We’re less than a week away from the first ever Okhissa Lake open bass tournament. Okhissa Lake located in Franklin County is Mississippi’s newest and hottest bass and bream lake. The “Casting for Cash” Big Bass Challenge will start at 6 a.m. on April 26.

The tournament is limited to the first 150 boats. As of today we are a little over half way there. The first place winner will be happy person. The contestant that catches the single largest bass of the day will take home $5,500 for one bass.

We’ll pay out four places every two hours starting at 9 a.m. Fishing hours are from 6 a.m. until 3 p.m. First place during the bi-hourly weigh periods is $500, second $400, third $300, fourth $200.

Your single largest bass per period will go into the overall prize money with first place paying out $5,000, second $3,000, third $2,500, fourth $1200, fifth $800 and

I’ll pay down to 10 places. That’s a total of 26 cash awards. The tournament host is the Homochitto Heritage Club of Franklin County.

The entry fee is $100 per person. Due to the limited number of boats we ask everyone to please fish with a partner.

This event is made possible by way of a special use permit issued by the forest service.

Entry forms are available by calling 318-336-5133. I can e-mail, fax or mail entry forms. You can pay the fee at our place or mail it in.

If the event does not fill up we will take entries at the north landing near the dam on tournament morning.

Okhissa’s bass are spawning and the spawn will continue for at least the next 3 to 4 weeks if not longer.

Look for the big females to be shallow and a host of lures will catch the spawning fish.

Bottom lures like the Davis Paca Jig with a Zoom or NetBait trailer or anyone of the many creature style lures like NetBaits Action Cat or Zoom’s Brush Hawg are good bottom lures for Okhissa bass.

Just recently the water temperature warmed up enough to create a good top water bite.

Surface plugs like a Heddon Zara Spook or a Rebel Pop R will call up some big bass on Okhissa. Subsurface lures like the Bomber Long A or Smithwick’s Rouge are very good lure choices for the season as well.

The shoreline cover will get hammered. I look for this one to be won off a secondary point or from one of the several underwater ridges on Okhissa.

We’ll use both the north and south landings and the official weigh-in site will take place at the north landing.

Come join us for a fun filled day on Okhissa Lake April 26.

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