Old Glory and the Thin Blue Line Flag fly proudly over Blackburns Resort and Boat Rental.
Mike Eakle with a nice one diving Blackburns Brush piles yesterday.
The lake level is 554.68 and has risen just a bit in the last 24-hours. They have run one generator for one hour in the last 2-days and are holding the area lakes up as high as they can for as long as they can. I guess they are hoping one of these hurricanes wil hit us so they can flood us out again. The White River at Newport is 5.47 feet and very low indicating not much water is being released anywhere. The top of the power pool goes to 553.75 on Tuesday so maybe the Corps of Engineers will let some water out then. Southwestern Power sure will not. The surface water temperature is 74-75 degrees and dropping and the clarity is fair to poor down to 25-feet and clear after that. Several fish are on brush from 20-35 feet of water but not biting very well. The best bet is to get right over the top of the brush and drop a live minnow on a slip float about 5-feet further than you can see it and use your trolling motor sparingly against the wind and shut off the spot lock. The crappie are very spooky but you can catch a few along with some Bass, mostly Kentuckies but a few Largemoutn and Smallmouth have moved in. Some White Bass are being caught but the bite is sporatic in 50-ft. of water 30-ft. down on the jigging spoon. It is easy to find fish but finding the ones feeding is difficult. Keep moving to different schools until you find some feeding. It either feast or famine. The lake is in excellent condition and at a good level but fishing is fair at best. The lake turned over more than two weeks ago and fishing should be getting better. Most of the fish that I am cleaning are starting to get skinny and are mostly void of anything in their bellies. The fall foliage is starting to turn a little and it is too early. There is a good crop of acorns, hickory nuts and walnuts. My burning bush is getting red and this does not usually happen until well into October. The Maple tree is turning brown with no color. I just report what is happening but cannot explain it. We have not had one cold night and I have to mow every week and am still picking tomatoes and peppers from the garden. It is cloudy in the 70's today but great weather is scheduled for the rest of the week with highs near 80. It is a good time to visit Norfork Lake and relax. It is very peacefull with little boat traffic and beautiful scenery. Blackburns Resort and Boat Rental continues to have the best place with the best prices on cabins and boat rentals in the Ozarks. We especially welcome Veterans and Police. If you are looking for a place to set out by the fire all night and drink and smoke stuff and play loud music this is probably not the place for you. We like peace ,quiet and nature and no drama. Give Debbie a call at 870-492-5115 for a reservation and we will not charge you too much. It is nice here and we fish and scuba dive a lot.