Misty morning on Red River
Third 2004 EverStart Series Central Division tournament under way
NATCHITOCHES, La. – A light morning mist rose off Louisiana’s Red River this morning as a full field of 200 pros and 200 co-anglers kicked off the EverStart Central Division event at the new Grand Encore launching facility near Natchitoches.
The cooler air temperatures, near 50 degrees, causing the mist are a refreshing change from the sweltering conditions that choked previous Red River EverStart events with heat and humidity.
The last two times the EverStart Series Central Division visited the Red River (2002 and 2003) was during the month of June, a time when summer is in full swing in the swamps of northwest Louisiana with highs commonly in the mid-90s.
Since this year’s EverStart visit to the Red River is much earlier, and cooler, anglers are predicting better weights than previous EverStarts here.
Kellogg’s pro Jim Tutt of Longview, Texas, says he won’t be surprised to see a 20-pound stringer, or a couple close to it, brought in today.
“The water temperature is about 75 degrees, and most of the fish are done spawning,” Tutt said at the launch this morning. “I think fishing has been pretty good. They are being caught a number of different ways. Some are still in the backwaters and oxbows, some are out on wood in the main river, and some are on the rip-rap.”
“I think the weights will be pretty good today, but they might not be as good tomorrow,” he continued. “This place has a reputation for sort of falling off the second day.”
Some pros speculate that the top-20 cut weight after two days will be in the 21- to 24-pound range.
One thing is for sure, anglers will have no shortage of places to fish.
From the official launch site at the Grand Encore launching facility, pros have a hundred miles or more of the Red River to sample. Dozens of backwaters, sloughs and oxbows make the Red River an enchanting place to seek bass.
One tactic that has paid off for past tournament winners on the Red River is to use a smaller aluminum boat to access shallow, remote backwaters and tap unpressured populations of bass.
Sean Hoernke of Magnolia, Texas, used that tactic last year to win, and it’s a good bet that others will try it this year.
The day one weigh-in begins at 3 p.m. Central time at the Grand Encore launch ramp.
Wednesday’s conditions
Sunrise: 6:15 a.m.
Air temperature: 50 degrees
Water temperature: 72 degrees
Wind: forecasted out of the southeast at 5 to 10 mph
Day’s outlook: sunny, high of 80 degrees