(Editor's note: The following is the latest installment in a series of fishing tips presented by The Bass University. Check back each Friday for a new tip.)
Lee Livesay may have one of the fastest boats on the Bassmaster Elite Series, but he credits a large portion of his early-career success to slowing down. Sometimes that even involves staying put.
“Some of my best success in the past few years has been with my Minn Kota Raptors and my Minn Kota Talons down and my trolling motor up,” he explained.
Indeed, while there are times he successfully burns down the bank with the trolling motor on high, his two Elite Series wins are attributable largely to patience. Any time he’s fishing a super high-pressured lake like Fork, Chickamauga or Guntersville, he knows that a slow and methodical approach is often best. If he is certain, for example, that quality fish are inhabiting a grass mat, sometimes hitting your trolling motor or blowing through the mat can turn fish off for a period of time. By waiting them out at Chickamauga he was able to exploit little windows of activity to perfection.
“Some of my mats I’d fish for two, three, four hours with my Talons down,” he recalled. In both Elite Series wins the majority of his fish came from less than 3 feet of water. In fact, at Chickamauga he caught several out of 8 or 9 inches of water. Those fish tend to be extra-spooky and extra-responsive to loud noises and movements. That’s why the shallow-water anchors were critical.
At Fork, he knew that he was fishing well-known spots, places that got hit by other competitors and guides multiple times every day for a month and a half before and after the tournament. “Those bars get beat up,” he said. When he had to sit far enough back that he couldn’t get his shallow-water anchors to hit bottom, he used Minn Kota’s Spot Lock instead – and then he’d wait them out. “The timing at Lake Fork was everything to me.” There would be a window first thing in the morning, and then the shad would move out and the bass would become dormant, even if they didn’t leave. Later, the shad would migrate up again and he’d catch some more.
The ability to cast a long distance in these scenarios is also critical. At Chickamauga Livesay inserted two 1/8-ounce cylindrical dropshot weights into his frog. Not only did that help his casting abilities, but it prevented the bass from blowing the lure sky-high and out of reach when they crashed through the mat. At Fork, he often put down his preferred swimbait in favor of a Saltwater Super Spook because he could throw the topwater a longer distance.
One other tool that he deems critical is a push-pole. At Chickamauga he used it not only to enter his key grass mats, but also to leave, “because I didn’t want to scare them for the next day.”
If you want to get more insight into how Livesay incorporates stealth into his winning ways, including the rod, reel and line he uses to make extra-long casts with his frogs (the same rod he often uses for big swimbaits), check out his full video, available only by subscribing to The Bass University TV.
