Elite Pro/Classic Champ Casey Ashley Joins Livingston Lures Team

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – One glance at the Team Livingston roster reads like an All-Star team for the top professional bass tours in the world: 2014 Bassmaster Classic champion Randy Howell, two-time FLW Tour Angler of the Year Andy Morgan, 2012 Bassmaster Elite Series AOY Brent Chapman, and a squad of pros that have racked up 34 wins and an astounding 236 Top 10 finishes at the top level of B.A.S.S. and FLW competition.

Livingston's All-Star lineup added one more champion today: defending Bassmaster Classic champion Casey Ashley.

The 2015 Classic winner and a four-time winner on the Bassmaster Elite Series and FLW Tour, Ashley joins Howell, Morgan, Jacob Powroznik, Brent Chapman, Hank Cherry, Stetson Blaylock and Byron Velvick on the 2016 Livingston Lures roster. Ashley will fish his first tournament as a Livingston pro at the upcoming 2016 Classic at Grand Lake in Oklahoma.

"Man, I'm excited to be a part of this team," Ashley said. "There are a whole lot of hard-bait companies out there that make really good baits, but I've paid attention to what Livingston has done with Electronic Baitfish Sounds™ (EBS) technology. They have something nobody else has. I've had a chance to fish the baits this past year and gotten a good look at how EBS™ works, and it's a difference-maker. Livingston is a real forward-thinking company in the way they work with their pro staff in building the baits, too, and that's a big deal to me."

Ashley, from Donalds, South Carolina, made an immediate splash on the Tour scene as a rookie in 2007 when, at the age of 23, he became the youngest angler to even win an Elite Series Event (at Smith Mountan Lake in Virginia). Ashley backed that up with an Elite win in 2011 (on Lake Murray) and an FLW Tour victory on Lake Hartwell before he claimed the Classic trophy in 2015 (also on Hartwell).

"Casey is one of the best anglers in the world – he's a true champion," said Livingston CEO Fred Battah. "Even more importantly, he's a genuinely great person who represents himself, his family and his sport with great integrity. We're honored and excited about the opportunity to add Casey to the Livingston family."

Looking ahead to Grand Lake
Ashley will join Howell, Powroznik and 52 other competitors March 4-6 in pursuit of the 2016 Classic trophy on Grand Lake O' the Cherokees in northeast Oklahoma. As the defending champ, Ashley will be the first boat out on Day 1, and expects a handful of Livingston EBS™-powered lures to be effective in the lake's rain-stained waters.

"Grand Lake is probably going to be dirty and muddy, and that's the sort of situation where Livingston's EBS™ can be a key to getting more bites," he says.

FOR MORE INFO: Log on to www.LivingstonLures.com, and follow the Livingston Lures Facebook, Instagram and Twitter feeds for exclusive pre-Classic content and late-winter tips from the Team Livingston pros.