The Ellner family from Elcho, Wisconsin had a good time here and are very nice people. 
The lake level is 553.98 and has risen 1.2 inches in the last 24-hours with just a little generation. The surface water temperature was 49-degrees yesterday afternoon and it was a nice day with temperatures in the 50's and light wind. The water is still stained in both the creeks and the main lake but a good color for fishing. We have reached our high for today and the temperatures are dropping and weather of some kind or other is to hit this afternoon followed by a cold front and very cold temperatures for the next three days. I called our customers that were scheduled to come in told them to wait. Single diget wind chill will just not work. It costs more to heat and clean the cabins than we charge plus it is not fun fishing with ice in the rod eyelets and your drag frozen. This should go away by sunday but another one is coming. Fishing was pretty good yesterday for bass and crappie but that is all that I am fishing for. Others are fishing temperate bass in deep water. There are more guides out there chasing a very few customers than I have ever seen in the past. They are hunting down and killing off-season stripers and not even getting paid for it. It will take a big marketing effort to convince people that a lake that used to produce 30-40 lb. stripers are now producing 7-8 pound ones that these are big fish. You would think quitting killing them and not fishing for therm in deep water when they are out with no customers would be wise and they would let them grow but it is like one is trying to out advertise the next one. We get a few new ones and lose a few every year but have more fishing experts than ever and they are attaining this level in record time. Leave the fish for the paying customers who pay out of state licenses. The cold weather will drop the surface water temperature some but not drastically when we reach this time of year and this temperature. We had ice in the creeks out to the main lake with a shad kill last year and this is much better. It is dangerous to go into the spring at this water level but maybe it will work out but I am not counting on it. Many people that come here camping are getting tired of the high water all summer and going elsewhere and that is a shame since they really like it here and do not want to go. We have several very nice campsites and swim beaches but they are no good 10-ft. under water. I am still catching some nice crappie, bass and bluegill everydaty and the evening bite is the best. Striper fishermen are catching several fish now but that usually slows with the cold weather and they move to between the bridges next to the old river channel and get lethargic. This mostly happens in January but has not yet and they are feeding getting ready for it. There are more bass in open water on shad than normal and fewer on their winter banks which are south facing with the predominate north wind. There are some there though and they move shallow in the evening from cover in 20-25 ft. during the day. Some crappie are in open water but some are on brush at about 25-ft. of water. Some big ones are mixed in eith the 11-inchers. White Bass fishing is getting better and Hybrid stripers are about normal. The high water does not affect them much. I am not looking forward to this cold weather.
