By Alan Clemons
February 21, 2012
Steve Kennedy doesn’t really know what to expect when he heads to the Red River for the Bassmaster Classic.
Two trips in February have given the veteran Alabama pro a good look at the northeast Louisiana River at its best and worst. When the Classic is held Feb. 24-26, Kennedy’s hoping for the best.
“I’ve been down there twice,” he said. “The first was in 2009 for the Classic and the three practice days the week before (the tournament) were pretty good. It was warm and the fish were moving in to spawn. I saw one stump with three going about 15 pounds on it, and probably saw 70 or 80 fish.
“Only one bed had been started but they were around it and coming in. There were fish six inches under the surface, just sunning, and it was about to happen.”
Then, of course, the Bass gods stretched out a cold, gnarly finger and threw everything off kilter. What looked like a good thing turned into Kennedy’s nightmare scenario.
“The place fishes so small you can’t really move around,” he said. “I started out where Boyd (Duckett) had 20 pounds and led the first day. I had a couple of other places and the guys in there had 20 pounds. I had my aluminum boat to get into some places maybe some other guys weren’t in, and then found three guys in there.
“I really just had a horrible tournament, bouncing around. It wasn’t good.”
Kennedy’s second trip was a year later for an FLW Tour season-opener that got canceled. Flooding conditions and raging waters turned the Red into its notorious alter ego. Practice was incredibly tough, he said, but a few areas yielded some bites. He was excited since other anglers had zero confidence and then aggravated that the event was canceled.
Now, two years later, Kennedy’s hoping for calm conditions and a good tournament. In five Classic appearances, his best finish was eighth in 2007 on Lay Lake in Alabama. The other finishes range from 35th to 48th.
“I’ve seen both ends of it,” he said. “From what I’ve seen it’s loaded with 3- to 5-pounders, some really good fish. But putting all that together in a tournament, though, you don’t know what you’ll get until we get there. We’ve had a mild winter and they should be up there ready to go.”
Kennedy honed his skills in his youth and early tournament days on reservoirs. West Point and Seminole in Georgia, Lake Martin and Eufaula in Alabama … each with deep water, structure and not too many similarities to the Red.
“It doesn’t necessarily set up for the way I fish,” he said. “It’s definitely different, but I don’t mind. It’s a place to go fish.”
