Today at Blackburns.
The lake level is 553.26 and has been stable with about as much water going out with the minimum flow as is coming in from the river which is not much. The surface water temperature is 70-degrees and dropping slowly with the beautiful weather. The White River at Newport is 4.35 feet but it is coming from Bull Shoals and not Norfork. The lake is trying to clear just a bit but visibility is not the best. The summer thermocline has been gone and the lake turned over a month ago and now the cold water is at about 50-feet where it always is this time of year. Not much oxygen is below 40-feet and there are not many fish below that. The water was homogenous down to 40-feet yesterday and I did not go any deeper than that as it was dark. The best fishing remains Kentucky Bass, Crappie and Bluegill. I did find some nice walleye yesterday but it was only in one place. Work the bank with a 2-3 inch creature bait on a jig head for Kentucky Bass. Crawdads are the best but not big ones. Otherwise go to main lake points and steep river channel banks that the wind is blowing into on brush from 18-30-ft. of water. Crappie are roaming and shallow. Fishing is not the best right now but some nice Kentucky Bass and a few Smallmouth can be caught. Use a slip float and live minnows for crappie right over brush. A lot of big bluegill and a few catfish are being caught off Blackburns Dock. Rig up with 4-lb. clear line and a #6 red trueturn hook and a small split shot about 12-inches above the hook for the Bluegill. Flip a live cricket out past the brush and let it sink into it. The catfish are near the bottom and biting nightcrawlers and live bluegill about 3-inches long. Bink is still catching some nice stripers on his spoon in deeper creeks suspended at different depths. He knows where they are. Some smaller White Bass are in open water suspended on shad but I do not fish for them. White Bass are for people that cannot catch anything else and trout are for people that cannot catch White Bass. The fall foliage is changing with the cool nights and some yellows and oranges are showing up on the hillsides with more reds on the roadways. It still looks like the very last of the month for peak but it could extend into November if it stays warm. Blackburns is still the home of the $59/day 1-bedroom cabins and $79 two bedrooms. 3&4 bedrooms are priced accordingly. A free stall for your boat comes with the cabin. The cabins are nice and are all individual with big covered porches and no duplexes. Call Debbie at 870-492-5115 for a reservation and we will not charge you too much. Why pay more?
