Released under the dock by Tom Kelly. He is one good fisherman. 
The lake level is 558.03 and has dropped 3-inches in the last 24-hours with both generators running continuously. The water surface temperature is hanging in there stubbornly in the high 50's and the water is clearing. There is some top-water action early on sunny mornings just at sunrise part way back in the windblown creeks and there has not been a problem finding any wind. At least it has cut way back this morning after being incessant all day yesterday and cool. Use a Zara Spook for red meat fish and Spitin Image for bass. The top-water bite will get better if the water ever warms and should be an everyday occurance by about the 15th. Even though you might not see them on cloudy days they will be in the same places and you can call them up with the top-water lure. The striper fishermen, turned crappie fishermen should be able to catch some stripers now until they are all gone. The crappie are still both on the bank in the creeks and on brush in the creeks suspended in about 20-ft. of water. More are on the bank or staging just off the bank in 10-15 ft. of water. Bass are ready to spawn with some males making nests. Some walleye are on main lake points in 15-20-ft. of water and some are in the creeks on shadowy banks in the afternoon. Three inch creature and swim baits thrown to the shore and walking the bottom back to the boat are catching several fish, especially smallmouth bass which are the best bite. I use a 3/16th jig head and Bink uses a 1/4 ounce. You have to snag some wood to catch fish so bring plenty. Crankbaits are catching largemouth bass especially on windy days and we are having plenty of those. I do not know why crappie are on main lake brush in 20-23 ft. of water near the bottom but they are. Not high numbers but big ones and they are full of eggs. The walleye that I am catching are spawned out but still very fat. They sure did not have any problem finding food this winter with the shad kill and all fish are very healthy. The White River at Newport is still dropping and is now at 21.25 feet so they can keep generating if they want to. It will be interesting to see what they do after the 15th of this month when the rules change. I hope they keep going to give us more surge capacity but the lake is now at a good level and in good condition for fishing and boating. We just do not need a gully washer in Missouri. Blackburns was nearly full yesterday with people taking advantage of the best prices on both cabins and boat rentals in the area. The new roof on cabin #9, the only mobile home, is finished and now all buildings on the property have new steel roofs. Also all cabins have new laminate flooring. No more carpet or shingles for us here. The renovations on cabins #1,2,4 and #11 are completed and we are ready for your visit. The pool deck and basketball court are resurfaced and we are just about done painting the entire pool. Things look good here and we are ready for your visit. Also there will be no price increases this year and you can get a 1-bedroom cabin for $59/day with a covered porch and no duplexes. Are you tired of paying for your first boat stall yet? Your first regular sized stall is free here. Sorry, pontoon stalls are extra but we have eleven pontoons to rent. I have never seen more boats out there on the lake in April. People are really wanting to get out of the cities. I do not blame them. We found some morel mushrooms yesterday. The rain earlier brought them out. Before it was too dry.
