"Had to be one in there," Alford said. "Had to be."

Ah, yes -- the wonders of oxbow bass fishing.

But wait, you say: oxbows? Aren't we talking about lakes connected to the Mississippi River, like those most famous of the state's oxbows, Tunica Cutoff, Whittington, Ferguson, Chotard and Albermarle? Well, all of those are great lakes -- but they have some drawbacks.

In the spring, the quality of the game fishing at the oxbows connected to the Mississippi is dictated by fluctuations in water level. During May and even into June, when water from the spring thaw in the northeast and upper Midwest makes its way down the Big Muddy, conditions at connected oxbows are rarely consistent for more than a day or two -- surely not enough to offer bass anglers a sure bet. And that instability puts the spotlight on inland oxbows, even those that were never a part of the Mississippi River.

Little Eagle is one of the best, as are nearby Wolf and Bee lakes, all of which are just a short drive out of Yazoo City and within an hour or a bit more from the Jackson area.

If you try to figure out which river system gave us those three oxbows and a few others in that area, you might be surprised. It wasn't the Sunflower, Yazoo, Pearl or Big Black. Try the Ohio and Tennessee rivers. Believe it or not, solid geological evidence indicates that the Ohio/ Tennessee river system drained through Mississippi.

"That's true," acknowledged Ron Garavelli, chief of fisheries for the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks. "Research done on soil types and even on fossils turned up examples that are solely related to that river system."

Centuries have passed since then, but the changes wrought in that bygone epoch have combined to give modern-day fishermen a myriad of oxbow opportunities -- and spring, especially when it's dry, is one of the best times for taking advantage of what nature has provided.

"Give us a dry May and June and the oxbows will give you a great bass season," said Jackson bass angler J.B. Richards. "Too much rain is the only thing that can ruin those oxbows. Being in the Delta, all of them share most of the shoreline with agricultural ground. The run-off from those rains can ruin one of those lakes for a week or more; it can turn clear water into chocolate milk and leave it that way for a while.

"But when it is clear, in the spring, after the spawn, the fishing is outstanding. Let me give you this tip: Stock up on spinnerbaits. It is the lure of choice -- at least, it is for the bass. They want them."

Oxbow fishing is quite different from reservoir, pond or river fishing. Actually, Richards asserts, it's a combination of all three. "There is no current, like a lake and some reservoirs," he said. "But unlike lakes and reservoirs, there are no big flat areas with ditches and creeks, drops and ledges; in that respect, it's more like a river. You will have a shallow shelf along the bank that at some point will drop sharply -- like a river channel. Siltation has given each of the lakes their own personalities."

Little Eagle, which is off state Route 12 about 15 miles northeast of Yazoo City, is the most unusual. Over time, each end of this long oxbow, both banks of which are still tree-lined, has become more like a cypress swamp.