The lake level is 553.76 and is dropping slowly. They started the one operating generator at 9:AM this morning after several days of nothing but spillway gates open just a little. The White River at Newport is 8.23 feet and has leveled off. There has been no effort to drop the lake in the winter for the spring rains. The surface water temperature on the main lake was still 49-degrees last evening but I found some 51-degree water back in the creeks in shallower water. It should rise today with the very warm weather but it is to cool way down again in a couple of days. We are approaching March and with it come cold fronts. The best days to fish will be after the high pressure has set in for a few days and then right up until it starts to rain. I am not a big fan of March. I went out at 4:30 PM and fished until dark. I caught a couple of crappie at sundown and then right at dark the fish started to bite. I caught three crappie, two bass and a walleye in a few minutes on a brush pile in 23-feet. It was the first walleye that I have caught in over three weeks. It looked like a keeper but I did not measure it and released all of the fish. It was a nice evening and the wind layed at sunset. I do not know if the walleye are coming back down stream from the spawn but this was a good sign. I knew it was something different when it hit. The fish had not moved into the warmer shallower water back in the creeks but were still on the main lake point or just around it to the inside. There are still a lot of people dragging umbrellas up in the Bennetts Bayou area and catching White Bass and small Stripers. They are doing a good job keeping the numbers down and still bragging about killing stripers in the 5-pound range and dozens of near spawning White Bass. They could at least wait until they are finished spawning but it does not matter to meat hunters. I can somewhat understand people coming here for a fishing trip but not the same ones out there day after day and live here. What do they do with all of those fish? I guess there is not much left after the red meat is cut out. If you are planning a trip to Mountain Home to visit relatives and they have no room, call Debbie at 870-492-5115 for a reservation or if you are already in the area stop by and check us out. Blackburns is still the home of the $59/day 1-bedroom cabins and a free stall at our dock comes with the cabin. We especially welcome Veterans and Police. We have it all here and will not charge you too much.
