The Stantons
Caught and released yesterday.
The lake level is 554.37 and has dropped 1-1/2 inches in the last 24-hours with one generator running continuously. They closed the spillway gates earlier this morning and the level has been stable since then. They also continue to drop the level of the White River at Newport and the discharge amount there also. It is now below 19-feet headed for 14-feet for some reason or another. We are very fortunate to have had about 1/2 the normal rainfall so far for March but it is to rain a bit tonight and tomorrow but the ground is not saturated and we can take some with no runoff. it is cloudy and in the 60's today. As reported earlier the male crappie are moving back into the creeks and are just outside their staging areas in about 16-feet of water. Bass are there too. check out Pigeon, Middle Pigeon and Briar creels. Cast a grub or jig tipped with a minnow ato the bank and let it sink as you retrieve. Please do not kill too many as these fish are needed badly for the spawn to be successful and if they are all caught off the banks it will be for many less fish next year. Big bass are being caught in the same areas in 20-ft of water in front of or near shallower brush piles. I caught some good ones yesterday. Tom Stanton is catching some pretty good stripers and hybrids trolling umbrellas near Cranfield but the 20+ pounders are pretty rare. There are just too many of hybrids and stripers being killed. Showing dock floors full of dead stripers is not impressive to me. They do not reproduce here and a finite number of them are stocked every year. Top water season is upon us and these fish can be released unharmed. I am seeing several schools of shad now but the school size is much smaller but they look to have enough numbers to provide adequate food for the predator fish. The lake is at a good level and fishing conditions are excellent so far this spring.
