Norfork Lake is bustling with fishing activity. The fishing and catching has been great and our guests are landing nice size fish. The Cystic Fibrosis fishing tournament was held yesterday and the winners weighed-in over 16 pounds. They had 224 boats participating for this great benefit and many of the fisher people brought in limits of fish. Bass fishing is good! Next Friday and Saturday the BassCat Owners Invitational is being held on Norfork Lake. We have many Basscat boat owners staying with us that are pre-fishing the lake in hopes of winning the grand prize. But I really think most are here to have a good time, relax and experience some great Arkansas hospitality from Mountain Home and all of its residents.
Largemouth, smallmouth and spotted Bass fishing is by far the best bite on the lake. Over the past week or so I have seen more 3 - 5 pound bass caught than ever before. I believe this shows that the previous high water years was a benefit to the Norfork Lake fishery with the increase in numbers of fish as well as the size. My guests and I have been bringing in limits of bass on a consistent basis. A lot of the fish are released after photos, but some find there way into the frying pan. Nothing better than eating fresh caught fish. The fish are hitting top water lures early in the mornings and late in the day. Cast a spook, fluke, rogue or your favorite top water bait into the sunken buck brush, let it sit for 10 seconds or so then walk-the-dog back to the boat.You may get hammered immediately in very shallow water or they may follow it back and hit part way back to the boat. It is really exciting to see any fish erupt on that spook and then take off running. Once the sun comes up the fish are falling back into 12 - 20 feet of water. You can then cast crank baits, swimming minnows, jig and pigs. If it is windy try a spinner bait. I have found that the closer to the bottom you are the more strikes you will get. For those live bait fisher-people cast your bait right up into the buck brush with no weights. Let the minnow do its job and attract the fish. I have been getting as many if not more bites on live bait as artificial. Once the sun comes up add some weight to the line and fish in 12 - 20 ft of water right on the bottom.
April has always been a great month for smallmouth bass fishing, but this year it seems even better. I have been catching limits of smallmouth on a daily basis with the above mentioned methods. Each time you cast your artificial bait or live bait you are not really sure what you might catch. The stripers and hybrids are in the same areas and hitting the same baits. If you want to consistently catch smallmouth bass April is a great time to come to Norfork Lake.
I forgot to mention that the walleye are feeding in the same areas as the bass and stripers, I haven't landed any yet, but I know of quite a few nice size walleye are being caught.
Catfish are coming up shallow to feed so if you like to run trotlines or jugs this is a good time to do it. I find that live bait works better than cut bait. Also night crawlers are working on pole fishing. Find some flowing water from a creek or spring and fish the bottom with your crawlers the cats should be in the area.
Crappie are starting to bite, but I haven't had the chance to do any crappie fishing. Not enough time in the day. I guess I should cut down on the sleep! I will try and get some info soon.
Norfork Lake level is falling about 7 inches per day and currently sits at 559.3. Two generators are being run with some partially opened flood gates. This will continue to mid month. The lake is forecast to be back to normal pool by May 1, 2012. The surface water temperature has fallen to the upper 60's. The lake is still very stained with some clearing starting to happen in parts of the lake.
Happy fishing and see you on the lake.
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