Flowers are blooming, everything is green and the Hummingbirds are everywhere. 
The lake level is 557.19 and has risen 2-3/4 inches in the last 24-hours with no discharge for three days. They did open sluice gates equivalent to 1-generator at 9:AM this morning. The White River at Newport is at 6.93 feet nad has leveled off. We received 0.6 inches of rain last night bringing the weekly total to 6-inches. The ground is saturated and the rain is running off into the creeks now. Things are very green and the grass is growing as fast as I can mow it. The lake is steadily rising and we are approaching the too high level of 560 again with no effort to drop. For some reason they like to hold the water up to where a big rain in the wrong place will cause trouble when there is no need for it. We should be at or below 552 at this time of year. Both generators have been broken down for several weeks now but that has never stopped them from opening flood gates in the past and bypassing them. I did not know what a sluice gate was until they opened them for the first time a couple of months ago. The surface water temperature is 85-degrees and the themocline remains at 27-feet with cold water at 30-feet. The visibility is very good down to 25-feet. The rain has clouded up the creeks but the main lake remains clear. Fishing is not the best but some good fish are coming in every day. Spoons remain the best baits of choice on main lake brush from 25-32 feet. Some crappie are roaming brush but are not biting very well. Use a live minnow on a slip float about 5-feet further down than you can see your minnow right in the brush. Catfishing is preety good on jugs and trot lines on live bait. Fishing will get better as the water cools until the lake turns over in October. It is usually after October 15th but it can come overnight or gradually depending on the weather and how fast it cools. The last part of October is usually not the best time for fishing but it gets better after than and Thanksgiving is almost always very good especially for crappie and bass. After Labor Day Blackburns goes on their off-season rates and continue to be the home of the $59/day one bedroom cabins. 2,3,4 bedrooms are priced accordingly. Give Debbie a call at 870-492-5115 for a reservation.
