River bass used to get no respect. Over the years, most of the attention focused on bass throughout the country has been concentrated on reservoirs in which bass grow to enormous proportions. But there are nice fish in the rivers, too, and serious bass anglers are starting to take notice.

Take the Red River, for example: Its system of pools, locks and oxbows produces some of the best largemouth fishing to be found in the northern Louisiana. Its five water-control structures might make it seem more like a series of reservoirs, but it's in fact a stretch of natural river, and one that harbors some serious bass fishing.

Back in 1997, B.A.S.S. held a championship on pools 4 and 5, and their pro anglers broke the record for the most pounds of fish ever caught during any federation tournament. In 1999, the same area broke records for total tourney weight and one-day catch: Tour pro Michael Iaconelli brought in 44 pounds, 15 ounces of bass in a tournament that saw 51 anglers take in 1,422 pounds, 6 ounces of bass in three days of fishing, according to B.A.S.S.

Since then the Red River has been red-hot, giving anglers a shot at catching lots of fish while offering a legitimate chance of reeling in a prized wallhanger. And -- by taking your river fishing to a new level through the use some offbeat tactics -- you can be one of those anglers.

BIG BASS IN HARD TO FISH PLACES
The waters of the Red River can be swift, which can pose a great problem for baitfish. Smaller fish like shad have a difficult time navigating current-laden water, so they often seek refuge in eddies that form in the river. These eddies are simply areas of slack water that might form just downstream of a logjam, or in a pool off the main river channel or off a bend in a deep creek. Bass have figured this program out, and will lie in ambush in these eddies, looking for an easy meal.

Targeting eddies is fairly easy: It simply requires the ability to hold position over one for long enough without running into it and disturbing any fish that might be there. I know that bass are not particularly spooky fish, but I've had some experience fishing eddies in the rivers, and whenever we ended up too close, it seemed as if the fish would shut off.

Try throwing a small spinnerbait in first to see if you get any aggressive responses. Make casts right against the bank and work from there; many of the bass in these eddies seem to want to hold tight to the banks and feed from there.

If that doesn't do the job, switch over to a Sassy Shad fished on a Carolina rig and crawl it slowly across the bottom. If the water's clear, go with the regular shad color; in stained water, use chartreuse or tomato. This setup mimics a wounded shad very closely and is a highly underrated choice. Most anglers think only of Carolina-rigging worms or lizards, but soft-plastic shad can be real killers.

Some of the best action is found on points of the main river channel. A variety of structure types will be involved.

"Some of the bigger river bass like to hold tight to structure in 12 to 20 feet of water where there is a sharp dropoff," said Warren Breaux, a Louisiana river bass expert with 40 years of experience. "If you watch your graph closely, you will find these fish just about logs and humps that come off the main shorelines, especially right where you have a sharp bend. Those are some of the best spots to target."