Caught on the Bink's Spoon yestersay.
The lake level is 551.90 and has dropped 1/2 inch in the last 24-hours with six hours of running one generator starting in the morning and then a couple of more in the evening. The White River at Newport is 3.7 feet and still very low. The lake is 1.85 feet below the top of the power pool. The surface water temperature is just under 60-degrees this morning and the water is stained very green in both the main lake and in the creeks. You can see your lure down about 2-3 feet in the sunshine. The lake sure has changed since the dam at Dawt was washed out in the flood. More fish are going further up river and more moss and algae are growing on everything. When the Norfork River Basin in Missouri gets a big rain there is nothing to stop or slow down stuff from coming down into Arkansas. The weather has been beautiful the last few days but it is to rain tonight and tomorrow but not a lot. We can use it. The rains that we have been getting come fast and hard and always wash out the road to the dock. It is technically a county road but they do not maintain it and it is up to me. They come up with a rule that if nobody lives on a county road they will not take care of it anymore but they do not hestitate charging me taxes on my dock which is on a Federal Lake and not on county property. They also raised these dramatically this year. I also pay a hefty annual lease on the dock and parking. Government, you gotta love em. I now have equipment to keep the road in good condition for my customers but also have to budget for gravel. There are no culverts to keep the road from washing. There are only two private docks on the road but it does not keep locals from using it regularly even though I built and maintain the launch. They were going to close and block it off when I got here. They sure know their rights but do not help in the maintainance. I have no choice but to do it for my customers. Otherwise they would not be happy and should not be. No ruts in the road here at Blackburns. It is not a super highway but is in pretty good shape. A road grader would be nice but the county will not let me use theirs. I caught a few crappie yesterday on a brush pile in 17-feet of water and one was a giant. The weather was perfect and made life almost woth living. I talked to another fisherman yesterday afternoon and he caught some White Bass and small Hybrids just at the end of Cow Point where it drops off in about 40-ft. of water. A lot of shad are in the 40-ft. range in the afternoon suspended. Drop the 1/2 ounce spoon right on their heads. I am using a 2-inch grub tipped with a minnow and a 2-inch Bobby Garland Blue Ice Baby Shad in Brush during the day and the same near the shore just around the inside of main lake points at sunset until dark.Set you boat as far from the shore as you can cast and let it sink to the bottom and work the jig back to the boat. Bass and crappie are in the same place with the bass a little deeper. Come on down to Blackburns and we will not charge you too much. Your first boat stall is free and we have all individual cottages with no duplexes and all cabins have big covered porches and plenty of room to park and for trailers. You can walk or drive 1/3 of a mile of nearly level road to the dock with parking, launch an step right on. We especially welcome Veterans and Police. I am a Veteran but do not need nearly as much policing as I used to for some reason.