The lake level is 553.27 and has been the same for 4-days with no discharge. The White River at Newport is 2.83 feet and very low. They do not want to let out any water anywhere. The surface water temperature is 80-degrees and dropping slowly with the cooler weather. The creeks are stained green with little visibility but the main lake is not bad. The thermocline is still at 31-feet but not pronounced and is starting to mix it up on the way down to there. There has been no signs of a striper kill this summer but meat hunters are killing a lot of small ones before they get a chance to grow. A few bass are surfacing early morning and some shad are back in the creeks shallow in the evenings. A lot of Kentucky Bass are still on steep river channel banks on the first drop-off feeding on worms, lizards and crawdads and are the best bite. A few White Bass are with the surfacing Largemouth. The walleye bite has slowed. You can cat catch some crappie on slip floats and minnows on top of some brush piles but they are scattered and roaming. The main force has not moved into the brush yet and should have done so. Many fish of different species that usually move into brush in the fall are sticking in the open water on shad with the absence of most of the larger stripers. The big stripers that remain are being hunted down with the increase in guides and other meat hunters. It sure is not what it used to be. The places where I usually find large schools of crappie in September are not holding very many fish and I have to work for them. The lake is in good condition and at a good level but fishing is not the best but a few are being caught everyday. Blackburns big pool is open for business and we still are the home of the $59/day one bedroom cabins that come with a free stall for your boat. All cabins are individual with no duplexes and all have big covered porches to get out of the sunand rain. If you are staying at a place where you are nearly the only customer you are either paying too much, in the wrong place or both. Give Debbie a call at 870-492-5115 for a reservation so you do not have to pay way too much elsewhere. We especially welcome Veterans and Police. We offer nice cabins, peace and quiet, no drama and the best prices in the Ozarks.
