Several bass tournaments are set for January and February.

On Jan. 9 the Northeast Louisiana Bass Trail will hold a team event on Lake Bruin out of Shiloh’s Landing. This is an open tournament. Anyone can fish and you can pay the entry fee at the ramp on tournament morning. The fee is $70 per team and $10 each membership dues.

The lake is off limits to all contestants Thursday and Friday before the event. Based on 25 teams they will pay four places.

Lake Bruin is the best cold water bass lake in our area so the 25 boats should not be a problem.

On Jan. 11, the False River Bass Trail will castoff on the Black River/Horseshoe Lake Complex. The bites may be slow on the complex but the fish you catch will usually be big.

The FRBT will host 10 tournaments in 2009 plus a two day championship. Other stops the trail will make include False River, St. John, Concordia, Bruin, Indian Creek, Red River, Old River at Deer Park and the Old River at Bachelor, La.

On Feb. 7, the 23rd Annual J.R. Roberts Memorial will take place on Lake Bruin out of Shiloh’s Landing. For information on these events and other local and state wide bass tournaments visit www.fishingwitheddie.com or give me a call at 318-336-5133.

The first two weeks of December produced some good fish and offered promises of good things to come.

By the middle of the month heavy rains raised water levels by two to three feet and that’s when the bites began to get hard to come by. Surface water temperatures are perfect so that’s not the problem.

Right now water temps range anywhere from 50 degrees in the morning and warming to 57 degrees by midday. Water clarity is anywhere from muddy to stain to almost clear depending on the lake you were fishing.

This past week the water clarity began to clear up and the fish activity improved. The problem we had most of the month was heavy overcast skies. We’ve had very little sunshine and we need sunshine to make the fish active during the colder months.

Have great and safe New Year’s holiday.

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