Destination: Red River

EverStart Series, Central Division, June 12-15

More than 300 pros and co-anglers will attempt to unlock the secrets of one of the nation’s most dynamic inland fisheries when the EverStart Series heads to the Red River in Shreveport, La., June 12-15.

With its healthy populations of Kentucky spotted bass and native largemouths plus scads of fishy-looking habitat comprising brush-cluttered bottlenecks and isolated oxbows, the Red River promises to provide the ultimate setting for a summertime tournament that is destined to be won shallow.

Any number of lures could produce heavy sacks. But if this event is like most summer events held on the Red River, it’ll more than likely be won by the angler who finds pods of quality fish holding tight to laydowns, lily pads, stumps and flooded bushes in secluded oxbows well off the beaten path of the main river channel.

Tubes, creature baits and bacon rinds matched with ¼-ounce slip-sinkers are deadly medicine for flipping around the heavy cover. There will also be a number of bass caught on spinner baits, soft jerkbaits and lightweight jigs snaked or crawled around the labyrinth of shallow muck.

Another viable pattern worth checking out is underwater rocks protruding from the many small wing dams that extend from the shore and into the main river channel.

Bass will occasionally herd schools of shad onto the jagged structure and dine on them at will, especially when river flows are normal and the water is relatively clear. A medium-diving crankbait in a firetiger or shad pattern is tough to beat when this situation presents itself.

– Matt Williams

Links:

Pro field
Co-angler field
Tournament details and payouts
$2.8 million EverStart Series to visit the Red River