The lake level is 552.44 and has dropped 1.2 inches in the last 24-hours with just a little generation. The White River at Newport is now at 11+ feet and they are doing nothing to drop the area lakes for the winter. It is a good thing we have been dry. I did not go fish yesterday but we went out and put in a couple of trees for fish cover. It was sunny but was windy and cold with white caps and ambient temperatures struggling to reach 30-degrees. The north wind was just miserable. We put in two trees and came in. They are in good places though where I knew fish hung out while scuba diving. We only put them in fishy places and do not try to lure them to a new location. That seldom works. Some people install PVC pipe instead of trees for fish attractors and I tried that several years ago. It just did not work. I would see them when I was diving and seldom ever saw a fish on or around them. I might have saw a couple of catfish in all of the times I went by them. This is for sure, fresh cedar trees hold the most fish especially right on drop-offs. When the Corps of Engineers used to put in cover many years ago they would sometimes put in large hardwoods and sycamores with green leaves. They worked for a few weeks and then the fish left them for some reason. I always suspected it had someting to do with the the decaying leaves after they fell off the branches but I am a chemical engineer not a veterinarian. The surface water temperature was just under 46 degrees and the water looked the same as the day before. I saw no other boats out there and we were out for a minimal time. Today looks to be better but I do not like the looks of the weather coming in about Wednesday night next week. The last ice storn is still clearly in my mind and I do not want to go through anymore of them even though I am better prepared for one now. February starts tuesday and we are headed in the right direction. Looks to be a pretty good weekend and early next week for fishing. Bass are finally moving to their winter banks. Try the green 3-inch stingray grub on a 3/16th ounce jug head on the bottom. Put your boat in deep water just past a sharp drop-off and cast to the shore. Let it sink as fast as it can take line but do not drag it on the bottom. Use your rod and watch for twitches in the line and set the hook. It is harder on windy days and best with light or still wind so try and get out of it the best you can. It is a good change from spooning but I use both. At Blackburns there are no price increases this year, all cabins are individual with no duplexes, all have big covered porches and your first boat stall is free. Come on dwon. We will not charge you too much and will help put you on fish and have good brush piles for our customers.
