The 10th annual “Fishing for a Cure” Bass Tournament will cast off on the Four-Rivers Aug. 23.

The event host has done an excellent job making this tournament a success. All proceeds will be donated to the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

We’ll have lots of door prizes as well as food and drink for the contestants.

This year we’re doing things a bit differently.

On Friday night, Aug. 22 we will have a pre-registration supper at Little River Park.

The entry fee is only $110 per team and the payout is good.

The first place team, the team with the largest five bass will take home $1000 and we’ll payout 15 cash places.

J.D. Weeks and John Bruce won the ninth annual MDA benefit and I’m sure they’ll be back to try to hold the title. Eddie’s Marine and Tackle will conduct the weigh-in along with Lonnie Ashley at the scales.

The Four-Rivers offers the contestants many miles of fishable water. You can go north from Jonesville up the Black River until it turns into the Ouachita. That’s usually where the larger bass come from.

Spinnerbaits, crankbaits, soft plastics and jigs will catch the bass in the river.

The Tensas produces numbers of bass each year during this event and the same lures will work well up the Tensas River. The lower Black River and Little River are open for the event as well.

This is a good event held for a great cause.

Muscular Dystrophy is a crippling disease that attacks mostly young people.

Come join us and let’s go “Fishing for a Cure”on Aug. 23 at the 4-Rivers.

Entry forms are available at Sports Center in Natchez and Eddie’s Marine in Vidalia.

The Mississippi River rose slightly over the past few days but that did not slow the bream fishing down on the old rivers at Deer Park, Vidalia and Yucatan.

The big bream are holding tight to the flooded green willows along the island side of the Old Rivers. Crickets work best for the bluegill and red worms for the chinquapin.

I have yet to hear any good reports from the Old River about the white perch fishermen. The best level for the white perch is around 28 feet on the Natchez gauge.

The river stage today is 33.4 and rising very slowly. The rise is forecasted to continue through Friday.

If the predictions hold up, we should see a fast fall coming down river next weekend. The bass continue to be hard to come by as well.

You can catch a few nice fish near the ditches and on the points. Try jigs and crankbaits for the Old River bass.

Eddie Roberts writes a weekly fishing column for The Natchez Democrat. He can be reached at fishingwitheddie@bellsouth.net.