By Vic Attardo
Courtesy the Pottstown Mercury
When the Bassmaster Classic begins on Feb. 20, all of the bass fishing world will learn how the Red River in northern Louisiana got its name. "Out in the main channel, it's more like red mud than water," said last year's Classic Champion, Alton Jones.
Aside from the practice days just ahead of the Classic, the Red River has been off-limits to tournament contenders since December 15. However, Jones got a look-see at the watery venue that will draw thousands of TV viewers and on-site visitors when he made two trips to the Red, one in October and the other just prior to the closure date.
Hoping to repeat last year's victory, Jones says he should feel comfortable on the Red River because of its similarity to his local Texas lakes. The river is only four hours from his Texas home.
"It's going to fish a lot like the waters around my house," Jones said after his early December trip. "There is stained water and a lot of heavy timber and a little bit of vegetation."
Even though in recent years the Classics have taken place in late winter in Southern locations, the event has been won with a variety of different techniques, from sight-fishing in Florida to deep-water bassin' in last February's South Carolina event.
"It's going to be a big-rod, big-line, big-bait kind of event. It's not going to be won with a shaky head or something like that," Jones said referring to the use of light spinning equipment on the ill-timed August, 2005 Classic in Pittsburgh, Pa. "I feel like it matches up well with my strengths."
During his two visits to the Red River, Jones basically spent eight or nine days just scouting the location. About the only time he picked up a rod was for a brief photo opportunity.
"I wasn't really fishing," he noted. "During the early practices I just wanted to figure out how to spend my time wisely for those three pre-Classic days and make sure that I would be in productive water. That final practice is not when you should be wasting a lot of time looking around.
"I made a few casts because a gentleman from the local paper wanted to go out and get pictures of me fishing. I really didn't put a lure in the water. This is exactly how I attacked the pre-fishing for the Hartwell Classic last year."
The fact that Jones did not fish the Red River during his previous visits is nothing new to Classic contenders. Most say their initial forays to a Classic site are simply recon trips.
For those unfamiliar with how the Red River got its name, and more importantly how it might fish in February, the site does have a current flow on the lake's main channel but Jones believes most of the battle will take place "on the backwaters."
In those areas there is little or no current. And with the late-February time frame in Louisiana, the bass should be in a pre-spawn stage.
"They are going to spawn out of the current so the backwaters are where the action should be. Also, I expect the main river will be extremely dirty, too dirty to fish. But when you get back in the creek waters it's just stained," Jones said.
Like last year, Classic contenders must keep the weather in mind. A raw, severe cold front came through the week prior to last year's Classic and it pushed the bass back out to deeper water.
"We should be looking at water temperatures in the low 50s but if we get some warm weather we could have 60-degree water. Then again, if we get cold weather we could sink back with water temperatures in the 40s. The weather is really going to dictate the bite."
While believing the 2009 Classic will be "a big bait" tournament, Jones said he does not mean a deep-running crankbait pattern.
"It's going to be won in shallow water, probably less than six or eight feet deep."
He expects key lures to include spinnerbaits, jigs, shallow-running crankbaits and something like the Booyah Boogie, a chatterbait-type lure.
"Because of the stained water, anglers will need something that attracts the bass' attention."
To help him repeat his victory, Jones is having some custom baits made for the event – another facet of the game that many contestants connected with strong lure companies often implement.
"It's not so much designing a whole new line of lures but more about color and that type of thing."
B.A.S.S. changed its rules just two years ago, allowing competitors to use their own boats, and now allow the 51 contestants to carry as much tackle in their boats as they wish; however, the number of rods and reel is limited to 10.
Jones said his rod and reel selection will include some seriously stout equipment.
"You'll see me with a lot of braided line," he noted, "possibly heavy fluorocarbon as well. Twenty-pound test is as light as I’m going to throw. In this dirty water there's no need to go invisible."
So what can TV viewers and those traveling to Louisiana expect to see on the water? Will this be a shoot-out with more fish coming into the boats than cameramen can keep up with it or will be as slow as February sap?
"It's not going to be the kind of tournament where we go out and catch a hundred fish a day," Jones said. "It's going to be the guy who figures out how to get five to eight bites every day who will win this event. It's going to be a patience game. It will be a maximizing-your-area game."
And Jones expects tight quarters in some river locations.
"There will probably be multiple boats in the same area, so it will be a matter of doing it better than the next guy. I'll tell you it won't be boring."
Jones does not expect this to be a Classic in which one contender leads all three days. "Consistency is going to go a long way. There really haven't been many Classics that have been won wire-to-wire. But consistency is going to be important."