Carl Scott is back from Texas and catching and releasing fish already. He is always welcome and is a good fisherman. 
The lake level is 556.30 and has risen 1-1/2 inches in the last 24-hours with no generation or discharge. They just started up the one operating generator at 9:AM this morning. The White River at Newport is 14.17 and has leveled out. They are trying to regulate to 14-feet. We received 1-inch of rain early this morning and it rained hard and the creeks run but have slowed way down now. We are forecasted to get some rough weather tomorrow and then nice for the rest of the week. We have avoided the severe weather and heavy rains so far this year and I hope we get by this one. We are right in the bullseye. The lake remains in good condition and at a good level. The water is not as clear as it was earlier but Scuba Steve could see his lure down about 7-ft. yesterday on the main lake under cloudy skies. The creeks are stained green. The surface water temperature was almost 72-degrees on the main lake and a little warmer back in the shallow water. I went to check main lake brush to see if spawned crappie had moved into them yet and found just a few big ones but no big numbers. I do not keep fish during the spawn. Several red meat fishermen go out everyday and are killing a lot of fish. I do not know what they are doing with all them. Anybody showing off more than one striper at a time and claiming they are releasing them are releasing dead fish. Any striper with it's mouth open is dead. They do not stay alive very long in a live well. They need to be released immediately to stay alive you cannot collect them. Several crappie are still back in the creeks in varous stages of spawn. I am finding more and more bass spawned out but they are not finished yet. Kentuckies can spawn well into June. The top-water bite has been disappointing so far and if it does not happen during the next full moon which is the 23rd it will not be spectacular. The surface water temperature will be well into the 70's by then. A few are coming up sporatically but you cannot count on it. There are too many local people hunting down and killing stripers and the numbers and size are not there and they just keep doing it. If they need meat for food kill White Bass at least they reproduce in the lake. Grow a garden. There is a possession limit. A big striper used to be 30-pounds and now it is 10-pounds but they are still bragging about killing them. They are a sports fish not a meat fish. After you cut out the red meat there is not much left. Blackburns still has a couple of cabins open for Memorial Day and pontoon and bass boats available for rent. We have 14-rental pontoons with about 1/2 with trolling motors for fishing and several full service bass boats. If you bring your own boat your first stall at our dock is free. Pontoons start at $115/day. Give Debbie a call at 870-492-5115 for a reservation before you have to pay more elsewhere. It is nice here and the price is right.
