Caught Scuba Diving on Blackburns brush piles yesterday. 
The lake level is 554.51 and has dropped 1-1/2 inches in the last 24-hours with 1-1/3rd generator running for about 7-hours. They shut down last evening and it is still down. The White River at Newport is at 6+ feet and about ready to dry up. They use what ever rules of management that fits them at the time. When it gets high they always say it is from excess rainfall and that is what the lakes are for to hold water. I maintain they are for flood control and there is a big difference. They are missing a good chance to drop the lake to the high 540's and try and keep it there rather than keepeng it one big rain away from being flooded. The surface water temperature was still 80.7 when I went out yesterday afternoon and is just under 80 this morning with the cool night of 45 for a low. It is to warm up nicely as the week progresses and get well into the 80's by weekend. Blackburns pool is still open. It was very windy with white caps and hard to fish all afternoon and was slow to lay down, variable and swirling. Usually I move into creeks to get out of it but there just do not seem to be very many fish back in the creeks. I do not like fishing on windy days but that does not mean they are bad for fishing. I fish for enjoyment and it is not enjoyable for me to fight the wind. Blackburns has two groups of divers in and they are having a good time spear fishing. They report the thermocline is 32-feet and the visibility is 4-6 feet on the lake side of main lake points. They are fishing mostly for crappie and are doing well and say the conditions are much better than this time last year. They are also seeing many bass, bluegill and walleye. I tried walleye fishing and caught one but had a hard time staying on the brush and keeping my spoon straight up and down. It was in 36-ft. of water suspended about 4-ft. up from the bottom on a main lake point. I pride myself in not losing lures in the brush but when I lost my favorite one I switched to a Bobby Garland jig. It is difficult to spoon in the wind unless you are in open water on shad with no snags and you can let your spoon go a little sideways without snagging. I caught three crappie a couple of bluegill and a Kentucky Bass and came in. Conditions are much better this morning and I bet the walleye will be biting. We will see. Blackburns is full again starting tomorrow but have a couple of openings starting Sunday. Come on down we will not charge you too much. A one bedroom cabin is $59/day for two people and comes with a free regular sized boat stall. We do charge for pontoons and boats with towers because we have a dozen pontoons to rent and do not have space for people bringing their own unless we pull one of ours out. I did see a jet ski out there so it is not cold enought yet. It is like when you see a motor home pulling a car. The gas prices are not high enough yet but they are up over a dollar a gallon from this time last year. I liked it when we were energy independent. It is like having money in the bank and not being able to use it. The fuel has to come from somewhere.
