At last October is feeling like October should with cool nights and crisp clear days.

Cloudy skies and rain gave way to clear skies and cooler temperatures this weekend.

That’s exactly what we need to drive water temperatures down and turn the fish.

We had a lot of rain the first half this month that filled the area lakes and the Mississippi River is on a very fast rise.

Now it looks like we’ll have cooler weather for awhile.

The transition from late summer to early fall is much like spring. The game fish will leave the deep water and move to shallow water cover to feed on the abundant baitfish population.

The shad are spawning on the landlocked oxbow lakes and the bass are taking advantage of the situation by feeding heavily on the shad.

Lake Concordia’s bass were busting surface lures but since this low pressure has moved out that bite will change from a surface feeding frenzy to a bottom bite.

The early morning top water bite will still be there but once the sun comes up you will have to go to bottom lures to keep up with the fish.

Some good surface lures for this month include Rebel Pop R’s, Storm Chug Bugs and Heddon Zara Spooks. For bottom lures stick with Reaction Innovation’s Sweet Beaver, Zoom Brush Hawgs and jigs with a plastic trailer.

Some of the best reports on the bass fishing are coming from Lakes Bruin, St. John and Concordia.

The water clarity in these lakes is not subject to get as muddy after heavy rains as most other waters in this area are.

Fish the flats on either end of the lakes early and try the open area between the piers.

Once the surface action dies down pick up the pitching stick and hit the cypress trees and shallow man made brush piles.

This is a good month for numbers of bass as well as an occasional trophy fish. Just watch for the bait fish and you’ll find the bass.

The Mississippi River had gone wild over the past week. A very unseasonal, fast rise is coming downriver.

The stage at Natchez today is 42.3 feet. That’s 10 feet higher than a week ago.

We may see a crest at 44.1 feet on Tuesday but that could change.

Flood stage at Natchez is 48 feet and I have never in the 35 plus years I have lived here, witnessed a river level this high in October.

Needless to say the live oxbow lakes, the lakes still connected to the river, are really messed up. Unless we see a 10 to 15 feet fall over the next few weeks the fishing is over on the Old Rivers for the rest of this year.

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