Livesay’s eyes, and on his calendar.