The Martin Brothers and Allan Lenius from Rockford, Illinois are having a lot of fun and catching a lot of fish. Always glad to see them. Missing one. 
The lake level is 566.72 and has risen 2-3/4 feet in the last 24-hours and is rising 1-inch/hour now with no generation since late last evening. We received a couple of inches of rain and it all run off with the ground already saturated. The creeks are still running today but with clear water. They have been scoured several times and there is no mud left. This quick rise has washed more debris off the bank and the effects are not clear yet but I can only report in Blackburns area which ranges from Cranfield to Robinson Islands. I seldom go or have a need to go farther. There are always differences in the extreme ends of the lake. What is not different is the water level. The White River at Newport is 24.75 feet and is near flood stage. Beaver Lake is over the top of the power pool and they have spillway gates open in a panic. This is causing Table Rock to rise rapidly and they also have spillway gates open. Guess what. That leaves Bull Shoals and Norfork to hold water. They have got themselves and us in a pickle again. It is a good thing dry weather is here for a few days or it would be an emergency. Maybe we will reach a high point for this round next week. There are no diminished services here at Blackburns. I do not recommend going out after dark or there will be trolling motor and big motor props mysteriously falling off and lower units damaged. People say, "my trolling motor prop just fell off". No it did not just fall off. It turns in the direction of tightening and does not loosen with out hitting something preventing the prop from turning. The prop stops but the drive shaft does not and the nut unscrews. This can also happen by accidently hitting the on button while the motor is laying in the mount. If you even suspect anything it is always better to check the nut. It is not quite the same with a big motor which has reverse. Mostly it is caused by hitting something but it can be because the prop was not properkly installed and the lock was not bent over in the slots and the operator shifts into reverse too rapidly and then revs the motor too fast spinning the nut backwards. In the cases of hitting something, it is better to have an aluminum prop instead of a stainless steel one and you have a better chance of not breaking the lower unit. A little bit of speed is not as important to me as a lower unit replacement. Anyway not going out after dark will eliminate most of these problems. Blackburns does not allow rental boats out after dark for this reason. Nothing good happens. Sunny warm weather is on the way and we will see what that brings. Fishing is still good and has not been affected but campgrounds, parking and launching, and day use areas has and the level is not going to get any lower anytime soon. All of the beaches are gone or will be gone and we will have to swim off a boat or in Blackburns Big Pool with slide. All area lakes are affected and we are in early May. Surface water temperature was 64 yesterday evening.
