Fishing on Norfork Lake is a blast!! Had a great morning of striped bass fishing even though we were just able to fish less than an hour. A thunder storm with lots of lightning chased us off the lake around 7AM. If we could have fished longer no telling how many stripers we would have boated. I found the fish laying on the bottom in 52 - 60 feet of water. We were fishing with live shad in the dam area. My guests had a great time and were thrilled with the fight these fish give. Each of them caught a fish, then the lightning started right over our heads. It didn't take us long to reel in and take off! Since my last report many stripers have been caught from the Robinson area to the dam. I did have several slow days where I marked many fish, but they would not bite. This has been a common occurrence for many over the last several weeks. (Hopefully today's bite is a good sign for the future :-)) Each day brings a different scenario. Today they were on the bottom, tomorrow you may find them suspended in 150 feet of water. The only consistent thing is the depth the stripers are at. You will find them in 50- 65 feet of water. Live bait has been working well, but spooning (especially this morning) should work great. Trolling with a down rigger or lead core line has been working very well for many of the trollers out on the lake. Jeff is holding two big stripers weighing in the mid 20 pound range. He caught his limit in the Robinson area using live shad.
Largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass are hitting top water plugs early and late in the day. We saw several bass this morning erupt off the point we were fishing. Nathan holding this nice 16 inch largemouth caught this fish next to our dock when he was leaving to go out water skiing. Nathan has taken me at my word of "never leave home without your Zara Spook tied on". Plastics are also working very well in the 15 - 25 feet range. Work your bait back to the boat along the bottom.
Walleye, white bass, crappie and black bass all can be found in 15 - 25 feet of water depth. The lakes thermocline is in the 20 - 25 feet range. All these fish are hanging around main lake points and sunken brush piles at the thermocline.
The Norfork Lake surface water temperature is in the low 90's to upper 80's. The lake is still falling about 2 - 3 inches per day and currently sits at 565.3 feet about sea level. The main lake is clear and the coves and creeks are a little stained. The water is not as clear as normal due to the fall, but it is still clearer than most lakes that I have seen.
Happy fishing and see you on the lake.
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