2020 Toyota Bassmaster Texas Fest benefiting Texas Parks and Wildlife Department on Lake Fork Day 1: Clunn become King with 29-04lbs!

Canadians Chris Johnston 40th, Cory Johnston 52th & Gustafson 81st. 

BASS PRESS RELEASE

Clunn king of autumn.
(Photo: BASS) 

A highly specific presentation plus one key bite gave Rick Clunn of Ava, Mo., the Day 1 lead at the Toyota Bassmaster Texas Fest benefiting Texas Parks and Wildlife Department on Lake Fork with 29 pounds, 4 ounces.

Spending his day in the mid- to lower-lake region, Clunn targeted docks with an Ichikawa Rick Clunn RC King Kong Shad 10 squarebill. He found one particular structure most productive and relied on a specific undisclosed presentation.

“I fished several docks, but I caught all but one of my (limit fish) off of one dock,” Clunn said. “I found this dock in practice and it had a lot of fish holding in front of it. Today, I pulled up there and I did not see those fish, but I guess they were there.

“You can throw at that dock all day and if you’re not doing it exactly right, you’re not going to catch them,” he said. “I can fish behind three other boats and if they’re not doing (what I’m doing), I’m going to catch fish.” 

Midday delivered an unexpected opportunity that propelled Clunn into the lead. Moving to another spot, he passed a round, sandy point that looked appealing enough to merit a few casts with a different reaction bait. One of them tempted an 8-9 largemouth, which stands as the day’s second-largest fish. 

“I caught that big one trying to find other places,” Clunn said. “That was just one of those gift fish. I don’t even know where he came from and I couldn’t duplicate the cast.

“In practice, I was catching a few fish late in the day off of stuff like that. Most of the fish I caught, I caught them where I was expecting to catch them. But I didn’t expect to catch that one.”

Noting that Fork’s tremendous number of quality fish justifies its trophy lake reputation, Clunn said he caught about 15 keepers today, but his three big bites (8-9, 6-6 and a 5-9) were the difference-makers.

“This lake is so full of fish, you’re fishing over a thousand to catch one,” he said. “The key here is you have to get those two key bites to get you up over that 20-pound mark.”

A Smallmouth Secret: The Carolina Rig

A Carolina rig is an old school technique to catch big bass. It works exceptionally well on beast smallmouth. If you encounter heavy wind, giant waves, scattered smallmouth or just cannot figure out finesse, then you need to learn how to Carolina rig. Carolina rig is a secret technique to nail smallmouth. You'll be surprised how how IBASSIN.com rigs up for smallmouth. Listen to Luigi De Rose as he goes through the set up, bait selection and when are where to fish the Carolina Rig for smallmouth.

Matthew Robertson Wins 2020 Basspro.com Bassmaster Eastern Open on Cherokee Lake!

Smallmouth shine during impossible fishing

By David A. Brown. 

BASS PRESS RELEASE

Topwater and finesse key to limits
on difficult fishery.
(Photo: BASS) 

When noon found him without a keeper, Matthew Robertson of Kuttawa, Ky., made a bold decision that propelled him to victory at the Basspro.com Bassmaster Eastern Open on Cherokee Lake with a three-day total of 40 pounds, 12 ounces.

Entering Championship Saturday with a mere 3-ounce lead over Denny Fiedler of Wabasha, Minn., Robertson added a five-bass limit of 12-4 to his first two days’ limits of 14-8 and 14-0. He won by a margin of 1-10 and earned a top prize of $35,000. Robertson also won the $500 Garmin Tournament Rewards prize.

He also earned an automatic berth into the 2021 Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic, which is scheduled for March on Lake Ray Roberts in Texas.

“I’m usually out on the water saying, ‘Maybe I should go here, maybe I should go there,’ but the past two weeks, I’ve just had more faith in myself and I’ve just been rolling with it,” Robertson said. “I’m not second-guessing anything; I’m fishing more deliberately.”

Fresh off a second-place finish at the Basspro.com Bassmaster Central Open on Neely Henry Lake, Robertson had spent his first two days working a small stretch of boulder-laden bottom in 20 feet of water. Intercepting packs of smallmouth bass ravaging bait schools, he caught his fish on a Ned rig and a Neko rig.

With post-frontal conditions bringing bright skies and high pressure, Day 3 found the spot unproductive. Robertson said this prompted him to completely scrap his game plan and switch to something that was right in his wheelhouse. 

“I told myself, ‘I’m going to stay there until noon and see what I have,’” he said. “All I caught was a striped bass, so I pulled the plug. I was so comfortable with that decision, it was no big deal. 

“I pulled into a little pocket close to my deep spot and caught one on a topwater. I figured out what the pattern was and I went to war with it.” 

Robertson said he found his best opportunities in pockets with docks, deeper cuts and flat points with scattered rock. Most of the bass he saw were hunting bait in small feeding groups known as “wolf packs.” 

Cold Weather Preventative Boat Maintenance

Learn how to prevent boat and motor problems during the fall and winter. Follow these tips will ensure your motor, pumps and fuel remains safe. This video will explain some preventative boat maintenance that will keep you on the water and your rig out of trouble.

Cord Bird Wins 2020 Bassmaster Central Open on Neely Henry Lake with 34-01lbs.

Bird Classic 2021 bound

By David A. Brown

BASS Press Release

Quick pace key to finding win.
(Photo: BASS) 

Focusing on current-related habitat enabled Cody Bird of Granbury, Texas, to win the Basspro.com Bassmaster Central Open on Neely Henry Lake with a three-day total of 34 pounds, 1 ounce.

Bird placed third on Day 1 with a limit of 13-1 and moved into the Day 2 lead after adding 11-9. On Championship Saturday, he turned in a limit of 9-7 and earned the $35,000 top prize for his first B.A.S.S. win.

“I have two seconds, a third, a fourth, two fifths, a sixth and three sevenths — it feels good to finally win one,” Bird said. “I’m just not a closer. This time, when I got up there, I made up my mind that they were going to have to take it from me.

“It took me a while, but it was worth it. I earned this one, for sure.”

Freedom Tackle Mischief Minnow Bladed Topwater Review!

The secret to the Mischief Minnow’s performance is the unique custom shaped patent-pending Kilter blade design which is center-mounted on the bait's body by an angled blade pin.

Working the bait is simple with a steady retrieve - relying on the custom blade design combined with the side-to-side body rolling action which mimics a wounded baitfish on the water’s surface. The Mischief Minnow’s unique thrashing action combines sound, wake vibration and Kilter blade flash – a true triple threat in topwater fishing. At rest, the high float body relies on a nose-up presentation that thrashes into action with the slightest twitch. Use a straight retrieve or mix it up with a pause-and-rip rod technique

Check us out at: https://www.facebook.com/pages/ibassincom/265989363495983

Lee Livesay Wins 2020 Bassmaster Elite at Chickamauga Lake with 58-02lbs!

Staying with ultra shallow froggin' key to fickle bite

By David A. Brown

BASS PRESS RELEASE

Staying shallow and close pays off for Texan.
(Photo: BASS) 

Lee Livesay had options, but he committed to a singular game plan based on patience and execution to win the Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite at Chickamauga Lake with a four-day total of 58 pounds, 2 ounces.

Livesay of Longview, Texas, turned in daily limits of 13-0, 13-3, 16-13 and 15-2. Notching his first career victory, the second-year Elite Series pro won the top prize of $100,000.

On Day 1, three of the fish that made up his 10th-place sack ate a football-head jig — one on a Hiwassee River bluff and two by the Highway 60 Bridge. He caught the other two by fishing a Scum Frog Launch Frog over main-lake grass mats, a technique that accounted for each of his bass the final three days.

“I stayed in between the Dayton Boat Dock and the Highway 60 Bridge the whole time (Days 2-4),” Livesay said. “It was so tough, you had to keep your bait in the water the whole time. That area is where I had the most bites.

“The farther south you went, the more fishing pressure you got; the farther upriver, the more pressure you got. I had a little zone where I was comfortable. Right where that river comes into the lake, that’s where you have the most nutrients, the most fish and you have current flow. That’s where I decided to set up.”

Livesay was particular about the types of mats he fished, with seclusion and current flow topping his criteria. Also, venturing far into the mats’ shallowest reaches allowed him to target bass that see little to no fishing pressure.

2020 Bassmaster Elites on Chickamauga Lake Day 3: Livesay Leads with 43lbs

Canadians Gustafson 21st, Chris Johnston 38th & Cory Johnston 67th

By David A. Brown

BASS PRESS RELEASE

Livesay overcomes stubborn bass and
flog delay to claim first.
( Photo: BASS) 

The tournament’s shortest fishing day yielded Lee Livesay’s biggest bag, which allowed the angler from Longview, Texas, to take the Day 3 lead of the Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite at Chickamauga Lake with a three-day total of 43 pounds. 

After a 2 1/2-hour fog delay, Livesay backed up his first two weights of 13-0 and 13-3 with a Day 3 limit of 16-13 and overtook Day 2 leader Stetson Blaylock by a margin of 1-15.

He did so by fishing a frog around matted vegetation — and was very specific in the type of vegetation he sought.

“I’m doing what I like to do. I like to pick up a big rod and a frog and hunt them,” Livesay said. “I’m not just fishing, I’m hunting individual fish. I know which mats they’re under; it’s just whether they eat it or not.” 

Livesay said he’s targeting mats in two main scenarios. The first are located off small main-river bars. The key is what he calls supershallow water. 

“Everybody’s fishing the deep mats, but you can’t catch them there,” Livesay said. “You might get a hit every now and then, but it’s random. I fish around the shallowest mats with a little rock under them and two of them have current under them.”

Livesay’s other mat scenario is on the back side of an island bar with a small depression in a flat. The area has scattered rock and tiny cheese mats (topped-out grass coated with a bubbly yellowish algae) within a larger mat. 

“It’s 100 percent confidence, knowing where the fish are and not leaving,” he said. “Also, I’m being quiet; I’m push poling into some areas, keeping my trolling motor up and sitting there for (long periods). 

2020 Bassmaster Elites on Chickamauga Lake Day 1: Brandon Cobb Takes Commanding Lead with 19-06lbs

Canadians Gustafson 34th, Chris Johnston 40th & Cory Johnston 73rd

By David A. Brown

BASS PRESS RELEASE

Two 6lbers key to Cobb's big limit
 as field struggles.
(Photo: BASS) 

A big start, a big finish and solid productivity in between gave Brandon Cobb of Greenwood, S.C., the Day 1 lead of the Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite at Chickamauga Lake with a five-bass limit of 19 pounds, 6 ounces.

A passing cold front created challenging conditions in which bites were few and reports of noncommittal fish were many. With a pair of bookend kickers, Cobb touted execution with two different reaction baits as the key to his success.

“It was not an easy day; I caught six and two of them just happened to be 6-pounders, so that always helps,” he said. “You can’t miss any. You have to boat every fish and just stick to it. 

“It’s so tough, it’s hard to know if you’re doing the right thing. But I stuck with one thing all day, got six bites and turned in 19 pounds.”

Spending his day upriver, Cobb targeted shallow grass and got most of his bites in about 3 feet of water. After his opening spot produced the first of his 6-pounders around 8 a.m., he gave the area a little more time but soon realized he needed to secure a limit. 

“I covered an area of 20 miles; I ran a lot throughout the lake,” Cobb said. “Even though I had some bites in practice, I never really figured anything out; but I could get bites by just covering water.