Flw College Southern Conference Anglers Will Be Fighting Heavy Tournament Pressure On The Red River
Fishing is “kind of tough” and it could get even tougher Saturday in the FLW College Fising Southern Conference tournament qualifier on the Red River near Natchitoches, La., said collegiate angler Blake Alford of the University of Louisiana-Monroe.
“There is a 200-boat tournament coming out of Shreveport and another tournament with about 100 boats, so you are going to have over 300 boats on the river Saturday,” Alford said. “That’s going to be a big factor, with all that boat traffic pressuring the fish.”
The heavy pressure means a lot of anglers will have to wait their turn to fish a particular spot, he said.
“You will be fighting boats to get to a place, so you will have to be patient, fish behind other people and hope you can catch them.”
The heavy boat traffic is not the only factor that the collegiate anglers will face Saturday, Alford said.
“I fished a lot of backwater areas. I figured they would be in the backwaters, but it was just not happening in the backwaters for me,” he said. “I think that has to do with all the flooding that occurred. It took away most of the vegetation in the backwaters.”
As a result, he said, most of the shad he has seen were either out on the main river or towards the mouths of the backwater areas.
“The fish are in fall transition right now and they are definitely relating to the shad,” he said. “The fish I found in practice that I think could possibly win the tournament were on the shad.”
Alford said he fished the river last Friday and had a “pretty good” day, catching nearly 20 bass with his best five weighing 13 to 14 pounds. His best fish was a 5-pounder.
“Fishing is tough, but what I figured out is that if you get some bites they are usually pretty decent fish,” he said. “I think the tournament will be won shallow. I caught my fish in 3 to 4 feet of water.”
Alford is a senior majoring in general studies from West Monroe, La., “about 10 minutes from Duck Dynasty,” he said. And, yes, he is a duck hunter, too. His teammate, Slade Daniel, is a senior nursing major from Hale, La.
They are both familiar with the Red River. Monroe, La., is just a little over 100 miles north of Natchitoches, about a two-hour drive from school.
FLW College Fishing Southern Conference
Sat, Sep 19, 2015
Red River-LA
Grand Core Recreation Area
