Norfork Lake Fishing Report

Norfork Lake fishing has been exciting this spring. I love living in the Arkansas Ozark Mountains. Come stay at Hummingbird Hideaway Resort and experience the fishing fun I have almost every day.

 

Largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass fishing has been outstanding. The numbers and the size of the bass in Norfork Lake is getting better and better, year after year. Top water action has been good at sun rise and again at sunset. I have been catching most of my bass on Zara spooks and unweighted flukes, and am finding good fish on main lake points, as well as major creek points. If the point has good sunken brush in the water try fishing it. Mid day bass fishing you will need to go a little deeper. They are moving out and going down to 18 - 30 feet of water. Find some brush at these depths and you will find some really nice fish. Try using a jig and pig, Texas rigged worms, or your favorite bait. Work the bait along the bottom. For fishing after dark, throw a black spinner bait. I expect the bass fishing to remain the same for the next couple of weeks. Keep your top water baits ready and have fun. Billy's big bass in the photo above is going to become a wall mount. It was very nice 23.5 inch fish, if I am remembering correctly.

Striped bass fishing has gone though many changes since my last report. Top water action for stripers is slowing, but has not totally stopped. I have seen several big fish chase shad on the surface the last couple of days, but they seem to stay about 20 feet farther away than I can cast. Look for this top water action on the shoreline, as well as out in deep water. The feeding frenzies can happen in any depth of water. Most stripers are being found part way back into the major creeks. A few fish are starting to show up on main lake points which is a normal occurrence this time of year. The stripers are starting to go deeper. If you are a troller or live bait fisherman you will need to fish from the surface down to 40 feet of water and maybe even deeper. The fish are at all depths. Yesterday morning I landed 2 nice stripers, both suspended at 30 feet down in 70 - 80 feet of water. The fish that I cleaned yesterday were full of crawdads. This is telling me they are feeding on the bottom so get your spoons ready. I expect to see the stripers and hybrids start to move out to the main lake points and flats. Start looking for fish in the Robinson area as well as the dam area. Striped bass, hybrids and white bass should start to school before long. They will be feeding on the bottom so if you like to vertical jig with a spoon get it ready.

Catfish are moving into shallow water to feed. Use live bait, either large shiners, nightcrawlers or small bluegills. Jugs and trotlines are working very well.

Crappie are scattered, but starting to show up on brush in 20 - 30 feet of water. They will be at all different depths, so the trick will be to find the right depth. Live minnows are working the best. Some real nice crappie are showing up under my dock in about 25 feet of water.

Overall the prediction for fishing Norfork Lake is good to very good for the next couple of weeks!

The Norfork Lake level is rising slowly and currently sits at 560.47. There has been 6 - 10 hours of power generation over the last couple of days. The water surface temperature was 75 degrees yesterday morning. The main lake is clear and back in the creeks and coves the water is somewhat stained.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.