That was a strange month.

We fished three of the four weekends of January wearing short-sleeve shirts and some people had on short pants. It felt more like spring than winter. The fishing was great for January which is normally a very tough month to catch numbers of fish but a good month for a few big fish.

The average surface water temperature was warmer this month than it was in December. Last weekend I found some areas of Lake Bruin with 57 degree water. Normally the water would be around 48 to 50 degrees if not colder.

A year ago we were having problems getting to the lakes with ice on the highways.

From 57 to 60 degrees the bass and sac-a-lait will start thinking about spawning. The pre-spawn season is the best time to catch heavy weight largemouth bass and big slab perch.

Barring we don’t get a few major cold fronts in early February the spawn could cast off any day.

We are already catching a lot of male bass from thin water. Male bass move up first and cruise the shallows looking for a suitable spawning site.

The fish are looking for a hard bottom in shallow water that catches plenty of sunlight with thick cover nearby. Since our lakes no longer have any moss beds you will find most of the beds near cypress trees and in between the piers along chunk-rock seawalls as well as wood seawalls.

I would be willing to bet some males are fanning out beds right now. Once the nest is built, the big female bass will cruise around and look for beds. The larger sow bass usually take the best beds.

In other areas across the south the water clarity is so good you can see the beds and the bass. It’s called sight fishing, and it’s rare that we get a chance to do that on the Louisiana side of the river.

Our water is not clear enough to sight fish. So instead of running the shallows with your trolling motor dialed up looking for fish, we have to fish the shallows real slow and just hope our lures pass over a bed.

We’re a week away from the largest bass tournament held in this area. On Saturday Feb. 4 the 26th Annual J.R. Roberts Memorial will cast off on Lake Bruin. We will conduct the weigh-in at the Lake Bruin State Park.

This long running event was created by some of our good friends back in 1987 in memory of my dad. A few years later I was handed the reins and have been directing it ever since.

You can enter the Memorial Monday through Friday of this coming week at Eddie’s Marine in Vidalia. I will take entries the morning of the tournament at the state park landing with a $10 late fee.

This event has a history of taking place on a weekend with bad weather. Bad weather is good for the fishing but hard on the contestants.

If the long range forecast holds up, we will have some great weather with a low in the mid 40s, a high in the mid to upper 60s and no rain.

Last weekend we fished Lake Bruin with Concordia Bass Club. There were several heavy weight limits caught.

It took 19 pounds to win and 17 pounds to make a check. The early bite was wild. I cut the key off and boated 5 bass weighing 17 pounds in 20 minutes. I packed those 17 pounds around for seven and half hours and only culled once. I placed third.

My brother, Robby Roberts of Vidalia used Elk River jigs to place second with five fish at 19.41 pounds.

William Hatton of Crowville, La. won with five at 19.98 pounds.

It was a good day. I expect it will take that much weight or more to win and place in the Memorial tournament. Good luck to all.

 

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