That's true, according to historians and geologists, who base their findings on fossils and shells of species native only to the Ohio River that have been found in lakes like Bee, Little Eagle and Wolf -- all inland oxbows north of Yazoo City.

"I don't care so much about their origin or their history," Ford said. "All I'm here to tell you is that all of them are great bass fishing lakes. I love them, even though they are entirely different from the connected oxbows.

"Like I said, the big difference is that they have a stable water level, but they also have totally different cover. Instead of willows they have cypress, and they have piers and boat houses that are good."

In the spring Ford looks for bass relating mostly to the banks because of the spawn. Owing to stable water levels, bass spawn on the bottom. "When April arrives, bass will be spawning and that means they will be between 6 inches to 2 feet," he said in describing the depth the largemouths use. "But forget about sight-fishing -- too stained."

Agricultural fields surround all inland oxbows, and thanks to spring run-off, the lakes stay muddy throughout the season. Even in 2007's spring drought, only a few were clear enough for sight-fishing.

"All I know is that if you throw a lizard in the shallows, and throw it enough to drag it through enough bottom, eventually you are going to put it in front of a lot of bass," Ford stated. "My feeling is that if you put a lizard in front of a bass, especially one on a bed, it's going to hit it.

"As the month progresses, the bass, especially the big sows, move off the beds and head for shallow cover to feed."

Three basic patterns are used for fishing these lakes in the spring. The first is targeting the cypress trees, followed by piers. The other is to cast to the banks. Whichever one of these is the hot pattern, that's where all of the fish are going to be.