The private hole gave me a whipping this morning. Right off the bat before I left the landing area I saw some fish on the depthfinder. I dropped a worm down and one picked it up with a slight tap. When I set the hook I felt the fish but there was no hookup. A few minutes later the same thing, bit and spit, and no more after that. One of the highlights of the day was when I heard a bunch of turkeys come off the roost and start their morning conversation. Nothing from a topwater to a worm in 20 feet of water worked, not even a nip. At one place I heard what sounded like a small bass hitting by the bank. I heard it again, saw ripples, and trolled over to the spot where I made a couple of casts.  Then it happened again but it was no fish, it was a pecan that a squirrel high in the tree had dropped . It sounded just like a small bass hitting on top. Finally as I was feeling something with a worm and it pulled on the bait like they do when they spit it out. Thinking I had been busted I just let it sit and slowly the line started to move off. When I set the hook the drag started to squeal as the large fish headed for open water. I thought a good fish would make a slow day worthwhile.  As it came by the boat you could see a large bass looking shape but it was deep enough so it was only a shape. As the fight continued the fish came up and it was a tremendous “grinner”. The good thing was that just as I was trying to figure out how I was going to get it into the boat, the hook came out. Grinners don’t even start to fight until they get into the boat. Eight pound class grinner. I saw a lot of fish on the depthfinder but none must have been bass. Most were about 7 1/2 feet deep. I may just go up there with a cane pole and crickets next time.

One of my fishing rules is never go to Lake Ferguson or most other popular lakes on the weekend. I broke that one this afternoon much to my chagrin. First at the landing, I had pulled over to the side and prepared the boat for launching. Just about the time I was ready two guys in a hog lunker truck pulled up dead in the middle of the two lane ramp and began to prepare their boat to launch. After standing all I could, I politely asked them to move so I could put in. The admonition was not well received, although there were no angry words. They knew they were wrong I think, but people don’t like it when their hand is called. After launching, the number one bitin’ spot was the first destination.  A 5XD and a DT-6 were the first baits out of the box. The XD kept getting hung up but the DT-6 chased off the skunk with a little fish. As I was fishing there I kept eyeing the bank for the crankbait I lost there the last trip I made to Ferguson. It did not show so I got out my binoculars and scanned the bushes. There it was !

When I stepped on the bank to retrieve it, there was a 100 Bandit. A twofer on found baits. The hooks were still good on the lost/found bait so I put it on because it would not go quite as deep as the 5XD. The fish were not cooperating. I fished in some great spots where the water was at the right depth but only a few nips and bumps. At a known stripe spot they would follow it up or just bump the bait. When the stripes get to where they will not bite you are in trouble. I finally caught one but it was time to go. Only one small bass.

COPIED FROM TACKLETOUR.COM

ICAST 2015 Coverage

Livingston Lures Brings the Tech With Their Connected Lures

Date:	8/18/15
Location:	Orlando, FL
Admission:	Buyers & Press Only
Manufacturer:	Livingston
Reviewer:	Zander

Introduction: When it comes to infusing technology into lures one company stands apart, Livingston, which offers “smart baits” that are able to emit natural sounds to call fish in and trigger instinctual strikes. This ICAST the company took this technology to the next level with new lure designs and the world’s first app controlled smart bait.

They may look like normal lures but all Livingston Lures come alive once they hit the water

EBS MultiTouch Technology: The first Livingston lures started emitting a single sound once in the water and the company has since expanded their offerings with many more lures and now offers new MultiTouch Technology that enables anglers to select four different options including the original EBS sound that Randy Howell used at the Bassmaster Classic, “EBS Craw” which features the sound of a snapping crawfish, “EBS Shad” which mimics frenzied baitfish sounds, and now silent mode for times when a silent lure is the best option. The modes are selected by touching different contact points once the lure is wet. Instructions can be found here.

Pro Angler Byron Velvick shows us his new EBS enabled B Venom glide baits

Team Livingston Pro Byron “The Bachelor” Velvick showed us his new B-Venom swimbait which is a single jointed glidebait that features removable ballast weights that enable this swimbait to be fished at varying depths. This swimbait not only glides well it includes the new programmable EBS sound technology which is designed to convert those big bait follows into explosive strikes.

Nick Barr, Customer relations Manager, shows us the new Walking Boss part II

Walking Boss Part II: This season Livingston sought to create a killer topwater bait that would be the perfect vessel for their new EBS MultiTouch Technology. What they came up with is the dramatically flared double cupped Walking Boss II.

The Walking Boss is a cross between proven design elements and a hi-tech core

The Walking Boss Part II is a jointed walking bait that is dressed with No.2 Mustad treble hooks. The Walking Boss II weighs in at 1 oz. and is 4.7 inches in length.

Check out the massive protruding lip

“This bait is by far one of the best overall new baits out there,” says 2013 Bassmaster Elite Series Rookie of the year hank Cherry. “You can fish it several different ways: you can walk it if you want like the original Walking Boss, or you can just reel it like a wake bait and it has an action like the old Jitterbug on steroids. It’s a bait you can multi-task with. And it’s very simple and user-friendly. All you really have to do if you don’t know how to walk a bait is cast and reel slow, and the bait does the rest all on its own.” This new bait combines design with innovation and should be a popular option for topwater fans.

Lure designer Robert Castaneda shows us his latest creation, new Bluetooth connected lures that are controlled with an easy to use new app!

The World’s First Connected Fishing Lure: Livingston showed us a prototype last year and it looks like their connected lure is now ready for primetime. The new technology will be incorporated into future lures and will enable anglers to draw from an expansive new library of electronic sounds. Imagine the ability to change lure sounds with a swipe of a finger on your smartphone, or even update your bait with 30 new sounds to address different species and applications. With these new bluetooth connected lures and the company’s easy to use app you will soon be able to do exactly that!

Livingston’s newest offering is a complete hardware and software solution

The new lures are designed to be charged wirelessly and the company promises that they will be adding new sounds and even surprise easter eggs in the future. Fishing should be fun after all!

You can see the digital core hidden in the head of the bait

The hardware is cool but so is the software. Livingston has put a lot of work into creating an easy to use and feature rich app. The upcoming mobile app is designed to do so much more than change sounds on your connected lure and will be a one stop shop for conditions, catch data, catch tracking, and even logging trip information. The new bluetooth enabled lures will include upcoming Howeller baits, Byron’s B Venom, and B Viper Swimbaits. These cutting edge tech enabled new lures will be available next year but the app will be available for download in late 2015. We can hardly wait!

One day in the early 1960’s my Daddy and I were trolling in Lake Ferguson with 500 Bombers. I had a fiberglass rod with 4 inches broken off and the tip replaced and a 304 Mitchell spinning reel spooled with 8 pound Stren. As we trolled along some bass started to hit some shad within a cast of the boat. We stopped and started to cast and the bass cooperated to the extent that they would bite, almost snatching the rod out of our hands but then they would jump and otherwise get off. I think I caught maybe 3 out of 14 or so bites. It was absolutely maddening but if the bass were not hooked I was. Too bad the hooks were not as good then as they are now. We returned to that spot many times and it became one of our main places that my Daddy named “Bitin’ spot number 1”. I went there this afternoon after I had stopped in the first spot and caught 16 bass, a stripe and a goo mostly on a DT-6.  Some small ironwood bushes have grown up on the spot but were underwater. I knew this so I put on one of my “found” deep crank baits. On the first cast one bit, and wouldn’t you know, it jumped and threw the hook. The fish must have been an offspring of one of those 60’s fish. Then I caught three more before I gave the found bait back to one of the ironwood bushes. I tried to save it with my “gitter” but the line was hooked on one bush and the bait was on another. After I left, I rode to the upper lake where I investigated a spot that I knew was going to be good just as the water started to fall. I got a good look at it because it was high and dry. On the way back I hit both spots that produced and had no luck. Most of the fish I caught were between 3 3/4 and 2 1/2 pounds. I weighed all that I thought were over 3 pounds and the largest 5 weighed 17 pounds. Not too shabby for someone who has not fished in a good while.