The good news is that the fishing has really picked up!  The bad news is that the White River is flooded and the lake is really on the rise.  Boat Launch off of K Hwy is almost under water.  

Water Level – 662.4 and rising

Water Temp 57 to 60 degrees

Water is Clear to Stained

Black Bass – Good on small plastics, jigs and spinner baits.  Also good on RKcrawlers on the points and into the coves.

Crappie – Good on live minnows on brush piles and many starting to hit swimming minnows about 5 to 10 ft off the banks.

Walleye – Good to Fair on a variety of baits!  Most reports are the walleye being caught off the rock bluffs while bass fishing!  Shallow running crank baits will be the go to for quite a while.  #7 Flicker Shads really do the trick here!

The lake level has just about reached normal power pool of 659.00, which is good news for boaters needing to use the launch ramp!  The water temp, however, remains very cool for this time of the year, still only reading 55 degrees at the dock this morning.  Cold front moving in this weekend won’t help matters much either.  But have been getting some good reports on bass and crappie.  Not up on the banks just yet, but if the surface temp gets to 60 degrees plus, it will be great for all species!

Water Level – 659.40 and dropping

Water Temp – 54 to 58 degrees

Water is Clear to Stained

Black Bass – Good on Alabama Rigs, Spinner Baits, Wiggle Warts, Rock Crawlers and small Jigs.  In the very backs of coves and in the small pockets leading into and near coves.  Main lake rock bluffs in about 10 ft.

Crappie – Good to Fair on Live minnows in brush piles.  Also good on small plastics in coves and around brush and trees.  Not on the banks just yet.  Still in 15 to 25 ft of water.

Walleye – Fair on jerk baits and spoons.  Will be moving to the shallows soon to feed.

White Bass – No Report near K Dock yet.  Whites starting to hit up the lake near the Beaver Creak area.

Even with the recent heavy rains, the lake has remained very clean and stable!  Perfect conditions for this Labor Day Weekend!  Water temp is at a perfect 84 degrees and the fish have been hitting great that past few weeks!  A little slower the past few days after all the lighting and thunder, but they should turn back on by this weekend.

Lake Level – 657.4 and steady  (Normal Summer Pool is 661.00)

Water Temp – 83 to 85 degrees

Water is Stained

Black Bass – Good on Large plastic worms, 10 to 12 inch, Texas Rigged around brush piles and points.  Also good on Carolina Riggs with Plum colored worm.  Other Baits working include:  Football Jigs, Creature Plastics, Deep Diving Crank Baits and a variety of top water plugs and buzz baits.  Tons of Bait Fish surfacing right now!  Keep an Under Spin, Swim Bait or a Square Billed Crank Bait ready to throw when the bass start busting the shad!

Walleye – Good on Medium to Deep Diving crank baits trolling in 30 ft of water.  Great numbers of walleye being caught on Silver or White Vertical Jigging Spoons in the 20 to 35 ft depths!  Also Fair to Good on Bottom Bouncing Night Crawlers on the flats near K Dock!

Crappie – Fair to Good on Live Minnows.  Huge crappie coming in off of tree stick ups and brush piles!  Not a lot of limits, but good, quality fish on minnows!

Lake conditions are perfect right now for fishing!  Water is clear of debris and sitting around the new normal of 659 ft.  Surface temp has cooled off with the recent rains.  The cooler temperatures have brought the lake way down from the 91 degrees we had a couple of weeks ago.  Bass have become very active feeding in shallower water.  Boat Launch, Bluff Road and Courtesy Dock are all usable!  

Lake Level – 658.7 and steady

Lake Temp – 84 degrees

Lake is Stained

Black Bass – Good on a variety of baits!  Top Water plugs such as Zara Spooks, full size Whopper Ploppers and Buzz Baits.  Great results using a 10 to 12 inch Plum Worm, Texas Rigged in and around brush piles.  Also good on Jigs and Brush Hogs.

Crappie – Good to Fair on Live Minnows on trees and brush piles.  Several 12 to 15 in crappie came in last week!  Large Crappie hitting medium crank baits along the high rock bluffs while trolling.

Walleye – Good on vertical jigging Silver or White spoons off of steep, rock points.  Good reports toward Power Site / Bridge area.  Also good on large crank baits trolled in 20 to 40 ft.  Best reports on trolling around Bee Creek Island and the Drury Mincy flats starting at Barn Cove and heading down stream.  (Just past the 35 Lake Marker)

Lots of fish were caught the last few weeks!  Still doing great on almost all species of game fish!  Water is hot and dropping fast, but the bite is still on if you can stand the heat and humidity!  The lake if now dropping about 4 to 5 inches per day with an expected crest of 662.00 on June 28th. 

(The Army Corps has now made this lake level the new summer power pool after implementing the Minimum Flow Act several years ago.  Unfortunately the boat launch near K Dock will still not be usable at this level.  This launch was designed to be used for a power pool of 654.00.  This launch was never raised before they changed the lake to the current level.  We believe its time to make some noise and tell the Corps that we need a High Water Boat Launch!  I will be posting a separate blog on this site about this project very soon.)

Water Level – 668.00 and falling

Water Temp – 87 to 90 degrees

Water is Stained

Black Bass – Good on a variety of baits:  Top Water early morning and evening.  Jigs on points and steep rock bluffs, peanut butter and jelly working good.  Large crank baits and 8 to 10 inch plumb or blue fleck plastic worms.

Walleye – Good on trolling medium crank baits.  Keep the boat in about 20 to 25 ft. for suspended walleye in the 12 to 18 ft range.  Some walleye being caught on larger crank baits and bottom bouncers in the 20 to 30 ft range.  They will really start to go deep if the surface temp jumps above 90 degrees!  Lots of 5 to 6 lb walleye caught on white or silver spoons, vertical jigging, around 20 to 25 ft of water off the points!

Crappie – Good to Fair on live minnows in brush piles.  Also some very large crappie being caught trolling small to medium crank baits a few feet from the high bluff sides of the lake!

The Fish Are Bittin’!!!  82 degree water with great lake conditions!  All Species are hitting right now!

Lake Level – 672.2  (13 ft above normal)  

Water Temp – 82 degrees

Water is Clear

Black Bass – Good on Top water plugs and Buzz Baits.  Also good on medium crank baits and jigs.  Spall plastics in the flooded brush in the backs of coves.  Plastic Worm bite soon.

Walleye – Good to Great on small to medium crank baits!  They are really shallow right now, less that 10 feet.  Also hitting spoons and night crawlers!

Crappie – Good to Fair on Live minnows and swimming minnows.  Scattered post spawn down the banks and in coves around brush.

Finally getting the surface temp to come up above 48 degrees!  Reading 56 degrees today at the marina.  Warmer down the lake and in the coves.  Should be Great fishing this weekend!  All species starting to turn on.  If we can hit 60 degrees or higher, the Crappie and Bass should be up to the banks!  Still dealing with lots of cold rain today, but should be ok with the forecast of nothing but sun for the next 5 days!  More and more crappie have been coming in off of brush piles in the coves from Beaver Creek to Bear Creak on the Arkansas line!  Walleye will be moving up out of the deep water by this weekend.  Hope to get to post some good reports by Friday!  Let’s just hope that the Corps starts letting some water out this spring so we can use the boat launch again!  Ugh.

Water Level – 665.6 and rising  (Normal is 659.00)

Water Temp – 56 to 58 degrees

Water is Clear to Stained, with little to no debris.

I know, I know… pretty sad that I haven’t posted a fishing report since October!  Believe me, Judy has been yelling at me too!  Really excited about the Corps keeping the lake level around normal for this spring!  We have access to the boat ramp as well as the courtesy dock!  Big thanks to our friends at Taney County Road and Bridge for keeping the access road and parking lot cleared of debris!

The Lake looks Great for this weekend!  Still cold compared to the temps on Table Rock, but we are starting to get the surface temps up.  Crappie are really starting to hit live minnows!  Not on the banks yet, but decent reports down the lake from the dock.  Slow presentation and live minnows on brush piles in the coves!

Lake Level – 658.66  (Normal pool is 659.00)

Water Temp – 49 to 52 degrees

Water is Stained to Clear

Crappie – Good to Fair on Live Minnows on top of brush piles and structure.  Colors of swimming minnows to use are:  Pink & Chartreuse, Pearl and Smoke & Glitter.  Had a few anglers with some good limits last weekend!  Most were finding the crappie in the creek coves from the 36 lake marker down to the Arkansas line.  The water is a few degrees warmer down the lake.   But, the coves near K Dock are really starting to produce some good numbers of Big Crappie!

Black Bass – (Large Mouth, Small Mouth & Spotted Kentucky’s)  A-Rig, Jerk Baits and 1/2 oz or smaller jigs.  Bass will start hitting the Thread Fin Shad and searching for Crawfish for protein coming out of the winter months.  Ned Rig is a great plastic to throw in the spring as well!  However, great reports of bass being caught on Wiggle Warts and Rock Crawlers!  Brown/Tan and Red Craw colors.  These work great with a little wind!  Crank them down in the 5 to 8 ft range right now.  Make contact with the rocks on the high bluff sides and then slow your retrieve.  Remember, these fish are still a little slow coming up from 48 degrees water!

Walleye – Fair on trolling with small to medium crank baits.  Still deep, but that should change soon.  Hitting spoons off of points.  Hope to get a better report this weekend.

White Bass – Head to the Beaver Creek arm of the lake just 6 miles up from the dock!  If we get the high temps this weekend, they should be feeding there!  White Rooster Tail or a Silver Rattle Trap!

Well, I look forward to seeing lots of you at the marina this year!  Lets hope we can put the crazy floods behind us for a few years!  I wish all of you the best of luck fishing this year and pray that your motor starts when you turn the key!  Ha!  (By the way… we sell cranking batteries too!)

Great reports for all species of game fish coming in from the anglers last weekend!  Lake level is now below normal and is dropping at about an inch per day.  Really good color to the water for bass fishing too!  Not as dark, but good, stained water for fishing.  As the lake drops, the Oxygen and cooler water temps have really improved the walleye, bass and crappie bite around our area.  Should get better and better with these weather conditions!  Still the most shad that I have ever seen in this area of the lake!  You can throw a top water bait and see the water explode with shad!  The Spotted Bass look like Footballs!  Ha!

Water Temp – 68 to 71 degrees

Water Level is 656.9 and falling  (Normal is 659.00)

Water is Stained

Walleye – The bite was really good this week from K Dock up towards the Power Site Dam!  Trolling medium to large crank baits, bottom bouncing night crawlers and bottom bouncing #7 Flicker Shads in 20 ft of water!  Several 5 to 7 lb walleye came in last weekend!

Black Bass – Good to Great on top water Buzz Baits, Spooks, Whopper Ploppers or anything you have in the top drawer of you tackle box!  (It doesn’t matter when you see the amount of shad in the coves!)  Also throw a medium to heavy jig on the points and steep rock bluffs.  Crank baits down the bank as well.

Crappie – Getting better.  Live minnows around brush piles and any structure.  Still seeing some big ones suspended in deeper water.  Swimming minnows also working well.

Bluegill – Great on a bobber and worm!  Treat the kids to a day of fishing the old school way!  Just pick a cove!  Enjoy!

Catfish – Flat Heads Good to Great on Trot Lines with live bluegills!  The water level is perfect to set lines now.  The Gar have started to retreat with the cooler water temps.  Should have a better chance at hitting a big cat without the gar getting there first!

We have finally reached normal pool of 659.00!  Water is very stained, but all species of fish are really starting to hit!  Water temp is still 75 to 78, which is really warm for October.  Need this to drop for some good fall fishing.  Of course, some rain would help!  (Can’t believe I just asked for rain after all the floods. Ha!)  Got some good Crappie reports this week… Finally!  Over brush piles in coves.  Bass getting better on Top water plugs and Jigs. Also large crank baits, White or anything with Chartreuse due to the murky water conditions.  Walleye much better trolling medium to deep crank baits and dragging night crawlers.  Crappie hitting live minnows and Chartreuse plastics.   See a pattern here?  Throw a Chartreuse colored Jig, Craw or Crank Bait.  Shad are schooling by the Millions around the lake!!!  These fish have a lot to eat after the April flood!  Keep casting!  Find the shad, and you will find the Big Fish under them! 

By the way… The boat launch is now available!!!!!!  Haven’t got to say that since middle of April!  So unplug from the horrible news on TV and come see us this weekend!  It’s always a good day to fish at K Dock!