Scuba Steve got some pretty good ones yesterday evening on Blackburns new brush piles. 
The lake level is 555.26 and has dropped about 1/2 inch in the last 24-hours with 1-1/2 generators running about 5-hours. We did receive 0.3 inches of rain here at Blackburns last night. The White River at Newport is now at 5.76 ft. and is almost a foot lower than at this time yesterday and again is about to dry up. The wade fishermen can fish the river as long as they do not go in the afternoon. The spigot has almost been turned off since the Southwest Power Company has taken over the generation schedule and they are doing a great job of holding the area lakes up as high as they can for as long as they can. They must not need any power in the distribution area. We have little or no surge capacity. The lake remains in good condition with a thermocline at about 30-feet and the water pretty clear down to there and beyond. The mud line is mostly gone away and scuba conditions are about as good as it gets for this time of year. It has not been this good fo a long time. The crappie have moved to Blackburns Brush piles and are on about every main lake point in 27-35 ft brush. They are liking 27-ft. for some reason, just above the cold water. Small spoons and jigs are working the best but live minnows on a slip float are not far behind. Walleye are in the same place about 4-ft. off the bottom but some bigger ones are a little deeper in the cold water. Over 1/2 of the ones being caught now are undersized. Kentucky Bass are all over the place and are with the crappie. I have not seen much top-water action lately but it can happen any time so have a pole ready for them. If not just cast the spoon right at them and hop it back keeping it from sinking too fast. Fall fishing has started early this year and should do nothing but get better until the lake turnover sometime in October. It will not stop the bite but will just scatter the fish and make it a little harder to find them. That is why brush piles are so important. The bait fish want cover and the predator fish want food so there you go. I do not have to go very far to get all the fish I want, but all I want are crappie, walleye, Kentucky Bass, bluegill and catfish. You can keep the temperate bass but they are fun to catch. Especially when the water cools and they come up shallow and you do not fish for them deep and kill everyone you catch because of stress. You have to be a meat hunter to catch them now. If you want to take advantage of the $59/day 1-bedroom cabins better call soon.at 870-492-5115. Some weeks are filled already and it looks to be a busy fall. We do not want you to have to pay too much elsewhere if you do not have too. Especially our repeat customers. They are why we keep our rates so low. We are sure getting a lot of welcome Veterans and Police and we like that. Crappie fishing is very good for this time of year and big ones too.
