The lake level is 600.7. Normal summer pool is 599.7. Falling slowly. Water temps are running 70-73. Slightly stained with the recent rains.

Walleye has been hit or miss with me for nearly a month. Seams I need proper wind direction to set them up. I am still pulling my spinner rigs and catching a few each day. Starting to see more walleye now mixed in with the sauger. For the most part I have been catching sauger due to the deeper depths I have been fishing. 14-16ft. With the lake falling I think more walleye will drop back from the shallows. I have done 18 walleye trips thus far and have boated nearly 70, about on coarse from last year. This is not Canada they are hard to find.

White Bass the true ghosts of the lake. Hard to find easy to catch. I am getting better on finding them quickly. The wind swaps direction on me about every day and all the fronts to deal with. I know I have cleaned nearly a thousand this month. My hands show it. These fish are a ball and not bad eating. They just about rip the rod from your hands. All my clients have experienced sore arms. Now that the channel catfish are preparing to spawn we have been getting a couple of those as well. Some over fifteen pounds. I am pulling spinner rigs for them as well. Tricks of the trade keep me on them, where others are struggling to find them.

Crappie are getting back on main lake cover and we are doing well on them again. Slip bobber and a minnow gets the nod for me until fall. Simply because I have three clients in the boat about every day. Easier to pull along side a brush pile toss a marker buoy just up wind and instruct clients on where to throw to hit the brush and how deep to set the slip bobber. I then set my Livescanner with the Livescope transducer on it to point at the pile and watch the fish rise up from the brush to take their minnow. I even set up the rear depthfinder to my screen so everyone can watch this.

I have three days left open in June but plenty in July when the crappie will be even better. Then towards the end of July the jigging spoons go back in the boat for combo trips the rest of the summer on crappie mornings, white bass afternoons or just fish for one species all day. The Book a Trip section on my website has my open dates. Shoot me an email or just call me at 217-840-1221

Steve Welch
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