Caught fishing with Bink's Guide Service.
The lake level is 553.35 and creeping up with no discharge for several days. The White River at Newport is 3.23 feet and continues to be very low. The summer thermocline is gone and the water now starts to get cold at about 40-feet. The surface water temperature is 79-degrees and stable with the warm ambient temperatures. It is to cool down on Thursday and be very cool by the weekend. The water on the main lake is fairly clear down to the dark water at 40-feet. The shallower creeks still have some floating, brown, moss-like algae material floating from the turnover and the water there is stained green. The stripers that had been down near the dam are gone and have moved back into the larger creeks in deep water. Bink is finding them in water up to over 100-feet deep and suspended 40-feet down where the cold water starts. They are schooled, roaming and spooky and hard to find. The crappie are schooled and roaming all over the place going from brush pile to brush pile looking for baitfish. They are very spooky and line shy. Kentucky Bass are everywhere including 25-35 ft. brush piles, on the first drop-off on main lake steep river channel banks and coming up partway backs in the creeks both early and late on smaller schools of shad. More and more smallmouth and largemouth are joining in with them. Bluegill fishing is good under docks in the shade on crickets. Some catfish are being caught but mostly smaller channel cats. It will get better as the moon wanes and if we get some rain and the river starts to rise a little more. Live bait is the best but the small ones will bite about anything. The lake is in good condition and at a good level and fishing is starting to get a little better. It looks to be a better October than Normal with the early turnover but the surface water temperature remains higher than normal. There are a lot of fish in Norfork and they are very healthy. Blackburns is still the home of the $59/day 1-bedroom cabins and they come with a free stall for your boat at our dock. Come on down and we will not charge you too much. We also have some good brush piles.
