Many Red River derbies are won in backwaters, but not last weekend’s Red River Bassmaster Open. Alton Jones Jr. won his first Bassmaster derby fishing the main river. Here’s how he did it:
> “Coming into this tournament I was very worried if I was going to get to come across the weigh in scales. That’s how tough my practice was.
> “In the last few hours of practice I caught two decent fish flipping wood on the main river right in front of the takeoff. It wasn’t much but it was all I had to go on.
> “During the first day of competition, I had exactly five bites while trying to expand that pattern, weighing 10-05.
> “On day 2 I quickly realized I wouldn’t be able to go back to those same stretches and get bit. I only caught 4 that day but I was blessed with a 5-15 kicker that moved me into 1st place going into the final day. I caught it on a Missile Baits D-Bomb in California love.
> “The final day I started on a stretch where my co-angler and I caught three fish in the final minutes of day 2, and it was lights out. I started off throwing a dropshot on 14-lb line with a Roboworm (margarita mutilator). That contributed 2 of my weigh-in fish.
> “Then I picked up a custom balsa squarebill and got one of my fish that I weighed in. Once I had a decent limit I picked up the D-Bomb and caught my largest two fish of the day.
> “I never went more than 3 miles from takeoff all week. Gerald Swindle always says that when you don’t have anywhere to go, don’t go anywhere. I knew if I was able to find those key stretches close that more fish would be coming to me in the form of release fish, and thats what happened on day 3.
> “There wasn’t much current on the main river, but I was still catching current-related fish. I was fishing all outside bends where the current hits the hardest.
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> “I stayed in pool 5 the entire time. I did not lock – my practice was so tough I decided my best bet was to maximize my fishing time and stay close.
> “Every fish I caught this week came off of the main river. I was never able to get a stable pattern going in the backwaters.
> “The majority of the fish I was catching were coming in 3-6′. I did catch a few the final day in as deep as 9′.
> “I fished anything that would break the current: stumps, laydowns, barge tie-ups, etc. I was really junk-fishing. The floods over the past 2 years have brought a lot of wood onto the main river. I did catch two fish the first day of competition fishing rock jetties with that balsa squarebill, but other than that all my fish came off wood — the more isolated the better.
> “I was throwing 1/8-oz weight on my dropshot and a 1/4-oz weight flipping my D-Bomb. I feel like those light weights in the current allowed the baits to flow naturally, which triggered more bites with these pressured fish. Anytime I fish current I go with as light a weight as I can. I’m a huge believer in having your bait flow naturally with the current as it falls.”
> His flip stick was a 6’ 9†med-heavy Kistler Helium 3, and he cranked with a 7′ medium Kistler Carbon Steel composite rod and 14-lb Silver Thread fluorocarbon.
