As of 10 days ago the corps has ceased posting lake temps so this morning I took some lake temps at a couple of different spots on the lake. The surface temps were 48 F at the Lakeview public boat ramp and also at the Bull Shoals Public boat ramp and Engineers Cove near the Bull Shoals Dam. For a few weeks I’ve watched the surface temps on the C.O.E. sites. The surface temps would rise and then fall as the warmer water rose and the cooler water fell. Without the C.O.E. statistics on temps at different lake levels it’s much harder to keep up with what the lake is doing. For the last few days however I’ve been up early (nothing new here for those who know me) and have been watching the gulls and checking for shad coming through the dam. The “Magic Number” as far as the surface temps on the lake to cause this event is 42 degrees f. As for the gulls there was some “action” this morning up close to the dam. Meaning of course there were a few “divers” picking up something off or just below the surface. As of this evening there are now 8 units of water on and there is a cold front that has moved in with outside temps expected to drop to between 4 and 10 f over the next 24 hours with heavy winds which should stir up the lake and drop the surface temps a few degrees over the next day or two (I hope). If you have signed up for my shad kill alert you will be the first to know of this event. To sign up send an e-mail to shadkillalert@flyfisharkansas.com with SHAD KILL ALERT in the subject line. All other correspondence should be directed to jim@flyfisharkansas.com
To book a trip with Jim call 870-404-8906 or see http://flyfisharkansas.com