During these last days of spring the largemouth bass will be very active.

With water temperatures in the mid to upper 70s expect the bass to be feeding heavily on threadfin shad on the area landlocked lakes.

Try surface lures for the bass early and late. On cloudy days the bass will look toward the surface for a meal all day. Buzz baits, poppers, walking lures, frog style lures and chuggers all have their time and place.

The more you use one particular type surface lure the better you will get with that lure.

A bass tournament held on Lake St. John earlier this month was won on a buzz bait fished fast across the surface.

The winning 5 bass limit weighed over 19 pounds. Other heavy weight limits were caught on crankbaits.

The local favorite is a Bandit. Bandits come in several series with the 100 covering the shallows, the 200 series will get down to about ten feet on light line and the 300 series Bandit will dive to about 14 feet.

The crankbait bite is good on Lake Concordia as well. Just crank the ends of the piers, the ladders and the deeper cypress trees. Rig a 100 series on one rod and reel and a 200 series on another and you can cover the water column down to about ten feet.

Shad patterns work best this time of year. The shad spawned in late April and early May. The bait fish are now about 2.5 inches long, the same length as a Bandit crankbait.

In another month or so you will need to use a bit larger lure like a Bomber 6A or 7A crankbait. It’s real important to match the size of the shad. Once the bass start keying in on a particular size forage that is all they want.

I’ve had bass busting the surface all around the boat this month and they refused to hit anything but a lure that was almost an exact replica of the bait fish.

The Mississippi River forecast predicts a crest date of May 25 at 54 feet. That’s only 4 feet away from the highest recorded level of 58 feet in 1937.

If they receive any more rain up north we could very well see a record flood level this year.

Some people are still catching some big bream and nice size bass in the backwaters. The bream are holding on along the flooded gravel roads leading to the launch ramps and camps near the Old Rivers at Vidalia and Deer Park.

Locate a gravel road with 3 to 5 feet of water on it and you’ll find the bream. The bass are scattered in the flooded woods. To narrow your search target the flooded banks of the barrow pits.

The duck seed has bloomed so take along some surface lures that will scoot over the thick duck seed.

Our lakes will be busy this holiday weekend so please wear your life jacket, practice safe boating and have a great safe Memorial Day weekend.

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