It looks like the Mississippi River is not through with the high water just yet. Over the past few days the river stage at Natchez was on a steady slow rise that may continue for another week. Today’s stage is 49.1 feet, 1.1 feet above the 48’ flood stage. If the forecast holds up we could see a fall coming down river May 30. It all depends on how much rainfall we get north of us. The forecast over the next few days shows the river going to 49.5 feet by Thursday before a crest followed by a slow fall.

One thing’s for sure, the fishing is getting better as the water continues to warm up. The bream and catfish are easy to catch on all the area landlocked lakes. On St. John you can find and catch some nice size bream bedding in the south flats on the Lee’s Landing side of the spilt. Try crickets around the shallow cypress trees with bulrush growing around them. There is plenty of this type cover in that area. On the extreme other end of Lake St. John you can catch the bream in the north flats. Just fish the shallow cypress and keep your bait near the bottom for larger fish. The catfishermen and ladies are well on yo-yo’s, limb lines and trout lines as well as rod and reel. Try live shiners and cold worms.

You can basically do the same thing on Lake Concordia. We made a short trip to Concordia this past Sunday casting for bass and the bream were everywhere. The lake level is way up and that’s a good thing. The fish have plenty of shallow cover to hold on and the bass are feeding on small shad early and small bream on up in the day. We fished three or four hours and caught one nice bass that weighed somewhere around 6 1/2 pounds as well as several 2 to 4 pound fish. Try flipping and pitching the shallow cypress trees on Concordia with creature style lures like NetBaits Action Cat or a Zoom Brush Hawg. Watermelon or green pumpkin lures are the best colors right now but that could change any day. Considering all the rain we had this week and last, the water clarity on Concordia and St. John is good. This is the first year our lakes have been full in late spring in a long time and the good fishing reflects that. The higher the water level the better the fishing will be on the landlocked lakes.

Turkey Creek is the place to go for big bass. Try spinner baits or buzz baits and cover a lot of water until you catch a few. When you find the bass put the spinner baits away and pick up a bottom lure like a NetBait Paca Craw or anyone of the many creature style lures. Try the upper half of Turkey Creek from Kings Landing and Jigger Point north. The bass on this lake tend to bunch up in one small area so if you catch one on Turkey Creek slow down. There will be more fish in the same area.

Have a great and safe Memorial Day weekend.