Riverside Ramblings: Late Summer Fishing on the Red River

Today’s fishing report comes your way from Artificial Lure, your local angling expert tuned into the action on the Red River in and around Shreveport. The Red’s been running steady all week, with water clarity decent and temps hovering in the upper 80s by midday. Today, the weather’s been classic late-August Louisiana: muggy, partly cloudy, just a whisper of breeze from the southeast, with sunset coming in at 7:24 pm and sunrise having kicked off at 6:51 am. That means over 12 hours of daylight for prime fishing. No tidal fluctuation to fuss about here – this river’s flow and levels are mostly a function of upstream rain and lock control. The most recent solunar forecast for central Louisiana pegged the major fish-feeding windows at 3:42–5:42 am and 4:13–6:13 pm, with minor activity peaking from 9:14–10:14 am. A waxing crescent moon is up this evening, and as any old river fisherman will tell you, this helps the bite after sundown – especially for those casting from the banks. Best action lately’s been right near the I-220 bridge and down at the Stoner Boat Launch. Locals have been working the seam lines and submerged stump fields with crankbaits and spinnerbaits for some solid largemouth bass. Reports from last weekend mention buckets filled with fish in the 2–3 lb range, plus a few lunkers busting 5 lbs that were caught flipping black-and-blue jigs tight to the wood. The stretch near Hamel’s Park has seen good numbers, too, especially early mornings and right before dusk. White bass are running in fair schools just below the locks, hitting pearl-color paddletail swimbaits and live minnows floated off the deeper eddies. Folks drift-fishing with cut shad say the catfish bite is decent – channel cats averaging 1–2 lbs, but some blues up to 8 lbs pulled out on chicken livers and stink bait from the deeper holes north of downtown. If you’re out chasing crappie, stick to the shaded pilings and brush piles just off the channel edges; the bite’s been somewhat sporadic, but a handful of nice slabs turned up using small chartreuse tube jigs tipped with shiners. Hot baits today are: - Black-and-blue jigs for bass around heavy cover - Chartreuse crankbaits and spinnerbaits for open water - Pearl paddletails and live shad for white bass below the locks - Chicken livers and cut bait for channel and blue catfish - Small tube jigs and live minnows for crappie in the shaded brush Word on the sandbar is, the best action’s coming in the late afternoon and right before dark – so pack a good headlamp and stay put as the sun dips. If you’re walking or boating out, top picks are first light at Stoner, sunset at Hamel’s, and anywhere you see baitfish flipping near the woody banks. Fish amounts this week: bass catch rates steady, a dozen or more per trip for those working the hot spots; catfish averaging half-a-dozen with some real tanks mixed in; white bass and crappie a little less predictable, but solid if you work the current breaks. Thanks for tuning in t This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.