Mike Eakle with a nice one yesterday. 
The lake level is 557.46 and has risen 1/2 inch in the last 24-hours with no discharge for two days. They just started opening sluice gates at the bottom of the dam equal to 1/1/3rd generators at 9AM this morning. The White River at Newport is 7.63 feet and there is on effort to drop any of the area lakes. We received 0.3 inches of rain yesterday and 1/2 inch so far today and it is still raining and very dark. It was badly needed as we were very dry. The grass is greening back up and growing again. The surface water temperature was 82-degrees yesterday afternoon and the lake is clear with a thermocline at about 15-16 feet. The stripers are going deeper and the schools are much smaller than in previous years with very heavy fishing pressure with the same people killing them day after day. They are running in the 5-9 pound range with a big one coming in in the teens. The buck brush is making a comeback on the shore line and if the water gets high again there will be a large biological oxygen demand resulting in low oxygen later in the summer. They are very reluctant to drop the lake down past the top of the power pool. There must not be a demand for electricity anywhere in Southwestern Power distribution area. Norfork could not help anyway as both generators are inoperable. They have also slowed generation on Bull Shoals way down. It would be nice if we could get a public release of what their plan is and how they are going to try and implement it instead of everyone trying to guess. No matter what the lake is in excellent condition for Swimming, boating and fishing and at a good level. It was 572.60 on this date last year and flooded out. There continue to be a lot of fish at or around the thermocline of 15-16 feet including bass and walleye. Other walleye are going deeper with the stripers. There is also a top water bass bite early. I am not catching any crappie except off my dock. Kentucky Bass fishing on the first drop-off around main lake points is the best with plastic worms. Blackburns Resort and Boat Rental continues to be your family vacation headquarters for Norfork Lake and has the best prices in the Ozarks on Both cabin rentals and boats, has the biggest pool with slide and baby section and the largest green playground with the dock in a sheltered cove good for kayaking. You do not have to go down a cliff with a very rough road to get to the dock. A free slall for your boat comes with the cabin rental. We will not charge you too much and want you to have an affordable family vacation. We especially welcome Veterans and Police. Sorry we do not have dock stalls for one night stays. Give Debbie a call at 870-492-5115 for a reservation before you have to pay much more elsewhere for less.
