We had a super great week for fishing. The mornings were a bit cool but by mid day the air temperatures felt like a lot like spring.

Several fishermen and ladies came by our shop showing off limits of huge white perch. Most people were catching the fish from the Old Rivers at Deer Park and Vidalia.

This is the first time I can recall in 35 plus years a river stage of less than 20 feet in January. Normally we would not even consider fishing the Old Rivers, the live oxbow lakes, this time of year.

Most of the winter fishing on the Old Rivers was limited to the fish houses, the enclosed floating docks with brush piles placed under the dock. The locals that own these docks catch hundreds of white perch all winter.

The lower than normal water levels extended the season for boaters and many have loaded their freezers with big slab perch. The bad news is a fast rise is coming downriver.

The Mississippi river stage at Natchez today is 18.3 feet. By Tuesday we’ll see a level of about 21.0 feet and possibly going to 22.6 by Wednesday. Then, if the forecast holds up, yet another slow fall will come down river. This is just unheard of in January but it is a good thing. The white perch tend to bunch up during the colder months.

Locate a productive pattern on the Old Rivers right now and you’re in for some of the best perch fishing this area has to offer. Reports on the Old River bass fishing have been very quiet probably because no one is fishing for bass.

I bet if someone would try fishing the points and bluff banks at Deer Park with a heavy jig, a spoon or deep diving crank bait you could catch some huge bass. On the protected side of the levee system, at Lakes Concordia, St. John and Bruin we are catching bass. For numbers of bass in the 2- to 4-pound range with an occasional 5 pound fish head to Lake Bruin. Bruin is the very best cold water bass lake in this area.

Bruin is all so home to a huge population of big slab white perch. For the bass and perch just target the piers and boat houses with brush piles sunk around them. For the white perch scale down your line and lure size for more strikes.

You can get by with 6 pound test mono but if you will drop down to 4 pound line you’re strike and catch ratio will increase.

The common jig size for perch is a 1/32nd-ounce head. If the wind is not bad try scaling down to a 1/64th-ounce jig head fished on 4 pound test line and use a hair jig instead of the common plastic tube jig.

For bass on Bruin and Concordia stick with bottom lures like jigs tipped with a plastic trailer or anyone of the many beaver style lures. Zoom’s brush hawg will catch fish from cold water too. This is my favorite time of year for big largemouth bass and slab white perch. Just dress warm, use a slow presentation and you will catch fish this month.