This weather feels great. And obviously the fish feel the same way we do.

Fish activity has increased big time over the past week or so.

On the other hand, fishing activity, with the exception of bass tournaments, has decreased, which is fine with us.

The waters are less crowded as some sportsmen and women head to the woods to chase deer, work on food plots and such.

Many people think of summer when they think about fishing. But, the heat of summer offers the worst conditions for catching game fish.

I have always said the best time to go fishing is when you can, but I just don’t like summer fishing in this area.

I recently heard several people say they don’t like this cooler weather. Not me. I’ll take 40 to 60 degrees over 95 to 100 degrees anytime.

Just think back to this past July and August when you could smell your skin cooking while fishing.

Another thing that has changed is the fish activity on the land locked lakes.

Cooler weather and lower water temperature woke the fish up from their summer slump on the waters that are protected by the levee system.

For months most of us have avoided Lake Concordia with its low water level. We have avoided St. John and Bruin as well as the Black River/Horseshoe Complex in favor of the live oxbow lakes — the Old Rivers. That’s changing now like it does every year.

During the summer we fish the live oxbows until the Mississippi River is either too low or too high. When the river fouls up the fishing in the Old Rivers, and the cold fronts kickoff, we head back to the land locked lakes.

That’s the way it goes in this area, and that is the way it’s been in the past 35-plus years I have fished here.

Lake Bruin is on a fall drawdown which is a great thing for creating a good bass, bream and sac-a-lait lake. A fall drawdown gives the property owners a chance to work on their seawalls and boat ramps.

Low water dries out the silt around the shallow cover which will make for better spawning areas next spring when the water comes back up.

If Concordia and St. John were drawn down every fall and plugged back up by Jan. 1, we would have the great fishing that Lake Bruin offers and with the great fishing we would have more people come here to spend their money in this Parish like they used to do.

There is no shortage of bass tournaments this fall. Tournaments are popping up everywhere and for good reason. The fish are biting.

I can’t name a lake or river right now that is not producing a lot better than it was a month ago.

This weekend Miss-Lou Bass Club was on Lake St. John. If all went well that’s where I am right now.

The lake level is a bit low, but Lake St. John offers some great fall fishing.

There was also a bass circuit on Lake Bruin and a club tournament on Tew Lake. My calendar is filling up with bass tournament dates.

Stay tuned for some good reports. As the water continues to cool down, the fishing will just keep getting better.

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