You might have noticed the hundreds of specially wrapped bass boats at the boat ramps and all over Red River the last few days and wondered what was going on.

Well, it's the week that scores of local professional bass anglers have been waiting for! This Thursday through Saturday, September 22 through 24, It's the Bassmaster Central Open on Red River.

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.  It was last October that the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society, BASS, announced that the second of three Central Division Open tournaments would be held here on Red River, and for lots of local and regional professional anglers, this was somewhat of a dream come true.

The opportunity to compete in a national tournament here on home water is something that our anglers don't see very often, so they jumped at the chance.

In fact, as I look through the participating anglers, one would assume that the state with the most participating anglers in this one would be Louisiana. However, it's not. Louisiana is second to Texas who has a whopping seventy one competitors representing the Lone Star State in this event.  Louisiana has forty competitors.

BASS Has Been Here Several Times Before, But It's Been A While

Of course, Bassmaster is no stranger to The Mighty Red as we hosted the Bassmaster Classic in 2009 and 2012, but this will be the first time B.A.S.S. has been here since the 2018 Central Open was won by South Carolina pro Patrick Walters.

The first of the three Central Division tournaments was held April 28 through 30 at Ross Barnett Reservoir in Mississippi and the final event is October 20 through 22 on Sam Rayburn Reservoir in Jasper, Texas.  So, this could be the best chance for our local anglers to grab national headlines for a win here on their home water.

You Are Cordially Invited For Take Off And Weigh-Ins

Bassmaster.com writes that take off will be at 7:00 am each of the three competition days, and weigh-in will begin at 2:45 pm each day and the public is certainly invited to be there for both.

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B.A.S.S. just released it's Bassmaster 100 Best Bass Lakes in America and a whopping 8 of these are just a short drive from Shreveport/Bossier. Just look at what we're blessed to have in the area.

WMA's and Public Hunting Lands in Northwest Louisiana

Northwest Louisiana is home to a number of public hunting grounds and surprisingly, some of these areas are conveniently located and used very little. See what we have found.

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