Just three or four days of sunshine are all we need to turn the crappie and bass on.

Surface water temps have flip-flopped from 55 to 60 degrees for weeks. When we get a few days of sunshine in a row, the fish will make a major move to shallow water to spawn and feed. Watch water temperatures closely. When the water temps top 60 degrees the fish will be active.

In mid-February we had a week of spring-like weather, and there were some big bass and crappie caught. Then the March cold fronts accompanied by high winds blasted through the area, lowering water temps and slowing fish activity down.

Some fish stayed shallow and somewhat active behind the cold front, but most backed off from spawning areas. Of course there are fish in shallow water all the time, but they can be hard to catch behind a cold front. The fish holding in deeper water receive less pressure from other fishermen and are easier to catch.

Lake St. John produced some big bass this week. Try Rat-L-Traps, spinnerbaits and creature-style lures like the brush-hawg and jigs with a pork or plastic trailer.

Crankbaits like the Bandit 200 series and Bomber 6 and 7A’s will catch fish on St. John. The Bomber is a better choice if the water is still below 62 degrees. This crankbait has a wider wobble and slower action.

As the water warms up, switch to tighter action lures like the Bandit and Bagley crankbaits.

Before the cold front, some big slab crappie showed up in real shallow water. You may not catch many crappie, but you don’t need many when they’re that big. Try black/chartreuse tube jigs and small shiners around the shallow cypress trees and bulrush.

Lake Concordia’s bass are alive well. Just after the record catches last month the lake was invaded by anglers all over. As soon as everyone arrived, cold fronts pushed through and the big sow bass left the spawning flats.

Maybe that cold front was a blessing in disguise. By today, the water temps should be climbing. If it hits 60 degrees, the big sows will be shallow again.

Turkey Creek near Wisner, La., gets a lot of attention. The &8220;Creek&8221; is loaded with big bass and huge slab crappie. The only problem you’ll find here is trying to locate the fish among hundreds of flooded cypress trees.

The whole lake looks good but the fish aren’t everywhere. The big crappie tend to spawn on lay-downs, so be sure to fish leaning logs in about five feet of water.

Shiners will work but a good jig fisherman will catch just as many crappie as the shiner fisherman. Try brown and orange hair or tube jigs. The best size is 1/32 ounce if you can find one with a big hook. You’ll need the big hook to catch the slab crappie.

The bass have small choice areas that like to be in. You can fish the upper end of Turkey Creek for hours and not catch a thing, then find one good cypress tree and boat a quick limit.

So if you catch one bass on Turkey Creek slow down and fish the area more. Spinnerbaits are the best lures to use for this. Keep the spinner near the surface and the trolling motor on. Pop a few on a spinnerbait, slow down and pitch jigs and soft plastics.

During this next warming trend, the spawn will be on full force. Please practice catch and release. Keep only what you need and release the rest.

Eddie Roberts writes a weekly fishing column for The Natchez Democrat. Reach him at

eddie@fishingwitheddie.com

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