Lack of rain continues hold the landlocked lakes at extremely low water levels. Some lakes are still producing some nice bass and perch and others are not.

The Mississippi River is lower than usual for the season as well. Normally by mid-November the river would be on a rise but not this dry year. The river stage today at Natchez is 21.3 feet. That is up a bit from last weekend’s level of 19 feet but still several lower than normal.

I just drove by the ramp on the Old River at Vidalia. There were a dozen or so bass boats on the Old River and a couple of sac-a-lait fishermen. If the Old River produces anything like it did last weekend they are catching fish.

Several five-bass tournament limits exceeding 20 pounds came from Old River Vidalia last Saturday. As long as the river stays below 25 feet the good bass fishing will continue on that side of the levee. The fish are shallow, holding near the dead willow stumps and logs.

Spinner baits like Old River Lure Companies Mr. Hooty, Bandit 100 series crankbaits, lightweight jigs and variety of soft plastics will catch the shallow fish.

The bass on the Old Rivers tend to be more aggressive than the educated fish on the landlocked lakes. As the water continues to cool down, the landlocked lakes like Concordia, St. John and Lake Bruin will began to produce more and larger fish. The average surface water temp right now is about 62 degrees by mid-day.

We need a couple more cold fronts to push the water temperature down to at or below 58, and then we’ll start seeing more and larger bass and perch. The surface bite for largemouth bass sure went south over the past week or so.

For whatever reason, the bass just won’t look toward the surface to feed when water temperatures drop to the low 60s. If we have a couple warm day you may catch a few fish using surface lures but for the most part it’s best to stick with sub surface and bottom lures from now until the water warms back up this coming spring.

Some of the articles I read say it’s because the colder water slows the metabolism of the fish down but if that’s true why will they hit a fast running sub surface lure like a Rat-L-Trap on a fast retrieve. The bass are the only ones that know the answer to that and they’re not talking.

As this month winds down and we move into December, despite the extremely low water, Lake Concordia should start producing some nice bass. Unlike Lake Bruin where many lake residents sink brush piles around their piers to attract fish there are not many piers with brush on Concordia but the few that do have brush hold fish.

Lake Bruin is on an intentional fall drawdown. They opened the locks on Ruth’s canal and let about four feet of water out of the lake. That’s a good thing to do in the fall. The fish will bunch up around the deeper piers and ledges.

The drawdown gives lake residents an opportunity to work on seawalls and boat ramps. They will close the locks on Lake Bruin by January first. The only way Lake Concordia will gain any water is rain water and putting the boards back on the weir.

As of today, the boards on top of the weir are still missing.