We hope everyone was able to follow our live coverage of the Forrest Wood Cup on Thursday. We're back on the water this morning with Ron Festavan, who lives just a few miles north of Red River South Marina and Resort. He's a fountain of knowledge about the Red River and its fishing quirks. We're looking forward to spending more time in the boat with him and bringing BassFans closer to the action.
Also be sure to follow along on our Twitter, Facebook and Instagram pages.
1:15 pm: We're off the water for the day. Gonna head to the Expo for a bit and then off to the weigh-in. Seemed a bit tougher today although we heard about a couple of good bags being caught. Have to wait and see. Thanks for following along with us.
12:45 pm: Stopped on Meyer coming back down the river. He's got a limit of squeakers and is cranking the shoreline trying to get a kicker. He caught one while we were talking but threw it back. He said it's been a mix of flipping, cranking and spinnerbaits for him.
The clouds are starting to roll in and Ron says we could be fixing to get wet soon. There is a bit of a chill in the air.
12:30 Arey left White House for his river stuff so we drove back toward the launch pond. Passed Justin Lucas landing a fish and pulled up on Jimmy Houston, who left before we could chat. Luke Clausen was also north of the ramp, as was Cody Meyer. Still looking for others. And there's Morehead.
Noon: We saw Randall Tharp head downriver and followed him, thinking he'd go to White House. We found Arey still plugging away. He said it's been a grind and he has a limit for 9 pounds. He's planning to hit the river in the afternoon, adding that it seemed better after 1 pm yesterday. He's chatting with his co-angler Keaton Blaylock and seems to be enjoying himself. He said Nixon left and had a couple good ones.
11:40 am: Thrift pulled up and left. We think he might be headed to Pool 4. We headed back toward the port of Shreveport and found Spencer Shuffield fishing the same stretch he was on yesterday. Morgan is across the way working the opposite bank. Shuffield has a small limit but is coming up on the areas where he caught his best fish in day 1.
11:20 am: It seems as though Thrift and Avena are targeting similar stuff - rocks with deep and shallow water nearby. Thrift is quickly working his way down a rocky, grassy bank right now.
11 am:As we were leaving King we saw Thrift idling down the channel toward the rock cut that leads back toward the dozer. Thrift fished the riprap but didn't connect. He picked up and made a 5-mile move up river and is working another entry/exit to a cut. He said he has four in the box – three 12-inchers and a 3 1/2-pounder. He's digging in his tackle compartment now and tying on a shaky-head, which is what he caught the 7-pounder on. He promptly hooks up on his first cast to finish his limit.
10:30 am: King just caught a short and sent it back in the river. I was hoping he'd catch one off the bucket of the dozer, but no dice.
10:20 am: Stacey King is back near Caterpillar Point where we saw him yesterday. He's working through a stump field and is now trolling over toward the old bulldozer. It's still pleasant and sunny.
9:45 am: Andy Morgan has a limit of "little bitty ones," but he stuck an upgrade as a giant barge plowed past behind him.
9:30 am: Morehead has two keepers but is fishing for big bites today. "If I catch a limit for 6 pounds, who cares," he said.
9:18 am: Morehead is working around a clump of grass and pads heading out of White House. He hasn't connected yet and is making only a couple of casts before picking up a different rod. Trying to dial in these day-2 fish.
9:12 am: We're going to leave Nixon and Arey and try to find some other anglers in Pool 5. Watching Nixon work is amazing. He seems relaxed leaning on his front pedestal making cast after cast and slowly working his bait back to the boat.
8:55 am: Word is Ish Monroe is fishing Pool 3 and doesn't have a fish. He cranked up and said he was heading another 20 miles south. Yikes. Also heard that Dave Lefebre is fishing Pool 5 and had two keepers.
8:45 am: Nixon just caught one, measured it and put it in the livewell. He's fishing slow through a stump maze heading toward the back of White House.
8:15 am: We left Avena and ran down to White House Lake, one the best fishing holes in Pool 5. Matt Arey, Dan Morehead and Larry Nixon are all fishing in sight of each other working around a mix of wood and grass. Keeton Blaylock, Arey's co-angler, just caught a 10-pound drum. We're going to zoom over toward Nixon.
7:44 am: More on the area Avena is fishing. There's a ton of bait - shiners maybe - and the break in the rocks is maybe 50 feet wide. He continues to back and forth across the gap casting in toward the backwater and to the edge of the rocks where they drop into the water. The locals fishing a crappie hole 20 yards behind him are still here.
7:30 am: Avena sticks another one on the crank. It's a keeper, but he thinks he can do better. "Is it bad luck to let a 12-incher go," he says as he flips it back in the river.
7:20am: We found Adrian Avena where he was yesterday, right near the cut in a riprap wall in Pool 5. He was landing a fish as we came off plane then boxed his first keeper 3 minutes later on a crankbait. "It's a small one, but its a start," he said.
Scott Canterbury fishes past Avena out of the cut and takes off.
6:35 am: No clouds in the sky this morning at the ramp. Very little breeze. Might alter some guys' plans. We'll be on the water shortly.
