photo by Andy hAGEdon
INFLUENTIAL FACTORS
Fishing on the Red River was tough when the college crew came to town , but top finishers uncovered several key factors that led to the better catches . current – Not surprisingly , several teams noted the importance of main-river current to activate bass . For instance , the University of Nebraska ’ s Jackson Ebbers and Charlie Deshazer ( fifth place ) looked for flat areas with good current exposure . barge traffic – Current wasn ’ t the only way to keep fish stirred up , however . Adrian College ’ s Chase Serafin says that he and Cody Batterson ( seventh place ) leveraged a barge ’ s wake , which pushed bait past certain spots and stimulated feeding . They actually hopped ahead of the barge – similar to running the tide in a tidal fishery – and fished this scenario on multiple spots along the vessel ’ s course .
Also , Cody Huff and Garrett Enders of Bethel University ( second place ) found that some of their fish were relating to willow tree roots extending from undercut banks . Running their Z-Man ChatterBaits as close as possible to the bank was essential to getting bites .
photo by dAVId A . bRoWn photo by Andy hAGEdon close work – Several teams discovered that fishing cover meticulously was key . Northwestern State University ’ s Hunter Malmay and Robert Jones ( sixth place ) boldly attacked each log , laydown or tree by hitting all the angles . Using what Malmay called a “ front-middle-and-back ” approach , they were able to fish behind others and pick off unreached bass . natural presentations – Adrian College ’ s Jack Hippe III and Nick Czajka ( fourth place ) discovered that getting bit required getting their Zoom Magnum Trick Worms close to cover , but they found that the river did a better job of managing the presentation than they did . They downsized to 3 / 16-ounce weights and minimized rod-imparted action , which allowed their baits to flow naturally in current with fewer snags . time of day – Tournament winners Freeman and Soileau grabbed the first-round lead after taking advantage of an early bite . By 10:30 on day one , they had their limit and weight for the day . Conversely , teams that were flipping cover needed the high sun to push fish into shaded spots . Case in point , Malmay and Jones stated that each day early bites were bonus bites , as they needed the sunlight to position their fish better on the cover .
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