diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index 1e754301..9349c38b 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
-1.3.0
+1.3.1.pre.0
 
diff --git a/git.gemspec b/git.gemspec
index 5e90626e..ced83d12 100644
--- a/git.gemspec
+++ b/git.gemspec
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ Gem::Specification.new do |s|
   s.license = 'MIT'
   s.name = 'git'
   s.summary = 'Ruby/Git is a Ruby library that can be used to create, read and manipulate Git repositories by wrapping system calls to the git binary.'
-  s.version = '1.3.0'
+  s.version = '1.3.1.pre.0'
 
   s.require_paths = ['lib']
   s.required_ruby_version = '>= 1.9'
diff --git a/lib/git/lib.rb b/lib/git/lib.rb
index 777e42ea..2a890613 100644
--- a/lib/git/lib.rb
+++ b/lib/git/lib.rb
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ def init(opts={})
     #  :path::      directory where the repo will be cloned
     #  :remote::    name of remote (rather than 'origin')
     #  :recursive:: after the clone is created, initialize all submodules within, using their default settings.
+    #  :lfs::       use 'git lfs clone' command instead of 'git clone' (requires git-lfs client to be installed)
     #
     # TODO - make this work with SSH password or auth_key
     #
@@ -73,7 +74,23 @@ def clone(repository, name, opts = {})
       arr_opts << repository
       arr_opts << clone_dir
 
-      command('clone', arr_opts)
+      start_time = Time.now
+
+      if opts[:lfs]
+        # verify git lfs installed
+        if !(/git-lfs/.match(command('lfs version')))
+          raise "clone: attempted to clone with git lfs, but it is not installed."
+        end
+        command('lfs clone', arr_opts)
+      else
+        command('clone', arr_opts)
+      end
+
+      end_time = Time.now
+
+      sec_diff = (start_time - end_time).to_i.abs
+
+      puts "Cloned in #{sec_diff} seconds."
 
       opts[:bare] ? {:repository => clone_dir} : {:working_directory => clone_dir}
     end
diff --git a/lib/git/version.rb b/lib/git/version.rb
index 4f4add63..46746974 100644
--- a/lib/git/version.rb
+++ b/lib/git/version.rb
@@ -2,6 +2,6 @@ module Git
 
   # The current gem version
   # @return [String] the current gem version.
-  VERSION='1.3.0'
+  VERSION='1.3.1.pre.0'
 
 end