The lake level is 554.31 and has risen 1-inch in the last 24-hours. They quit generating at 6:PM last evening and just started again today. The White River at Newport is at 22.46 feet and they are doing all they can to drop the lake or keep it from rising more at this time. We will see what happens when we get back to the power pool at 553.75. Southwest Power does not have a good track record. Several things changed when I went out fishing yesterday. First the shallower water next to the bank is warming up faster in the warm sunshine and longer days than the deep main lake water and was 48 on the main lake and over 49 near the bank. It will keep rising with the warm weather scheduled for this full week until chances of strorms on sunday. Second the main lake clarity was reduced and much more stained a greenish color. It started to do this sunday and was much more pronounced monday afternoon. It may have to do with the heavy generation and the condition of the water coming downstream. Third, all of the fish that I caught were shallow. The crappie were still in 25-ft. brush but only about 5-7 feet down instead of on the bottom and the bass were inside the brush near the shore in about 10-12 feet of water and were biting best just after sundown on shadowy banks. Nothing was biting very well and fishing was at the best just fair and I had trouble catching my limit of five crappie and only one of them was over 11-inches. The shallow fish are spooky so stay away from right on top of the brush and use your trolling motor sparingly and cast past the brush and let the jig drop into it. The bass were mostly Kentuckies and also not very big. Stay as far away from the bank as you can cast with your boat. The wind was very light but still coming from the north last night at dark but will switch to the south today. This is a good way to bring in march and I hope it keeps up. Take a jacket if you are going out in the warm weather as the temperature drops very quickly at sundown. This is definitely a transition period with the surface water temperature approaching 50. I saw some shad coming up but not a lot. Blackburns still has the best prices in the Ozarks and are not raising them again this year and your first boat stall is free. We have no duplexes and all cabins are individual with big covered porches. We especially welcome Veterans and Police. Gas prices are going up at the rate of about 10 cents a week and the money you save by staying here will help offset other price increases on about everything. We are trying to fight this inflation but seem to be nearly alone. Gas is rising, water and electric are rising, trash pick-up, tires, batteries, bait and every bill that I am getting is rising. Beer prices are rising and that is the last straw. When will it stop, I do not know but where it will stop is here. I decide that. The Black bass exploitation study conducted by Game and Fish has reported some results. Of the 1,655 bass tagged in 2020 45% of them have been caught and reported to them for the reward. I have caught three of them and released them all and donated the reward back to them. That seems like a lot to me and shows how important catch and release is. Many bass fishermen practice catch and release many striper fishermen do not. People just keep killing those small stripers and they do not reproduce like bass. We will all pay for their meat hunting as far as stripers are concerned if we care about them. I do. They do not dress out very well anyway. Release them and do not fish for them in deep water unless you just do not care and need meat. That will help a lot.
