As hunting season winds down more sportsmen will take to the water searching for fish. January is great month to catch bass, crappie and striped bass.

Unlike fishermen in the northern states that contend with frozen lakes and fishing seasons, our winters are mild and fishing is allowed year round. I can’t comprehend a “fishing season.” They would have to lock me up.

The average surface water temperature this week is 55 degrees. That’s cold enough for some fish to be deep yet warm enough to find fish in shallow water.

Over the past week, the shallow water activity peaked during the early morning hours. By mid-morning, the shallow bite was tough. So if you’re catching fish early and they shut down, just move off the bank and try deeper water.

On lakes like Bruin, Concordia and St. John, where there are no major creek channels and very few sharp changes in depth, concentrate your deep-water efforts on man-made brush piles. You can sink your own cover or use sonar to locate existing cover. On lakes close to home, I’d rather sink my own cover, but it’s not feasible on lakes an hour away.

Just after Christmas, many people gather up discarded Christmas trees and sink them for fish cover. It takes a lot of weight to sink a bundle of dried out trees. It’s a lot easier to tie the trees off and let them soak up water for a few days. A single cinder block will hold down several trees if you let them soak for a few days.

The bass tournaments will cast off this month. Concordia Bass Club will start the New Year on Lake Bruin out of Shiloh’s Landing on Jan. 20. This would be a great time to join the club, or you can fish as a guest. The 21st Annual J.R. Roberts Memorial Team Bass challenge will be the first of the open tournaments for this year.

The entry fee is $100 per team with an optional $20 big bass division.

Based on 100 teams, the first place winners in the stringer division will take home $4000. A total of ten places will be paid in that division and three places in the Big Bass Division. The contestant that lands the single largest bass of the day will win $1000. For more information on these two events and others, along with local lake information, visit my Web site at www.fishingwitheddie.com.

Eddie Roberts writes a weekly fishing column for The Natchez Democrat. He can be reached by e-mail at fishingwitheddie@highstream.net.