Mike with a couple of good ones Scuba Diving on Sunday morning. 
The lake level is 553.64 and is the same as it was at this time yesterday. They closed the sluice gates and the generatores are still inoperable so there is no discharge. The White River at Newport is 6.4 feet, dropping quickly and is very low. The surface water temperature is 88-89 degrees and dropping slowly. It is 81-degrees at 21-feet and cold at the thermocline of 30-feet. The water clarity is getting a little better but if you want to scuba dive it is best to stay on river channel steep rocky banks near brush at 25-32 feet. You cannot see anything on dirt or clay gradual banks. A few crappie continue to be in smaller schools and roaming around main lake brush piles towards the top. The big ones have not come in from the main lake shad in open water but they will. I have never seen so many big fat Kentucky Bass as this year. They are fun to catch, good to eat and I am glad they are there. They bite when others are harder to catch. Ovarall most species of fish are very healthy. There are a lot of baitfish out there including threadfin shad, gizzard shad, bluegill fry and fingerlings, bass fry and fingerlings and creek minnows. There are too many gar and carp but I guess that goes along with it. It looks like there will not be a big striper kill this year and they are starting to make a comeback. Stripers are put and take but they are simply stocking more than people are catching but the increased fishing pressure and people fishing in deep water in the summer killing everything they catch is taking it's toll. Too many small ones in the 5-8 pound range are being kept for meat but it is making for more food for other fish. More and more species of fish are staying in open water on shad than before without the striper competition and is changing fishing. That is why you are seeing trollers catching bass, crappie and walleye when they did not before. There is not much skill dragging umbrellas or live bait through schools of shad with poles in rod holders but it can be effective. They miss the bite and hook set and miss quite a few fish and burn a lot of gas but fill their freezers. The weather looks good for the upcoming holiday and I expect a huge crowd. Gas prices are high but if you have a boat payment it is imperative that you get out there no matter what. The water is at a good level and all parking lots are open so conditions are much better than most years in the recent past and campground are all open. Mountain Home has turned into one big RV and camper parking lot with several people living in their campers. When you stay at Blackburns you can launch your boat here, put it in your free boat stall at our dock, park your trailer and be done with it until you leave. No sense going through that every day at a place with no dock unless you like to walk a long way to park and retrieve your trailer and wait at the launch for someone to load and rig their boat. I see some campgrounds are charging as much as $75/day to park a camper. I have to go mow, and mow and mow. The farmers are having a good hay crop this year with 3 or 4 cuttings. I wish the people in Northwestern Florida well. It does not look good but I have spent a lot of time there and chose Arkansas.
