Hey Lee you are still one of the first to have that product. They don't have that model available yet. The have dm 14 square bills lipless and top water at the stores. Calm down

Lee - watch these series of three videos. Here is the 1st one:

http://youtu.be/GOH2mthhOos

Went to fishing university last year, speakers included Randy Howell,Kevin short, G-man, IKe and one of the things the all said is any time a tournament is won on a "prototype" or "not released" bait meant they are throwing another brand that they are not sponsored by,
Found this funny when Howell won the classic on a "prototype" maybe the long bait was due to the fact that they had to design and R&D a bait from scratch

Not necessarily, I believe it was a few years back when Mark Rose? whooped everyone on Sam Rayburn with a 10XD. It was "not released" but it was in stock in all stores the 2 weeks after that.

I'm pretty sure that LL never claimed to have a "can't loose" bait (similar to the late-night 'infomercials'). They are simply putting a new concept (living sound) into a hard bait....and they are also working to improve their baits on a daily basis. They are not as expensive as say Lucky Crafts, King Shads, and some others, that have come out on the market within the last 10 years. I paid $25 each (in 2007) for two Strike King "King Shads". While judging in Jay Yelas' boat at the TTBC, I saw Jay hook a monster bass in Little Mustang. The fish was so strong...it pulled the split ring off the bait. Was enough for me to try them. Funny how I'm usually too afraid to throw them, due to a fear of loosing 'em. I'm not afraid to throw my Livingston baits...primarily because they work for me.

As for the "prototype" claims made by pros at the Elites/FLW's: maybe they are covering for themselves when they throw non-sponsored baits, or maybe they had signed non-disclosure agreements...and could not divulge the baits that they were throwing at that time.

I believe that Livingston Lures are what you make of them. If you work/experiment with them, you can personalize LL baits to fit your own strengths. Hank Cherry did that with the LL Stick Master (jerk bait) to a 4th Place finish at the Classic in Oklahoma. Stetson Blaylock threw the Dive Master 20 to sack over 100 pounds at the recent TTBC on Fork. Randy Howell was throwing the "Howeller" on G-ville at this year's classic. Randy had been working with LL long before that event, to fine tune the bait for production. Anyone can see this on a video on the LL website...that shows Randy working an unpainted version of the bait (before he went to G-ville). Livingston Lures has a pretty good Pro-Staff base in Jacob Powroznik (won the T. Bend Elite stop last month), Andy Montgomery (FLW Angler of the Year), and many others. These guys, along with the previously mentioned, have reputations to keep...and all seem to be happy with their positions with LL.

I know personally, that Livingston baits have earned Top 10 finishes in my own B.A.S.S. Nation SE regional circuit. Was it a poor deal to have waited so long for a pre-ordered bait that helped to win this year's classic? Yes. Could they have had such a response, that it took longer to meet the shipping demands? Possibly. When KVD won the Classic with his new "shad sound machine", it wasn't long before everyone wanted one. I see Livingston baits attempting to use this same methodology. With the success that they've had recently, I'm willing to use them.

I am confused at what the actual issue is. I don't think anyone can get this bait right now, or at least before u did in a store. So they did exactly what u expected..... and your mad. Please help me understand where this bait is available, before you got yours. Who got one before u did? r we talking a week maybe even 2.

Even if someone did why would that make u mad? Because the dang thing is not gonna be ur best bait after April of this year.

Anyone who orders a lure because it won the Classic got taken. Howell weighed the majority of his fish on a DT6. There are tackle boxes full of knock-off Classic winning baits all over this country. They'll all catch fish in the right situation.

To me, it seems like Livingston Lures came out of nowhere and signed a few big names and up and comers. Then a couple more tournament winners. They spare no expense on nationwide advertising. I'm always leery of any company who throws so much at advertising without a proven track record. If a design is so good, it will sell on its merits. How much was the A-Rig advertised before Paul Elias exposed it?

Finally, what did LL promise in their "pre order yours today" campaign? Any time frame where they'd be available only through pre-orders? If there was no implied time frame where you would "be the first", then I really don't see the problem.