It was a long time coming but the Mississippi River had finally dropped to level that will allow us access to the boat ramps on the Old Rivers. JJ’s Landing on Marango was open this weekend and the public ramp north of JJ’s was in fair shape.

Minorca Landing was closed but it should be open by this coming weekend.

The public landing at Deer Park is in bad shape but hopefully it will be cleaned up soon.

Deer Park Landing is in fair shape but we do need some rain to wash all the river silt from the parking lot.

Even with the river level still a bit on the high side the bream and bass fishing is great on the Old Rivers.

The river stage today at Natchez is 37.8 feet. At this level you can locate and catch the bream between the old dead willow trees and the still flooded green willows.

Try fishing crickets right off the bottom anywhere from 5 to 10 feet deep.

The larger bream tend to hold deeper and below the smaller fish.

The bass are bunched up near the mouth of the drains and ditches and on the points as well as the bluff banks.

With the river falling this fast, expect to find the bass holding near quick access to deep water. Big deep diving crankbaits cast across the points and near the mouth of the drains will catch the largemouth bass.

The white bass are not that good to eat but they are fun to catch. Try bright colored crankbaits and tail spinners the white bass on the Old Rivers.

It looks like the fall will continue for at least the next ten days. The forecast predicts a level of 34.5 feet by Thursday of the coming week.

The 4th Annual Bayou Cocodrie Refuge Association will cast off Saturday evening Aug. 2 on Lake St. John.

This event will help fund the annual youth hunt on the refuge. The entry fee is $120 per team and you can enter at the Spokane Landing on tournament day. Casting time is 7 p.m. till 2 a.m.

You can pick entry forms at Eddie’s Marine & Tackle, Nikki’s Restaurant or the Sports Center in Natchez.

The fishing should be good on St. John. We’re just coming off a full moon and the fishing is better when fishing during a new moon.

Many people think just the opposite but my past experiences when fishing at night on this lake are that it’s better on a dark night.

Try the lighted piers with dark colored shallow diving crankbaits and jerk worms like the Slide-n-Shad fished weightless.

Spinnerbaits fished along the walkways leading out to the piers and around the seawalls will catch bass at night on Lake St. John.

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