Despite all the rain we’ve had lately, the area’s lakes and rivers are pretty much at normal levels.
Clearwater Lake, as of Wednesday morning, was just a foot above normal at 499.06 feet on the gage. Looking at the data, it appears the lake is dropping a couple hundredths of an inch per hour, so the fall is pretty slow.
At Wappapello Lake, the level also is close to a foot above normal summer pool, with it holding stable at 360.44 feet.
The Current River at Van Buren rose slightly to 4.84 feet and was expected to reach 5.1 feet by mid-day Thursday before falling again.
On the Current River at Doniphan, the level Wednesday was at 1.9 feet, and it was expected to come up to 2.4 feet by late Thursday.
The Black River at Poplar Bluff was expected to crest around 4.6 feet Wednesday before falling back under 3 feet by Saturday.
On the St. Francis River at Fisk, the gage reported the level at 1.88 feet, and the data shows the river is holding stable.
With good water conditions, anglers shouldn’t have any trouble catching fish.
Crappie fishing has been good, and the first bluegill spawn of the summer just wrapped up. I was driving around Pool 1 at the Duck Creek Conservation Area a couple weekends back and there were quite a few anglers taking advantage of the bluegill spawn and having some success.
If you want to try for bluegills again, the few days surrounding the next full moon on June 24 should provide some top-notch fishing.
With the rivers and smaller creeks at normal levels, smallmouth bass fishing should be great as well. I prefer fishing topwater early in the morning, if the current and conditions allow it, but once the sun gets higher in the sky, I’ll switch to a deep-running bait of some kind.
The Current River Smallmouth Association will host its first tournament of the season Saturday, based out of Van Buren.
The launch time from the Watercress ramp will be at 7 a.m., with a weigh-in set for 5 p.m.
For more information, contact Paul Henderson at 573-785-8433.
If largemouth bass are more your style, the Angler’s Choice circuit will host a tournament Saturday on Wappapello Lake.
The event will be based out of the Chaonia public ramp, with fishing slated to begin at 6 a.m. and continue until 3 p.m.
Ken Owens is the tournament director and can be reached at 573-820-3715.
The Butler County Coon Club will be active again this weekend, with a UKC show and hunt scheduled for Saturday night.
The show and hunt will be based out of the club’s headquarters building off County Road 608, just south of Poplar Bluff.
The bench show is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m., with the hunt following at 8.
If you need more information on the club or its events, contact Terry Uhl at 573-714-1624 or Kevin Payne at 573-281-6580.