Caught this morning. More too.We are releasing most fish except for the catfish.
The lake level is 569.97 and has dropped 3-inches in the last 24-hours with one generator running continuously and four spillway gates open 1-ft. The lake is clearing nicely and is a perfect color in Blackburns area and too clear near the dam for fishing. Most of the fish are still in the brush near the old shoreline and have plenty of cover. The threadfin shad have spawned and the fish have plenty of feed too. Shad are flitting around everywhere. Walleye, crappie, bass and red meat fish are all in the same places. The bluegill moved in under the dock and the catfish started biting immediately. They always do that. The top-water bite is in full swing now so get out early. The 3-inch plastic worm is working best when they are down and the clear spook and spitin image when they are surfacing. The Smallmouth bass bite is really picking up. Some crappie have spawned, some are spawning and some are on the beds. Some spawned out females are very big. I have not seen any fry yet but they should show up soon. Carp are spawning in the very backs of the creeks and it is a good time to bowhunt them. I am not finding any bass that have spawned yet but they are close but the water temperature has dropped to 62-63 and will cool off more with this long lasting cold front moving in and lows are to be in the low 30's and highs in low to high 50's.. We are to get some rain the next couple of days and it is thundering now. This is a typical spring for fishing but has been just a bit slower warming up. The lake is a little high for some boat access but has not affected fishing much except the fish are harder to get out of the cover. Overall the lake is in excellent condition and we are catching fish everyday.
