Red River Pool 5, 9 Nov 13

[Mike Cork]

Tough.....

Not that I had been catching many fish on the river, I was catching 10-12 pounds a trip and every once in a while I'd hit a 4 pounder. Well the ABA tournament was yesterday and I weighed just two dinks for 2.25 pounds.

Water temp over the last two weeks has dropped from 68 to 60-61, which should be putting the feed bags on. A couple anglers found the with it taking 14 pounds to win and a couple of 5 pounders weighed in by different anglers.

The weather was cloudy and raining all day, this should have put the spinnerbait bite ON! but not for me. At 11 am with only one bite I gave up and committed to punching and it was uneffective boating only the two little fish. Had the sun come out I think the punch bite would have drawn a couple of good bites.

Current isn't that bad but the mud is still pretty heavy.

Wind was not an issue, when it would through up a breeze it was from the south most of the day.

I threw everything but a crankbait and nothing. Previous to this tournament, I was catching them on a NuTech Jig in 2-5 feet of water, a few keepers punching (which there is so much hyacinths that your guess is as good as mine as to where to start with that). Spinnerbaits had been productive as well, slow rolling them through timber and pad fields. Over the last two weeks I never found a big school of fish, just covering water.

With the cold front coming through this week, look for them to start grouping up much better. When you find one you should be able to find several. It's started already, Sonny Jr caught nearly 15 pounds in the same location, so it's starting and the cold will get them all doing that.

Be careful out there, there are a ton of floaters and it's hard to see them in the floating salvania that's coming from Caddo. We need another flooding rain to help migrate that stuff down the river.

[Donald Garner]

Mike tks for sharing the trip.  I see I wasn't the only one this past week that face a tough bite.

[JMGullo]

When I crossed the HWY 2 bridge on Thursday the river looked the same as it does down by the locks but when I crossed it this morning it was foamy and had alot of current so the mud is on its way again. Looks pretty bad up that way and definitely higher up there than it was a few days ago.

[lapoolboy]

Anyone know how far up 12-mile Bayou you can run from the river?

[Harry Jones]

Don't know the distance, but all the way to the Caddo dam.  Probably 15-20 miles.

[fishinforsanity]

Mike I did find a quite nice spinnerbait bite in the muddy water. Had to bang the wood with it. Searched till I found stumps holding bait, they were holding tight and would scatter as you reeled past, then hold on! Found them a bit late in the day but I did manage to cull all 4 morning fish and ended with 10.79 and 4th place.

[Mike Cork]

It was there to be had, I just didn't adjust. Kept looking for that 20 pound bag, knowing that it would only take 12-14 pounds  The river can really mess with your mind and I let it this time.

[watsjigs]

I had 7 bites and boated 5. Two on a beaver and 3 on frog.   

It pays to keep an open mind. I have not had a bite on the frog out there in three trips prior. I did not even pull the frog rod out of the box until 9am when conditions looked too good not try it. I always listen to that "still small voice" in my head when it says to do something. Most of the time it works. Some say that's instinct, I say its God!

I did not have a bite after 11:00am. Thankful for 5th place and a small check to cover expenses. I'm glad i didn't go fare from port lake and run a bunch of gas out.....

[Mike Cork]

Sometimes Retreads are worth the time  beats the heck out of me running all over the place for just two. I had 7 bites but my average was not as good as yours 

[Bassman]

I'm glad i didn't go fare from port lake and run a bunch of gas out.....

Wish I could say the same.  I ran to pool 4 hoping to get in to the fish I had the weekend prior to the tournament.  17 keepers that day and all solid fish. 

Ended up taking 2 dinks for a ride in the boat to the weigh in.  If I had to do it again though, I wouldn't have done anything different.

[watsjigs]

Wish I could say the same.  I ran to pool 4 hoping to get in to the fish I had the weekend prior to the tournament.  17 keepers that day and all solid fish. 

  I haven't caught 17 keepers on the river if i combined all my trips in the last 2 months!