Scuba Steve with the fish of the day.
The lake level is 553.41 and has dropped just over 1/2 inch with 3/4 of a generator running for 8-hours starting at 2-PM. The White River at Newport is 4.33 feet and is very low indicating not much water is being let out. The top of the power pool has dropped to 553.75 ft. so they should try to keep it below that. It has been very dry with no rain for over a month now with not much chance untl next Wednesday. There was a significant change in the fall foliage when I went out yesterday afternoon. It was sunny with a brisk northwest wind and a beautiful day with an ambient temperature of about 80-degrees. The leaves are changing daily with significant color showing up on the hillsides but not very brilliant. Light browns. medium browns, brownish orange and brownish yellow. I thing you got the message. I have a maple tree and a burning bush at the resort that are usually brilliant but are just turning brown and dropping leaves in the wind with very little color. Most of the color is caused by stress from lack of moisture. We could use a couple of inches of slow rain with light winds badly. According to the Almanac we usually have a 50% chance of first frost by October 25th and an 80% by November 6th. It has been nowhere near that yet and the gardens are really growing now if they are watered. Especially green beans and tomatoes. I will keep you current on the fall foliage. I saw several schools of shad near the mouth of Blackburns Creek with some fish on them suspended at 40-ft. but was in no mood to chase open water fish around in the wind and went to a close brush pile and found fish in 25-ft. of brush. The visibility had cleared just a bit near the surface but was bad just a few feet down and did not improve as I went deeper to 36-feet. The crappie were schooled and back on top of the brush and the Bluegill were with them. I saw several nice Kentucky bass and got some nice crappie. I will pole fish for a few days until the water clears more.The overall fishing is not the best but some fish are being caught. The fish that were near the shore on the drop-off were gone but more were right on and in the brush. 20-ft. is a good place to start. More fish are on the main lake near deep water than in the creeks. The surface water temperature was just over 76-degrees. A lot of people are taking advantage of Blackburn's low prices and the nice weather and business is good. We are still the home of the $59/day one bedroom cabin that comes with a free stall for your boat. All cabins are individual with big covered porches and no duplexes. Why pay more unless you just have too much money? If you do just stay at Blackburns and give the difference to disabled Veterans. We welcome Veterans and Police here and yes we do fly the flag. Give Debbie a call at 870-492-5115.
