Scuba Steve with some preety good ones. We like winter crappie fishing but spring is better. 
The lake level is 554.55 and has risen 1-inch in the last 24-hours with spillway gates open to an equivalent of 3/4 of a generator. We received another 1-inch of rain last night and today and it is still raining. The creeks are running pretty hard.The White River at Newport is 19.28 feet and still rising a bit but more slowly. The lake is too high for this time of year and if they cannot manage it now there is not a very good chance they will in the spring. The surface water temperature is 45-degrees and the water is stained a greenish color and you can see your lure down only about 4-feet. I cleaned 5 big crappie and they were all females and all full of eggs and closer to spawn than usual for the last part of January. They are not going to wait until April. I do not kill very many fish but I needed some for a friend that cannot fish anymore. My self-imposed limit is 5 and I do not kill dock floors or pickup end gates full of fish. I did see some dead undersized stripers floating. You cannot expect to fish in 90-ft. of water and not kill whatever you catch. If you fish in deep water you know what you are doing. If you see a striper with it's mouth open it is dead and a lot of small ones in the 5-8 pound range are being caught and not given a chance to grow. There are more guides on the lake than I ever have seen before and they are all trying to out-do each other. The fishing pressure is getting more intense with so many people moving here also. The weather looks to be better starting tomorrow and lasting until the end of January. It has been a roller coaster month and I will be glad when it is over. We do not need any more rain for a while. We have some good fishermen in now and we will see how they do. They usually do well. If you are contemplating a trip to the Mountain Home area give Debbie a call at 870-492-5115 for a reservation. We will not charge you too much and a free stall for your boat at our dock comes with the cabin. All cabins are individual with no duplexes and all have big covered porches. Compare prices. We are open all year.
