Monster Bag Lifts Livesay To Bassmaster Elite Series Victory At Lake Fork

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Apr 25, 2021, 21:35 ET

QUITMAN, Texas, April 25, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- For three days, Lee Livesay caught quality fish, but nothing close to the Lake Fork potential he intimately knows. On Championship Sunday, the third-year Elite Series pro and local guide showcased his home lake's treasures by winning the Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite at Lake Fork with a phenomenal four-day total of 112 pounds, 5 ounces.

Lee Livesay, of Longview, Texas, has won the 2021 Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite at Lake Fork with a four-day total of 112 pounds, 5 ounces.

As the 32nd individual to enter the prestigious Bassmaster Century Club (a five-fish limit of 100 pounds or more), Livesay outpaced Day 1 leader Patrick Walters by a 10-pound margin. Along with his second Elite trophy — his first came last fall at Chickamauga Lake — Livesay won a first-place award of $100,000.

For Livesay, it was a monster final-day limit that weighed 42-3 and ranks as the third-heaviest, single-day weight in Bassmaster history that sealed the deal.

"I have no words right now, it's amazing," he said. "I've been around them, but I haven't caught any big ones all week; I just survived. Everything just worked out and it never goes like that."

Hailing from Longview, Texas, Livesay made no assumptions and fished hard until the last minute. But when the smallest bass in your five-fish limit goes 7 pounds, 6 ounces, good things are likely.

"I caught big ones everywhere I went," he said. "I started off with big ones (a 9-2 at 7:14 a.m.) and ended with big ones (7-14 at 1:10 p.m.). It was just one of those surreal days, and it was amazing because I've spent a lot of time on this lake."

Spending his tournament in Little Caney Creek, Livesay rotated among several secondary points where bass were chasing big gizzard shad. His main spot — a bar extending off a small island — allowed him to sneak into range of bass schooling on the opposite side without spooking them.

Throughout the tournament, Livesay caught fish on a mixed arsenal that included a 3:16 Lure Company line-through Rising Son swimbait, a 3:16 Lure Company Work Horse glidebait, a Megabass Vision 110 jerkbait, a Carolina rig with a Netbait Little Spanky, a 6th Sense Magnum Squarebill and a bone color Heddon Saltwater Super Spook.

On Sunday, the latter produced all of his weight fish. A 7-foot medium-heavy Halo HFX cranking rod and 40-pound braided line were essential for reaching distant fish and keeping them connected.

"Those fish are wanting to feed up and they're seeing so many swimbaits, they're just not eating them," he said. "I kept getting bites and I kept throwing it.

"Working that big topwater really erratic and just getting them to react was the deal. I think they really think it's a shad."

Livesay kept himself in the hunt all week, starting with a seventh-place bag of 25-6 on Day 1. He slipped two spots on Day 2 after catching 17-14, but put himself within striking distance on Semifinal Saturday by adding 26-14 and improving to fifth.

Overcoming the hometown curse — succumbing to the pressure of local expectations — made Livesay's victory even sweeter.

"I've spent thousands of days with clients and fun fishing on this lake," Livesay said. "I never thought I had it. I knew I was around them, but I never thought I'd catch 42 pounds.

"So, doing it in front of family and friends, and a lot of sponsors were here, too, it's just amazing. I couldn't ask for anything better."

Notably, Walters claimed his second Century Club belt after earning his first at last November's Toyota Bassmaster Texas Fest benefiting Texas Parks and Wildlife Department with a four-day Lake Fork total of 104-12.

Hailing from Summerville, S.C., Walters started strong this week by leading Day 1 with 32-14. He slipped to third on Day 2 with a smaller limit of 15-7.

Walters got back on track Saturday with 22-13 and reached the final round in fourth place. Adding 31-3 Sunday, he tallied 102-5 and was the only competitor to break 30 pounds twice.

He did most of his work at the mouth of Little Caney where prespawners were staging on the breaks. Leveraging his forward-facing Garmin Panoptix LiveScope, he fished a mix of jerkbaits, swimbaits and topwaters.

After a slow start, Walters got rolling with a midmorning rally that produced several big topwater bites. He steadily chipped away at the lead Livesay had built for much of the morning until the leader's midday rally put the event out of reach.

"If you're going to get beat on Lake Fork, it has to be a 40-pound bag," Walters said. "Big hats off to Lee, he is the man. I had a great week; I really do love this place."

Quentin Cappo of Prairieville, La., held the second-place spot for the first three days and finished third with 99-6. He turned in daily weights of 28-15, 25-13, 19-4 and 25-6.

Cappo targeted shallow areas with shell bottom in Caney Creek looking for submerged root masses, where deflecting a Strike King KVD 4.0 squarebill triggered strikes. When bass drove gizzard shad topside, he threw a Strike King Sexy Dawg topwater.

"The topwater came into play huge today, as expected," he said. "One to 3 o'clock has been my window. I was just pacing around, hitting as much as I could and looking for bait activity.

"When that water temperature got warm throughout the day, they would come up and get active. And when the wind pushed those shad against the bank, they showed themselves."

Clifford Pirch of Payson, Ariz., won the $1,000 Phoenix Boats Big Bass award for his 9-13 largemouth. He also won $1,000 for the biggest bass of Day 2. Walters claimed Phoenix Boats Big Bass honors for Days 1 and 4 (8-14 and 9-5), while Australian pro Carl Jocumsen took the award on Day 3 with a 9-5.

Brandon Card of Salisbury, N.C., took home $3,000 for being the highest-placing entrant in the Toyota Bonus Bucks program, and Chris Zaldain of Fort Worth, Texas, earned $2,000 for being the second-highest placing entrant.

As part of the Yamaha Power Pay program, Walters earned $2,500 for being the highest-placing entrant, while Cappo claimed an additional $1,500 for being the second-highest placing entrant.

Seth Feider of New Market, Minn., leads the Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings with 436 points. Walters is in second with 432, followed by Drew Cook of Cairo, Ga., with 387, Livesay with 385 and Chris Johnston of Peterborough, Canada, with 384.

Josh Stracner of Vandiver, Ala., leads the Rookie of the Year standings with 333 points.

The tournament was hosted by the Sabine River Authority and Wood County Economic Development Commission.

Finish	Name	Hometown	Total lbs-oz	Earnings
1	Lee Livesay	Longview, TX	112-05	$100,000
2	Patrick Walters	Summerville, SC	102-05	$37,000
3	Quentin Cappo	Prairieville, LA	99-06	$02,000
4	Brandon Card	Salisbury, NC	97-03	$25,000
5	Chris Zaldain	Fort Worth, Texas	93-00	$20,000
6	Seth Feider	New Market, MN	86-11	$19,000
7	Taku Ito	Chiba, JAPAN	83-14	$18,000
8	Chad Morgenthaler	Reeds Spring, MO	83-10	$17,000
9	Chris Johnston	Otonabee, Ontario, CANADA	80-14	$16,000
10	Austin Felix	Eden Prairie, MN	80-03	$15,000
11	Carl Jocumsen	Queensland, AUSTRALIA	61-13	$11,000
12	Jay Yelas	Lincoln City, OR	61-02	$10,000
13	Matt Herren	Ashville, AL	60-04	$10,000
14	Brandon Palaniuk	Rathdrum, ID	60-01	$10,000
15	Brain Snowden	Reeds Spring, MO	59-10	$10,000
16	Joshua Stracner	Vandiver, AL	59-06	$10,000
17	Skylar Hamilton	Dandridge, TN	59-05	$10,000
18	Matt Arey	Shelby, NC	59-02	$10,000
19	Drew Benton	Blakely, GA	59-01	$10,000
20	John Cox	DeBary, FL	58-00	$10,000
21	Caleb Sumrall	New Iberia, LA	57-14	$10,000
22	Kyle Welcher	Opelika, AL	57-11	$10,000
23	Scott Martin	Clewiston, FL	57-06	$10,000
24	Shane LeHew	Catawba, NC	57-04	$10,000
25	Brandon Cobb	Greenwood, SC	57-01	$10,000
26	Stetson Blaylock	Benton, AR	56-11	$12,000
27	Cory Johnston	Cavan, Ontario, CANADA	56-10	$10,000
28	Chad Pipkens	DeWitt, MI	56-10	$10,000
29	Wes Logan	Springville, AL	55-09	$10,000
30	Jeff Gustafson	Keewatin, Ontario, CANADA	55-00	$10,000
31	Drew Cook	Cairo, GA	54-14	$10,000
32	Brock Mosley	Collinsville, MS	54-04	$10,000
33	Justin Atkins	Florence, AL	53-00	$10,000
34	David Mullins	Mt Carmel, TN	52-08	$10,000
35	Luke Palmer	Coalgate, OK	51-14	$10,000
36	Clifford Pirch	Payson, AZ	51-11	$11,000
37	Jason Williamson	Wagener, SC	51-09	$10,000
38	Greg Hackney	Gonzales, LA	51-09	$10,000
39	Gerald Swindle	Guntersville, AL	51-06	$10,000
40	Matt Robertson	Kuttawa, KY	48-14	$10,000
41	Brandon Lester	Fayetteville, TN	48-11	$10,000
42	Scott Canterbury	Odenville, AL	48-09	$10,000
43	Keith Combs	Huntington, TX	47-14	$10,000
44	Jason Christie	Park Hill, OK	47-03	$10,000
45	Shane Lineberger	Lincolnton, NC	44-09	$10,000
46	Cody Hollen	Beaverton. OR	43-08	$10,000
47	Derek Hudnall	Denham Springs, LA	43-06	$10,000
48	Buddy Gross	Chickamauga, GA	41-05	$10,000
49	Frank Talley	Temple, TX	36-00	$10,000
50	Jamie Hartman	Newport, NY	32-01	$5,000

2021 Bassmaster Elite Series Platinum Sponsor: Toyota

2021 Bassmaster Elite Series Premier Sponsors: Berkley, Humminbird, Mercury, Minn Kota, Nitro Boats, Power-Pole, Ranger Boats, Skeeter Boats, Yamaha

2021 Bassmaster Elite Series Supporting Sponsors: AFTCO, Bass Pro Shops, Garmin, Huk Performance Fishing, Marathon, Rapala

2021 Bassmaster Elite Series Conservation Partner: AFTCO

Media Contact: Emily Harley, B.A.S.S. Communications Manager, 205-313-0945, [email protected]

SOURCE B.A.S.S.