July is not a good month for bass, bream and perch fishing but the catfish reports are great. The landlocked lakes surface water temperatures top out around midday at 95 degrees.

When the lakes are that hot, water quality drops off. For the past two weeks I have been all over Lakes Concordia and I made a couple trips to Lake St. John. The bass are holding in extremely shallow water simply because the deep water lacks oxygen. I noticed dozens of dead catfish floating on both lakes.

That means the bottom water lacks oxygen and the thermocline is pushing very close to the surface. If you’re fishing Lakes Concordia and St. John there is no need to fish any deeper than 8 feet. If you’re fishing for bass, think shallow and shade. Target the cypress trees located in and behind the bulrush.

The bass are there but they are difficult to catch. This Fourth of July holiday weekend will have the lakes so busy your best bet is to be on the water really early, at approximately 3 a.m. and fish until approximately 10 a.m.

When the sun starts beating me down, I load up and go home. That’s why I love winter fishing. You can always put on enough clothes to stay warm, but you can’t take off enough to stay cool without getting arrested. The heat is bad, and when you’re sitting out in a boat catching next to nothing in 100-degree air temp, it just makes no sense.

The best fishing right now is in the rivers. Current keeps the water cooler and aerated. Our customers that target catfish on the Mississippi River are loading the freezer.

The neat deal about going after catfish is it’s a lot cheaper than chasing bass. You don’t even need a boat. It helps but you can bank fish along the river with great success. The best reports are coming from people fishing along the river at night. The veteran fishermen and ladies know to respect the river. It is dangerous.

If you have never fished the river find someone that has and let them show you how it’s done. For blue and channel catfish try dead bait. It’s hard to beat cut bait like skipjack, shad and cold worms.

Blues and channel cat like bait that stinks. On the other hand the big flatheads like live bait. Goldfish and pond perch works great but check the laws when using bream for bait. It is illegal in some states but I’m not sure about pond perch. Regardless, you can use goldfish anywhere in the river.

It’s neat to build a fire along the river bank, bait up several rod and reels and sit back and wait. Unlike bass where you have to constantly move and look and change lures the catfish will eventually come to you. The next best thing that will happen in this area in the fishing scene is the Old Rivers, the live oxbow lakes.

When the river stage at Natchez drops below 38 feet, the bream fishing will be great. I spoke with several fishermen that don’t wait for the lower river levels, and they are catching bream right now from the Old Rivers. Target the flooded banks of the backwater lakes and barrow pits as well as the flooded gravel roads for big old river bream.

Have a great, safe Fourth of July weekend!