This week kicked off really warm but ended a bit cool. It did feel a lot like spring. Mother Nature is teasing us again.

Water temperatures were on a steady rise.

Everyone had high hopes that the bass and crappie spawn would be wide open by now but it is not. The fish were just starting to make the move toward thin water to spawn.

Then it happened. On Thursday a minor cold front pushed through the Miss-Lou just in time to mess the weekend up.

The weather was pretty and it was good weekend to be outdoors, on the water, but pretty weather is not the best time to catch fish.

In fact, the brighter the sky the tougher the fishing will be.

The little bit of rain Wednesday night was very welcomed. Our lake levels are too low for a good spawn.

To have a good bass and perch spawn we need more rain and we need it within the next week or so. The higher water levels offer the game fish more places to spread out and spawn.

You can still catch fish today — 2 days behind a cold front but it won’t be easy.

The bright blue sky and high barometric pressure made it tough for most people who fished the local public waters the last couple of days.

If you’re planning a fishing trip this afternoon, the fish should be a lot more active. Any day now the big female bass will began to show up in the shallow spawning areas on all of our waters.

There are some fish cruising the shallows right now but that first major wave of spawning fish has yet to show up on some lakes.

Keep in mind that smaller waters warm up faster than the larger lakes.

That explains all the good reports I’m hearing from smaller waters. The private lakes, ponds and barrow pits are the best place to fish right now simply because the water is warmer.

Reports from the larger public waters are good and not so good.

One thing that happens this time of year that makes the bite tough is the bass are not sitting still and holding tight to visible cover which would make the fish easy to locate and catch by pitching and flipping bottom lures. If the jig and soft plastic bite is slow pick up a Strike King Red Eye Shad, a Rat-L-Trap or anyone of the many lipless crank baits.

When the fish are not holding still and tight to cover, the lipless crank bait will catch fish from open water and allow you to cover a lot of water. Just fan cast the Trap or Red Eye Shad in open water anywhere from 3 to 6 feet deep.

You can’t go wrong with bream and shad pattern lures. Once the fish settle down and move into the cover then the bottom lures will rule.

We are entering a major transition period so what works today may not work tomorrow. If the fishing is tough one day, it could be great the next.

It won’t be long before the cold fronts will be fewer and less intense.

The bass and crappie spawn will be wide open within the next week or so.

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