Here’s the low down on the conditions of our lakes and rivers that are producing the best perch, bass and catfish so far this month.
The bass and white perch spawn is winding down, but with water temperatures averaging about 70 degrees, the game fish will still be holding near the spawning areas in thin water.
The best reports I received this week on the white perch are coming from the backwater lakes off the Ouachita and Black Rivers.
If you launch from the Jonesville landing on Little River, head up the Black River and try Haw Haw bayou.
Just run about half way up Haw haw and fish your way back to the new locks with brown and orange or black and chartreuse tube jigs on a 1/32nd ounce jig head.
Many colors will work. It’s more about location than lure color.
Find the perch and they will eat most any small lure with a tad of chartreuse on it.
Further upriver you can launch from Harrisonburg Landing. Just north of this landing about 1/8th of a mile from the landing, you will see a small cut on your left. That’s Town Lake.
Fish the dead standing snags and lay downs for big slab perch and bring your spinner baits along.
There are some big bass in this small backwater lake of the Ouachita River.
Further north of Town Lake just off the river you will see a cut on the left. That is Rosin Creek.
Idle back past the old concrete weir and fish the standing cypress trees and logs with the same jigs I mentioned for big slabs.
Again, take your spinner baits, crank baits, jigs and favorite soft plastics.
The good thing about fishing backwater lakes off the 4-Rivers is you don’t have to worry about fishing in crowd. Few people fish these lakes and rivers until later in the summer when the water is so hot the fish move out of the backwaters and holds in the rivers.
In other words don’t wait until June to fish these waters.
The 4-Rivers are at their best right now.
The Black River/Horseshoe Lake was producing numbers of bass and some white perch during the weekdays. On weekends it’s a “bring your own stump to fish around,” sort of day.
That place will be loaded with boats.
I did hear some good reports on Tew Lake’s bass fishing. Try surface lures early and if it’s cloudy late you can hang with the top water lures all day.
Keep a jig of your favorite soft plastic lure ready. If the surface bite is slow go to bottom lures.
Lakes Concordia and St. John continue to be hard to fish.
Hopefully the weir on Concordia will be repaired and the water level will come up. It’s so low now you cannot make it to the old spawning grounds in the north flats.
This intentional drawdown by the Lake Concordia Commission killed this years spawn.
If they get the weir fixed real quick, and if we don’t get a lot of rain, the bream spawn will not be that great this year on Concordia.
Hopefully the lake Commission will listen to the 500 plus fishermen and ladies that signed a petition to put the boards back on the weir and get the water level back up to where it should be in April.
I have never heard of a spring draw down on any lake. I heard it was drawn down after two property owners complained that water was getting on their piers.
If that’s the case those piers were built too low to the water and the Lake Commission should not ruin an entire lake to please two people.

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