Scuba Steve with the fish of the day.
The lake level is 554.19 and has dropped 1-inch in the last 24-hours with 3/4 of a generator running about 1/2 the time starting at noon. The White River at Newport is 4.65 feet and is very low indicating not much water is being released anywhere. The surface water tmeperature is 79 degrees and dropping slowly but steadily with the cooler overnight lows. The visibility is getting a little better on the main lake and stained in the creeks but more clear near the shore. The weather is to stay nice for the rest of this week and going into the weekend. A perfect time for an early fall visit. We sure could use some rain but not what they are going to get in Florida. Scuba conditions are about as good as they get here on Norfork and the crappie and bluegill are everywhere but the larger walleye have mostly gone into a little deeper water than I want to go. They are in the cold water for some reason under the thermocline and are not usually there. I can catch them on the spoon but not a lot. Most are short. If you want Kentucky Bass and crappie use a small spoon on the main lake brush. They shoul stay put there now that the water has cooled a bit and is going to cool more steadily. The nightime lows are to get near 50 later this week. The creeks cool faster and they will stay in the warmer water with the bait fish. We have some trollers dragging everything they can tie to and are still having trouble catching stripers. I am not fishing for them and do not know where they are. At least I have seen no signs of a striper kill this year and am out there everyday. They could make a comeback if people would stop killing so many of the small ones but that is all some can catch so they keep doing what they know how to do. We are now just an average striper lake where we used to have a lot of big ones. It will not be long before the larger black bass start showing up. It has been a long hot summer but I am not looking forward to winter but catch a lot of fish when it gets cold. Thanksgiving time is excellent for catching big Norfork Lake crappie. Blackburns is the home of the $59/day 1-bedroom cabins that come with a free boat stall. Call Debbie at 870-492-5115. We will not charge you too much.
