Caught fishing with Bink's Guide Service before the rain.
The lake level is 555.29 and has risen 1-1/2 feet in the last 24-hours. We received 3.4 inches of rain on Monday and it rained hard and the creeks run at capacity making for brown water in Blackburns Creek out past the dock towards the main lake. It was a cold rain and did not increase the surface water temperature and it is 54-degrees on both the main lake and in the creeks. It remains cool today with another cold night coming but looks to be very warm for the weekend with highs near 80 degrees. The normal high is 63-degrees.The brown water warms more quickly than the clear water and so it should come up quickly if we get some warm nights. We needed a little rain but not this much. I like to fish where the brown water meets the clear water but there will be some bass in the dark water shallow when there is a 4-5 degree difference. Up to now the cold fronts have kept the shallow water from warming and it is still March and anything can happen. It is too soon to predict anything. The level was 562.83 and we were flooded out on this date last year with a surface water temperature of 55-degrees and the White River was 27.33 feet. The White River at Newport is 5.81 feet and is very low so they can drop the lake quickly if they want to. They started up the one operating generaor and opened up spillway gates to an equivalent of 3/4 of another generator at 9:AM this morning. They like to shut off everything just when it starts to rain. That should slow the rise if they keep it up but they are flooded in the Ava area and it is heading this way. Things could be a lot worse. The bite should pick up next week but I am not sure of anything. The shad move with the plankton and they move with the wind. If they are back in the creeks there will be fish there. after the water warms. I am a grub fisherman but spiinners will work. The mud should fall out of the water as it moves south and it depends on how much water they let out. The worst places for debris will be in Bennetts and Red Bank areas. I will continue to fish in the Blackburns area and continue south and probably end up in Float Creek. Blackburns is still the home of the $59/day 1-bedroom cabins and a free stall at our dock comes with the cabin. Come on down. We will not charge you too much. All cabins are individual with no duplexes and all have big covered porches. You needed one of those yesterday. If you smoke you do not need to bring an umbrella to Blackburns. There will be no price increases for 2024 and no we are not for sale.
