Water temperatures continue to drop but this high pressure system has sure made the fish less active.

We need rain, clouds and wind. The land locked lakes are low but the fishing has picked up despite the high barometric pressure.

The cooler water temps helped off-set the high pressure, somewhat. The early morning late evening bass bite is good on lakes Bruin, Concordia and St. John. The nest reports on surface lures and big bass are coming from Lake Bruin.

It’s just one of those deals where you have to be in the right place with the right lure early and late. The right lure for big bass this month now is the Heddon Zara Spook, the Spitting Image or anyone of the many walking-style lures.

If you’re new to walking lures always cast well past the target like a cypress tree or brush pile. Start the retrieve with your rod tip low to the water with a steady twitch that makes the lure nod back and forth.

Some days a stop and go retrieve works best but when faced with high pressure and a bright, cloudless sky like we had the past few weeks, a fast noisy retrieve will create more reaction strikes from non-aggressive fish.

In October, I have good luck catching big bass but fewer fish working the Spook near the deeper piers and over deep structure. Make repeated casts across the front of a deep pier.

If you don’t get a rise from a fish move your boat to the other side of the pier and bring the lure by the platform from a different angle. The same deal works when you’re casting to the cypress trees.

It’s all about angles when trying to provoke a strike from a very educated inactive bass. In the fall bass tend to be scattered so lures that allow you to cover a lot of water will put the numbers in the well.

On the Old Rivers it’s hard to beat small crank baits like a Bandit 100 or 200 series in crawfish and shad patterns. Just hit the standing dead willow stumps and pay close attention to the pole timber that’s leaning. Leaning cover holds more fish.

The Mississippi River is at good level today. The stage is 24.6 feet and falling slow. That’s down about a foot from the recent rise. At 23.8 feet I had a good trip at Deer Park, the old river bend lake south of Vidalia.

I caught doubles twice, two fish on the same lure on a single cast and lost a couple more doubles. The fish were not trophies by any means. Most were in the 12 to 15 inch range but it’s a lot of fun when you can catch 35 to 40 bass in half day of fishing.

The river fall will continue for the next five days and maybe longer. The stage by Tuesday of this coming week will be approximately 23 feet even. The white perch bite on the Old Rivers is good as well. Just fish the visible cover with jigs and live minnows and you will find the perch.