Tom Kelly with a nice one caught and released last evening.
The lake level is 577.53 and has dropped 2-inches in the last 24-hours with intermittant generation. They have dropped the level of the White River at Newport and reduced the discharge there to try and hold the level of the area lakes as high as possible for as long as possible while reaching their goal of 14-feet there. They are at 14+ feet now and for absolutely no reason. Minor flood stage is 26-feet. They would really like to take it to 12-feet but the lakes are over 70% full. The lake surface temperature is in the mid 80's depending on where and what part of day. A lot of the debris that was blowing with the wind and water logged has stuck to the banks but there is still some out there and I do not recommend going out after dark for your own safety and damage to your boats. It is hard enough to see them in the day time. There is no good reason to be out there after dark anyway. Bink is catching stripers and bass on his spoon and Tom Kelly is catching bass on his split tail worm. I went out again for a few minutes and got a couple of crappie on the Bobby Garland 2-inch Blue Ice jig. Kids are catching bluegill and catfish off the dock on worms and crickets. I could see my lure down about 3-4 feet but have not been diving to give a real visibility report. You cannot do this until you are actually down there. I talked to Patton Trevor at Scuba Doo dive shop and he said there were walleye at 18-19 feet and he could see about 5-feet and spearfishing was just ok but people were getting fish. The lake in general is in good condition. Blackburns has the largest pool with slide, largest green playground with the most things to do for children, largest pavillion and all cabins have covered porches with no duplexes so you can social distance, most boat rentals and all at the best prices. You can still drive to the dock, park and step right on but our launching is gone. We have the best overall set up.
