There isn't accurate historical data due to the flood changing things.

I lost my lower unit over there in April. Not only that, but the fishing was poor. Unless I have to go for a tournament trail championship I won't be back. There are too many other bodies of water that are actually...fun.

Wow, 2.1 pound average for the win.. very few limits. I wonder if basschamps will move this tournament. Sounds like there are more horror stories and headaches than catching fish and celebrating the trail. Hmmm..

ABA is scheduled to have the Ray Scott Championship down there next April. For you Red River vets, do you think it will be better by then, or do you think it's in a down cycle for a long while?

Tom - from what I saw, I think the grass should make a decent comeback over there but probably not by next April. But I don't think that is the issue. I simply think they lost a ton of fish in those floods. All of us and everyone we talked to seemed to catch some fish (5-10) each day but they were all under 14". My guess is the place just needs a couple more years to recover but I am FAR from a Red River expert.

Our first time on the Red. Huge learning curve, lot af variables come into play when fishing this type of body of water. Fuel and time management being two of the biggest. There were catchable fish in many places, but the obvious ones goy hammered. I doubt the grass will make a come back due to grass carp stocking. Saw several huge grass carp. I think you should set the length limit to what the regulations are on the body of water you fishing.

every time it floods some of the hazards change. Makes it dangerous, even for people that have been there in the past.

that sounds hideous.

Why would they want to hold these big tournaments on such a crappy body of water?

1. It's hard to find a neutral body of water that's close enough for everybody to fish.
2. $$$

It's all about the money, money, money!

Shreveport/Bosier pays nice sums to bring in the hotel, casino, restaurant, and entertainment dollars from tournament anglers. The trails/pros go where they get the best kickbacks.

They are spraying all the grass guys. It won't b back. Now the spring is a different ball game. I k ow of 2 sacks close to 30 this year and one guy had 2 8s before. Utoff for the federation in Feb

The Red has been pretty bad since the flood 2 years ago. When the water level went from 14' normal pool to 38' flood stage and stayed above 25' for over a year it washed a ton of stuff away. I have started seeing grass coming back and once we have a couple regular spawning cycles it will be back to fishing well.

"If" the Bass Champs guys had been allowed to weigh-in 12" fish I am sure over 2/3rds of the field would have weighed a limit both days. A week of prefishing hammering the fish didn't help lol.

BFL is having a 3 day event this weekend but they should be under the 12" rules and we will see how they do for comparison.

I was there for several days. We lost a prop, took fiberglass damage, got stuck on stumps and sand bar for 1hr and both of us had to get into the water and push for a while until we got free. There's good fish on the wing damns that aren't marked on your graph. theres good fish in some other places that haven't been beaten to death. unless you get into some areas that haven't been completely annihilated, Fishing just flat out sucks balls. The bite is tough anyways. The most treacherous body of water i have ever seen. Plus the lock schedule makes it difficult when there's 75 boats in the lock. 1st and last flights all in the same locks, fishing time is unevenly matched. Even though we took 7th overall for AOY I won't be fishing bass champs again unless they get off that damn river. I'll definitely be fishing another trail next year. I'm done with the Red River.

I would be happy fishing a large lake they already fish like Toledo. I know some will say it's not level playing field but the three scouting days will help. Besides we are 8 hours away from the red and it's in a lot of basschamps east guys back yard. At least give us a chance. Put it on a damn lake.