The lake level is 554.13 and is up just a bit from this time yesterday with one generator running continuously since 6:PM last evening. They have shut down the spillway gates. The White River at Newport is 16.36 feet and rising. It is cold and windy out there and the surface water temperature has dropped to 54 degrees and it is going to get worse with this arctic blast dropping down the end of next week with near record low temperatures predicted. The sun is shining now and the ambient temperatures are in the low 40's and it would not be bad if the wind would quit. It was calmer in Blackburns Creek last evening and I fished it a bit just before sunset and spooned up a couple of crappie, one bass and some small white bass but just wanted to check out the conditions. It was not a day for bobbing around on the main lake looking for open water fish, at least for me. The fish were just outside the brush near the bottom but there were no picture fish. It will be interesting to see how far the water temperature drops after this cold front goes east. Blackburns has one cabin open during the holidays so far and if you have company coming and no room give debbie a call at 870-492-5115 to get a reservation. The rest are already full with people taking advantage of the best prices in the Ozarks. Sometimes January is warmer than December but just keep away the ice. I do not want to deal with that.