Can't-miss Red River baits

For the past two years, Strike King lures have won bass fishing’s biggest contest. Two years ago, a golden Red Eye Shad plucked the heaviest bass from Lay Lake in Alabama, giving VanDam his third Classic victory. Last year, it was the KVD 1.5 crankbait and Strike King spinnerbait that prowled Lake Cataouatche as Kevin VanDam earned his fourth Classic win.

The last time the Classic was held on the Red River was in 2009. In that event, Skeet Reese (who’s not competing in the 2012 derby) used a Redemption spinnerbait by Lucky Craft.

Here are the winning lures from the past three Classics as well as lures that have historically produced on the Red River.

These are the baits that Kevin VanDam on the Louisiana Delta in 2010: a chartreuse/black back Strike King 1.5 crankbait and a sexy shad-colored spinnerbait. They helped him catch a Classic record 69-11.

A Strike King Red Eye Shad like this one helped KVD earn his third Classic victory in 2010 on Alabama's Lay Lake. He fished a long cast away from the ramp each day. He used it to catch 51-6 over three days.

Squarebill crankbaits were huge players in the 2009 Classic on the Red River, and are always well-represented in power fishing events, like this Classic looks to be. From L to R: Strike King KVD 1.5; Lucky Craft 1.5; Luck "E" Strike RC2; Bandit Squarebill.

Spinnerbaits are another viable option on the Red River; Skeet Reese used one to take the crown in 2009.

Swim jigs, like these from Dirty Jigs, will likely be in play on the Red this year. They’re versatile baits that will go where crankbaits and some spinnerbaits can’t, like in and around the Red’s abundant grass.

Bladed jigs like this one make quite a commotion in the water and could work well on windy days and in stained water, two conditions that are possible on the Red.

Flipping baits, like this Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver, will be on just about every boat for this Classic. The river boasts acres of floating hyacinths, as well as forests of submerged timber and brush. Most every backwater on the Red is bassy.

If they’re not flipping soft plastics, competitors will be flipping jigs. Dark colors should be popular given the Red’s stained water colors (save some backwaters, which have near spring-like clarity). Flipping jigs are more popular around wood and sparse grass rather than mats of grass or gnarly tree branches.

Using a topwater frog is one of the most exciting ways to fish. Seeing a bass engulf or crash down on a floating amphibian gets every angler’s blood racing. Frogs like this one from Spro have proved themselves as big-bass baits. In a Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Central Open on the Red in 2010, a co-angler landed an 11-pounder to win the co-angler trophy. The big fish accounted for half of his total weight!

Finesse worms like these from Roboworm may be the oddball lure that sneaks up on the field. Good finesse fishermen can make these skinny, buoyant worms work most anywhere. They’re popular on drop shot rigs and Texas rigs as well as shaky jigheads.

This one may be a long shot, but a football jig could come in to play if an angler finds a wad of fish in deep, slack water on the main river. There isn’t a better bait for dragging along the bottom.