Hummingbird Hideaway Resort on Norfork Lake

Norfork Lake Bass Fishing Report

2012-01-31T14:08:00.000-06:00

Black bass fishing on Norfork Lake contiunues to be awesome this winter, along with the air temperature that is currently 65 degrees, I'm having a great winter. Amazing January weather! In the last two days I have caught over 40 largemouth and spotted bass, in just a couple of hours per morning. This morning's big fish was 5 pounds and yesterday I got a 4.5 and a 3 pounder. The high water over the last several years is starting to show its impact on the black bass and crappie population and size. I have found the best bite starts at sunrise and is lasting for me until about 10:30AM. It has been working out well since that's time to head back to the resort anyway. During this time the fish are feeding heavily on teeny tiny shad. This morning there was a lot of top water action in the cove I was fishing, but they wouldn't touch any top water bait I thew at them. I think the size was just too big. I ended up throwing a Zara Spook puppy, but even this bait is 10 times the size of what they are feeding on. All the fish I caught came from vertical jigging a white and a white/green 1/4 ounce spoon. I have also found that the spoon does not need to move quickly, slow twitches and slow falls are working the best. I have also downsized my equipment to 4 pound test on a light action spinning rod and reel. Yesterday most fish were caught in 25 - 30 feet of water and today they were a little shallower 20 - 25 feet of water. I have been fishing coves back in East Pigeon Creek that have brush near by. The bait has been thick and so has the bass. I also caught 2 walleye, but both were just a 1/2 inch under size.

All the fish that I have caught the last couple of days have been released at my dock or where I was fishing.

The Norfork Lake level is falling slowly and currently sits at 552.25. The Corps is generating a little more frequently causing the lake to drop slowly. The main lake is clear and the creeks and coves are still stained from the rain we had last week, but they are starting to clear. The Norfork Lake surface water temperature this morning was 46.5 degrees.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Crappie Fishing Report

2012-01-27T16:30:00.000-06:00

Norfork Lake has been outstanding for winter Crappie fishing. The fish are hanging around brush piles that are sitting in 25 - 35 feet of water. The crappie that I found this morning were suspended from 15 - 25 feet down and would hit almost anything I threw at them. No live bait was used just artificial. I was in the back of Float Creek where the water was really stained. The mud line has dissipated and left the water in great fishing condition. Color in the water is not normal for Norfork Lake. It is typically gin clear, but I will take this stained water when I can get it. One good reason that I like the murky water is that the fish don't get spooked as easily. You can sit on one brush pile and catch many fish without moving to another brush pile. I first started vertical jigging with a 1/8 oz. spoon (white) and caught two immediately. I decided to experiment with different tackle that I sell in our store. I switched to a Bobby Garland double silver rainbow baby shad and caught two more. I then switched out to a curly tail Roadrunner (white/chartreuse) and caught two more. I was very slowly vertical jigging the spoon and the Baby Shad and the fish hit the bait when it was motionless. They would pick it up and just start to move slowly. The hook needed to be set quickly because the bite was light. If I waited they would spit out the hook. I found this out the hard way on several bites :-( I cast the Roadrunner beyond the brush and let it sink, then retrieved slowly, then stopped to let it sink and retrieved again. With this the bites were much more aggressive, it may have to do with the spinner getting a reaction bite. I switched out to a 3/4 ounce spoon when I got into 40 feet of water and picked up several nice size spotted bass. I fished one brush pile for about an hour before the bite stopped. The crappie and bass were caught between 9 and 10AM, but I was on the lake by about 6:30AM looking for striper without much luck! I did fish the mouth of our cove first thing this morning. As I was heading out I was graphing in about 50 feet of water and marked bait and a lot of arcs. I tossed out a couple of live shiners and also started to vertical jig with a spoon. The live baits were attacked quickly by largemouth bass. I caught 3 very quickly then headed out on my quest for stripers.

The 2.5 inch + rainfall we had the other day has caused the lake to rise almost 1 1/2 feet since Wednesday. This just takes us to a little above normal pool.

The Norfork Lake level is rising and currently sits at 552.33. The surface water temperature was 46 - 47 degrees this morning. The main lake is still clear, but the creeks and coves are very stained. Generation is happening very sporadically during the day.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Bass Fishing Report

2012-01-25T15:21:00.001-06:00

The weather and the fishing on Norfork Lake has been very good. Largemouth and spotted bass fishing has been really good this winter. The fish are in their winter pattern so you will need to slow down your retrieval methods. With the colder water the fish have slowed down so you need to slow down as well. Yesterday I was using two methods to fish for bass; vertical jigging a spoon, and throwing a 2.5 inch grub/swimming minnow. I found that after lifting the spoon off of the bottom to let it fall, most of my hits came when the spoon was on the bottom motionless for a few seconds. I then would start to pull up and the fish would be on the line. Basically I found that I had to slow down my jigging speed. I was jigging in and around brush piles in 30 - 40 feet of water and the best fish were found on both main lake and creek points. My second method of fishing was with a 2.5 inch Berkley Powerbait with a T tail with a 1/4ounce jig head. I have found this bait to be very versatile. I can work it on the bottom as if it was a worm or I can let is sink to a certain depth and retrieve slowly working it as a swimming minnow. With this bait you can fish for the bottom feeding fish as well as the bass that are suspended. I was using the T tail minnow around the same areas as I was vertical jigging. Yesterday I caught bigger fish jigging and the smaller ones came on the T tail minnow.
I caught well over 20 bass yesterday between my morning and late afternoon outings. I usually only fish once a day, but yesterday was so beautiful and warm that I had to go out again. The above photo shows the average size that I was catching, but of course there were the little guys in the mix. I have gotten reports from a few friends that they have been using wiggle warts and doing well casting along the deep bluff lines.

Today the weather has changed to lots of rain. This may be a very good thing for Norfork Lake. So far today we have had close to 2 inches of rain and have more in the forecast for this evening. The lake will be on the rise and the off color water will increase back in the creeks. One good rule of thumb is to find where the muddy water line and the clear water line meets. Fish in this area and you will find fish.

Norfork Lake has risen over 4 inches since last evening and should rise more unless generation increases a lot.The lake level currently sits at 551.37. Sporadic power generation, just a few hours at a time. The lake surface temperature was 47 - 48 degrees yesterday evening and was 46 degrees in the morning. The main lake was very clear and the creeks and coves getting clearer. This will change over the next couple of days due to the run-off.

If you like Cajun food, gumbo in particular, check out the blog on our website. Linda made seafood gumbo today with Norfork Lake striped bass. It really hit the spot. The recipe can be found at http://hummingbird-hideaway.com/

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2012-01-19T16:36:00.000-06:00

The black bass and crappie bite on Norfork Lake has been outstanding. Even though most people in the area hated the high water that we had in 2008 and 2011, it appears the fish in Norfork Lake benefited. It appears that the high water years have increased the population of bass and crappie and has also increased the size of the fish. This winter I have caught more big bass and big crappie on a routine basis then I have in prior years. Maybe I'm just becoming a better fisherman. (lol) I haven't fished much since my last report, but when I did get out I did well. I have had the best luck on the morning bite verses the afternoon bite, but still am catching fish both times.Today I landed this nice 6.05 pound largemouth with a white 3 inch Berkley's paddletail grub (similar to a swimming minnow). I was using a 1/4 chartreuse jig head on the grub and casting the bait toward the shore line, then working it slowly back to the boat along the bottom. This big boy hit when the bait was roughly in 25 - 30 feet of water. I thought I had a very large catfish on the line because it was fighting so hard to stay on the bottom and not come up. I also spooned up several nice bass from the bottom in 30 - 40 feet of water. Along with the grub and spoon I casted a wiggle wart and caught 4 bass, but all were undersized. Today I fished Float Creek along bluff lines and around brush piles. A week ago I fished in the Diamond Bay area and caught many bass right at sunrise. The bite lasted over an hour in one area. Photo 3 above is an example of the size of fish caught that day. I typically release all fish, but today I cleaned the Kentucky bass and two of my crappie for dinner.

Crappie have also been hitting. Today I caught 5 crappie, all in the 11 - 13 inch range and kept two to eat. I was using a 3/4 ounce spoon fishing for bass and a big crappie slammed my bait in 41 feet of water. I decided to downsize the spoon to a 1/4 ounce spoon to see if the crappie bite would improve and it did. I was fishing in brush in 35 - 45 feet of water and the fish caught were inside of the brush. I have also caught nice crappie using a small curly tail grub as well as my Berkley's paddle tail grub. Retrieval methods that I use are to cast and slowly retrieve with stops along the way to let the baits drop and I also work the grubs vertically like the spoon.

Striper fishing has been another story. The stripers have outsmarted me for the last several weeks. It appears they have moved out to the main lake in deep water chasing shad. I usually start each of my fishing trips targeting stripers but if I can't find them in an hour or two I tend to switch to other species. That was the story today, but I will take a 6+ pound largemouth any day:-) I think all the various fronts, cold, warm then more cold and warm fronts have gotten the stripers confused. Hopefully things will stabilize this week and the striper bite will start to happen again.

Linda and I attended the Collinsville Fishing show in Collinsville, IL a week ago. We met many new fishing men and women that want to try their fishing expertise in Norfork Lake. We also welcomed the chance to renew friendships with past and current guests. Our next show will be in Tinley Park, IL (a little south of Chicago). This fishing show is held at the Tinley Park High School and is being held February 11, 12th. If your in the area stop by and say Hey.

The Norfork Lake level is fairly stable and currently sits at 551.67. The surface water temperature was 46 - 48 degrees this AM. The main lake is clear and the creeks and coves are still a little stained, but starting to clear. The Corp of Engineer is running generators sporadically during the day and maintaining lake level.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Happy New Year from Hummingbird Hideaway Resort

2011-12-31T19:19:00.000-06:00

Happy New Years to all of our fishing blog friends. We hope 2012 brings many memorable fishing trips, good health and prosperity. Be safe. See you on Norfork Lake!

Lou and Linda Gabric
Hummingbird Hideaway Resort

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2011-12-30T14:36:00.000-06:00

Norfork Lake is always open. Today it is 61 degrees with the sun shining. Don't you just love this type of winter weather! The fish are feeding heavily and hitting very hard. No light bites today. Linda and I were in Houston, Texas over the Christmas holiday visiting family and friends. It was very enjoyable, but I still couldn't stop thinking about all the fish that I wasn't catching. I fished the last two mornings with success and had a ball.

Yesterday I caught one striper and missed two others and also landed several nice largemouth bass. I started fishing the beach area around Bidwell Point then headed to Float Creek. I caught bass at Bidwell and the striper bites were in Float. I was using medium to large size thread fin shad, but shiners have also been working. I found the bass in 25 - 35 feet of water suspended 10 - 20 feet down. The striper bites came 40 feet down in 70 feet of water off of a bluff line.

Today was much more exciting. I left my dock around 6AM and headed over to the Henderson bluffs. I graphed for a while, but decided to leave since the wind was blowing about 12 mph straight into the bank. I am sure it would have been a great place to start fishing, but I didn't want to fight the wind. It is also very hard for me to fish live bait alone in strong winds. I headed to the Diamond Bay area along a bluff line that I knew would be protected from the wind. I got there before daylight and marked plenty of bait on the surface, but no fish. I decided to fish for a while to see what would happen once the bait started to drop into deeper water. Once the sun came up the bait dropped to 30 - 40 feet and I started marking many fish slashing through the bait balls. I had 4 poles down with live shad and was casting a 3 inch green paddle tail grub with a 1/8 oz jig head. I started catching black bass immediately, both close to the bank and also in deeper water. I started the grub on the bottom close to shore and retrieved it slowly to the boat. Then the live bait started to get active. I had two poles down at 20feet and 2 poles down at 40feet. I had poles going off one after the other. At one point I had 4 bass lying on the floor of the boat. Action was non-stop for about an hour. I landed 12 fish and missed many more. 7 of the 12 were keeper size. The photo above was and example of my catch. All bass were released. Once the bite slowed I headed to Float Creek. The wind was blowing hard straight into the creek, but I decided to fish anyway. I set out 4 poles with live bait, 2 at 30feet and 2 at 40feet. I fished the same bluff line as yesterday staying in 70 - 75 feet of water. I started marking big arcs down 60feet so I dropped a 1/2oz spoon right on the head of this one big arc and when I went to jig it upwards the fish was hooked. I knew immediately that is was a big fish as it was having its way with me. I think the fight lasted 20 minutes. Over half of this time the fish sat in 20 feet of water and would not budge. Half way though the fight one of my live bait poles took off. I didn't want to loose the fish I was fighting so I just left the pole in the rod holder. I kept an eye on the reel and finally could see the silver metal of the spool. The fish spooled me in less than one minute. I had at least 140 yds of line on that reel. I guess it was a good size fish and it must have known I needed new line.

I still haven't been crappie fishing myself, but friends and guests that have been crappie fishing have been doing well. Live bait is working the best, but small grubs tipped with a minnow is also working well. The fish are still on the brush in shallow water early and late in the day and go to deeper brush in mid day. You can also find them at all depths. From 6 - 10 feet down over the brush as well as closer to the shore line. They can also be found directly inside of the brush pile. Find brush in 20 - 40 feet of water and start fishing at different depths until you find them.

The Norfork Lake level is holding fairly steady at 552.26. The Corps is running both generators a good portion of the day and this is maintaining the level. The surface water temperature this morning was a little above 50 degrees. The main lake is clear with the creeks and coves stained. The upcoming weather forecast is calling for daytime temps in the 50 - 60's with evenings dropping into the 30's & 40's. Great winter weather. We brought our granddaughter from Texas home with us for a week and she is hoping for snow. This is one wish I hope is not granted:-)

Happy fishing and see you on the water.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2011-12-25T12:01:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas to all my fishing friends. I am not on the lake but should be back to fishing in the next several days.

Have a very Merry Christmas with your family and friends. I hope that the New Year brings many memorable fishing trips and that trophy size Norfork Lake fish whether it be striped bass, walleye, black bass, crappie, ect.

Happy fishing and see you soon out on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2011-12-15T08:19:00.000-06:00

If you enjoy open water fishing in the winter months, Norfork Lake is the place to be. The fish are feeding and the bite is on for most species. Whether you enjoy fishing early mornings, mid day, evenings or after dark you can find fish. We are still getting mid morning topwater action for striped bass and white bass, watch for the feeding seagulls.

The striped bass are schooling and are continually on the move. In early mornings I have found them on flats in 28 - 50 feet of water feeding on shad. Live bait such as thread fin shad and shiners and artificial are all working. I have caught fish in the Cranfield and Bidwell areas early mornings. Just last Monday mid morning the stripers started to erupt back in the bayou area. This info is from one of my fishing friends. The birds have been a big help. Flocks of seagulls will suddenly appear and start diving into the water. If you happen to be in the same area start throwing a Rooster tail, rattle trap and even a topwater bait such as a Zara Spook. A Rooster tail has worked great for me. I let it sink to different depths and then retrieve it to the boat. As the sun gets up a little the fish tend to go a little deeper into 50 - 70 feet of water, but are still following the shad. Once the fish move to deeper water I start to vertical jig with a spoon and of course, still have live bait down on several poles. I have also been fishing in the afternoons. I have found fish in the mouth of our cove as well as back in Float Creek and back by the 6A area. The problem with winter fishing for striper is their movements. You will find and catch fish one day in a certain area one dat and then the next day they are not there. I have about 5 different areas that I tend to check out until I find the bait and then the schools of stripers.

I told my facebook followers that I would give some details of my comedy of errors fishing trip last Monday afternoon. I was fishing back in Float creek. The bait was thick from 30 feet down to 55 feet and large schools of striper started to appear. I had been casting a Rattle trap with little success and laid the pole down by my feet and started to spoon. I also had 4 live bait poles out, set at 25 and 35 feet deep. All of a sudden one of the live bait poles started to zing, I quickly jumped up from my seat and must have kicked my casting pole a little and when I stepped down to the deck to grab the pole with the fish I heard and felt a big snap. My casting rod snapped in half. My drag went out on the pole with the fish and the fish broke off: A few minutes later both of my back poles took off. I ran to the back of the boat to see both lines going straight towards each other. Needless to say the two fish tangled and both got off. I was getting pretty discouraged at this point. Then another live bait pole took off and I landed the above 11 pound fish. Finally! Another bite came on live bait while I was retying one of the leaders and to say the least I got to the pole too late to set the hook. Things started to quiet down a little and I started to spoon again. I hooked into a nice fish and my swivel broke in half. This was a first for me. It was a great afternoon for bites, but a really poor performance day for the fisherman LOL

You would think by now that I would learn that too many rods on the boat is not always a good thing. But of course I still have not learned this lesson! 4 poles out with live bait and the 5th pole with artificial, I think will always be a standard for me while striper fishing.

Crappie are still on the brush from 20 - 35 feet down. Live bait, grubs, grubs with live bait and spoons are my baits of choice. I have not fished much for crappie lately as I have been have too much fun striper fishing.

White and small hybrid bass are also following the shad. I have found then on the flats in 30 - 50 feet of water and vertical jigging with a spoon has been working the best for me. The above photo of 4 fish show the size of the whites.

Walleye fishing is starting to pick up, but is the slowest bite of all species. You will find them on the same flats early in the morning, late afternoon and after dark. Bluffs with chunk rock in 20 - 40 feet of water are also holding some nice walleye during mid day. We should start see a good pick up in the walleye bite in mid January and on.

The Norfork Lake Level is currently at 552. It has risen slightly from my last report, but is starting to fall slowly as power generation is starting to increase. The surface lake temperature is in the low to mid 50's. The main lake is clear and creeks and coves are still stained.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2011-11-29T16:57:00.000-06:00

I hope all had a great Thanksgiving with family and friends. I know we did. We had our daughter, one and 1/2 of our granddaughters and our son-in-law in town for most of last week. It was really nice to have them up from Texas. We also had two other family groups that decided to make Hummingbird Hideaway Resort their destination for a Thanksgiving gathering. It was nice seeing so many people out having fun with all of their family members. One group had 4 generations and the other had 3. They had campfires, hiked, fished and enjoyed each others company.

Currently the best bite on Norfork Lake is for crappie, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass and spotted bass. White bass, striped bass, hybrid bass have been good at times especially when you find them schooling.

I have caught crappie in 30 feet of water vertical jigging with a 3/4 oz spoon. I also have caught a few in shallow water on a large 3 inch green paddle tail grub. One of our guests was using live crappie minnows and caught crappie in 5 feet of water close to the banks. You need to find the brush and fish at different depths over the brush and also inside of the brush to the shoreline. They are moving in and out of the brush to feed. My daughter caught her nice 13 - 14 inch crappie on a spoon, jigging in 30 feet of water in and around brush.

Bass are moving up to the banks to feed early and late in the day. I caught bass using my green grub and one of my guests had a great morning using a small black grub and casting to the shore and retrieving slowly on the bottom. Black was the only color that he had luck with. Crank baits and spinner baits are also catching some nice fish. My guests found bass in our cove close to some docks on the shoreline. I have found them on the bluff lines close to brush piles.

Stripers and whites are schooling and when you find the school you will catch fish. Some of these schools are breaking the surface at times. I found some really nice top water action right at the mouth of our cove at about 10:00AM. My daughter ended up landing this nice 14 pound fish on a white & chartreuse Zara Spook. It took her quite some time to land the fish as she is also still carrying our third granddaughter. (She is scheduled to land Jillian at the end of February :-) We also caught some nice stripers off of bluffs in the Robinson area. The fish are suspended anywhere from 20 - 60 feet down in 80 - 100 feet of water. We were using live shad for these fish. Live shiners are starting to catch some nice stripers. There has also been some nice fish caught in the Cranfield area both on top water as well as on the bottom.

A cold front has moved in which will start cooling the water. Fishing patterns should not change much except for the top water action. This will slow as the the water cools, but hopefully it will last another week or so. I will not be out in the mornings fishing the next couple of days as it is forecast to be very cold for the next couple of mornings. I don't like fishing when my rod guides freeze up! I will be out in the afternoons, though. Hard to keep me off of the lake:-)

A little different sport is also available in the area. My son-in-law took a Pheasant hunting trip with Tom Reynolds of STR Outfitters last Wednesday. He had a great time. It was his first Pheasant hunt so it took him a few birds to zero in his sites.He stated that this hunt was one of the best and most fun that he has ever been on.

The Norfork Lake water level is starting to stabilize at around 550.9. It has risen almost 2 feet with the various rains that we had over the last couple of weeks. Very little generation over the last week. The lake surface water temperature has fallen to the upper 50's. The main lake is clear (not as clear as normal) and the creeks and coves are still stained.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2011-11-21T18:23:00.000-06:00

If you're looking to have fun fishing, the fall bite is happening on Norfork Lake. The fish are schooling and starting the feeding frenzy typical before the cooler months of winter. They are aggressive and active. If you are looking to catch that trophy striper now is the time to try your luck.

The crappie bite has been really good. The crappie are located on sunken brush piles. I have found good fish on brush in 30 - 35 feet of water as well as on brush in 20 feet of water. The fish are suspended on top of the brush and also in shallower water inside the brush closer to the bank. Vertical jigging a spoon as well as throwing a small grub is working great. I can't pinpoint a spoon size because I have caught fish on all sizes from a 1 oz. to a 1/8 oz. spoon. I typically jig vertically and vary the method from a quick high pull up to a slight twitch. I have been catching most of my 15 inch fish on a big spoon with a quick high snap of the spoon then letting the spoon float down, or on a 3 inch paddle tail grub with a 1/4 oz jig head working the tops of the brush piles. The crappie have been hitting the spoon on the fall. Last evening I was fishing brush in the Cranfield area and the bite was fantastic. I have caught big slabs in the Tracy area, Fall creek, Float creek and Panther creek. As you can see the crappie bite is happening all over the lake on both the main lake as well as in the creeks.

The night bite for stripers, slow rolling a stick bait, is in full swing. Morning fishing for stripers with live bait (shiners are working) is starting to pick up. Last evening I hooked into this monster striper at about 6PM. It was windy, overcast, foggy, misting and very very dark. Kind of a spooky night for fishing, but what a reward. I hooked into this fish and at first I thought it was another walleye, but after about 15 cranks on the reel it realised it was hooked and the long run began. I was fishing a bluff line in the Cranfield area and the fish took off down the shore line, I ended up setting my trolling motor on high speed to try to keep up with fish. It must have ran for at least 10 minutes (by now I was next to the island) then the fight really began, one pull up and 5 cranks down, then the fish pulled drag more than my gain. After about 25 minutes I landed the fish. I did have my drag set a little loose, but ended up tightening. I have straightened out too many hooks on rogues and didn't want to loose this fish. He was given his freedom as soon as he smiled for the camera. The morning bite for stripers is picking up. Lateley (from first hand and word of mouth) fish have been caught in Float Creek, Diamond Bay and up North at the MO line. Both stripers, hybrids and whites are schooling and starting to really feed before the cooler temps get here.When you find a school of fish vertical jigging with a spoon works great.

Walleye are also biting my stick bait after dark. I caught a nice 18 inch fish right after dark last evening. He was right on the shoreline. I also hooked two walleye before dark while I was spooning over a brush pile at 30 feet. Both deep fish were just a hair under 18 inches so they were released.

The black bass are starting to move to the shore line to feed. All forms of baits are working depending on the conditions of the weather. I have caught bass on grubs in about 10 feet of water, on spoons in 30 feet of water and also live bait in 50 feet of water. The above bass was caught on live bait in 50 feet of water.

I forgot to mention that I have encountered serveral large schools of big fish busting the surface. Keep your favorite top water bait handy at all times.

I don't know why the fishing was so good last evening, but I'm not complaining. Any day you go out and catch stripers, walleye, crappie and catfish you can say you had great day of fishing. But as I always say any day of fishing beats a day of work whether you catch fish or not!!

The Norfork Lake surface water temperature has been in the high 50's to very low 60's. The water is clear on the main lake and stained in the creeks and coves. Slight generation periodically thoughout the day. The Norfork Lake water level currently sits at 549 and is rising very slowly, due to our current rainy conditions.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2011-11-12T16:47:00.000-06:00

This morning was one of my best fishing days on Norfork Lake in the Arkansas Ozarks. I feel comfortable in stating that the fall bite has started. Fall bite meaning schooling fish that are in a feeding frenzy, some early and late top water action and a good bite after dark.

I caught so many heavy fish this morning that my right arm is actually sore this afternoon. What a thing to complain about:-) I ended up catching 18 fish in total with a big variety; striped bass, hybrid bass, white bass, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass and spotted bass. I also caught fish using varied fishing techniques. I caught top water fish using my Zara Spook, used a spoon vertical jigging for deep fish and also caught fish on live thread fin shad for deep fish. At one time I had 4 fish on at once, 3 on live bait and one on my spooning rod. I did get to land 3 of the 4. All three fish landed were hybrids.

I started out from my dock around 6AM and headed to the mid lake area. I first stopped at a main lake point and was marking fish. I set out 4 down rods, but after about 15 minutes of sitting on my trolling motor because of the high winds I decided to move to other areas. I headed back into a creek along a deep bluff line and started to mark feeding fish. I dropped 3 down rods with live bait and was vertical jigging with a spoon. I hooked into one after another white bass with my spoon on. These were monster whites about 2.5 - 3 pounds. One of my live bait rods started to sing and I ended up landing a striper. A few fish started coming up to the surface so I grabbed my top water rod and casted out and after two twitches a nice smallmouth hammered the spook. I ended up landing another smallie and a hybrid bass. I was fishing in about 50 - 60 feet of water and the fish were mainly in the 25 - 40 feet depth range with some on the surface. I was fishing close to the bluff wall. The fish in the area disappeared around 9AM, so I headed across the bay toward the opposite side following the creek channel. I got to about the middle of the bay and a live bait rod started singing. I fought this fish for 15 minutes before the line broke. I was disappointed because this fish felt much larger than the first striper. I continued following the channel and came close to the opposite bank when I saw all the feeding fish on my graph again. I hooked into one with my spoon, then 3 of my live bait rods took off at the same time. What a dilemma! I picked up each rod with one hand, set the hook and set it back in the rod holder. I landed a hybrid on my spoon then started on the other rods. I was really fortunate that none of the fish tangled with each other. I continued fishing this area until about 11AM and was catching hybrids right and left. It was a really fun morning. The wind started to howl even stronger and started to blow into the bay so I headed for home even though the fish still were biting. Fun fall fishing morning, hopefully many more to come!

I also fished last evening for crappie. A boat was on one of the brush piles close to the resort where I have been catching many 13 - 15 inch crappie on so I decided to head the opposite direction closer to the 101 bridge. I started fishing brush in 30 - 35 feet and only landed a couple small bass. I moved closer to shore in about 20 feet of water and the crappie were stacked. They weren't the huge ones, but respectable 10 - 12 inch fish. I caught 5 and released all. I was using a 1/4 oz green and white spoon.

White bass are being caught back in creeks and also on main lake flats. Look for the bait fish and watch your sonar for feeding fish. Vertical jigging is working great.

I also have word that the night bite has started. The evening before last a friend caught a nice striper, hybrid and walleye. Slow rolling a Rogue is the preferred technique. Some of the best places to fish are main lake points that are shallow out into the lake, but still have deep water close by. I guess I will need to get out there soon.

The Norfork Lake level is currently at 548.68, with the surface water temperature in the high 50's to low 60's. The main lake is clear with the creeks and coves stained. Minimal water generation lately.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2011-11-08T16:12:00.000-06:00

A quick update on Norfork Lake white bass fishing. The whites are schooling and feeding heavily on shad. I fished last evening back in a cove across from Hummingbird Hideaway's cove and found whites in 30 - 35 feet of water. At least I assumed they were whites. They were feeding from the top to the bottom. I hooked into 6 fish but only got to boat 1 black bass. The trip today trip confirmed that the fish I did not get good hook sets on were actually white bass.

Today I headed out fishing around noon before the storms arrived. I found the whites at the mouth of the same cove in 50 - 80 feet of water. They were feeding on shad from the surface to 30 feet down. I started to vertical jig with a 1 oz. spoon and hooked into 9 fish, but only boated 5 of them. I think the hook on the 1 oz spoon is a little large for the mouth of white bass. I will downsize to a 3/4 oz spoon the next time. They were all in the 1.5 - 2.5 pound range. Nice size fish! They also were surfacing a little, but most of the whites that took a swipe at my spook were small. I only got to fish for a little less than an hour before the storms started rumbling all around me and it hasn't stop rain since. We have had over an inch of rain today.

Other baits that will work when you find suspended feeding white bass are Rooster Tail spinners and blade baits like a Kastmaster. I like both of these to be 1/2 ounce or larger so they can get down to 15 - 20 feet.

That is all for now.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2011-11-06T19:53:00.000-06:00

My guests and I have had a lot of fun Crappie and Bass fishing since my last report on Norfork Lake. The current best bite on the lake is for crappie, largemouth and smallmouth bass and bluegill. I have not been catfishing lately so I really can't speak about catfish, but looking back at last year, November should be a great time to catch catfish. The striper bite may be starting to get active so keep checking back to see when it kicks off.

I had a couple of guests out fishing the last couple of days and they caught some really nice slab crappies. A couple of them measured in at 15 inches. They were using live minnows, both crappie minnows as well as shad. The bite wasn't non stop, but it definitely kept their interest. They were catching fish on brush piles close to our resort. The brush should be in 25 - 35 feet of water with the tops around 15 - 20 feet. The fish are suspended on the top of the brush as well as on the bottom. Big thumper bluegill are in the same brush piles and also on the inside of the piles closer to shore.

I also fished this morning and caught two nice 15 inch crappies and several smallmouth bass. I was using a Berkley's 2 1/2 inch T-tail minnow (or grub) with a 1/4 oz jig head. The bass were hitting the jig in 10 - 20 feet of water and the crappie attacked the grub when I started to bring the bait straight up to the boat. I try to keep the boat in about 35 feet of water. Anytime I was sitting on a brush pile I caught a crappie. Earlier in the week I was bass fishing with another guest. The first day we did really good on keeper size smallmouth, but the second day slowed and we just caught a few. I was using my grub and Grant was throwing a Texas rigged worm. Both baits were being worked slowly back to the boat.

Congrats goes out to all the participants in the Mr. Bass of Arkansas Pro-Am Classic. It was held on Friday, Saturday and the finals were today. We did have the winning amateur staying with us. He took home a nice check for 1st Place. Congratulation to Kevin Crow. Kevin said he had all his luck casting a Wiggle Wart. The keeper size bite was tough for all (but plenty of undersized fish were caught) and after the weigh-in on Saturday the top 10 Pros weighed in from 19 - 28 pounds for a two day total. Those top 10 fished today, but I was unable to attend the weigh-in to see how they did. It seemed like they caught keeper bass all over the lake. They were fishing in shallow water in the backs of creeks to deep water bluff lines and brush piles. They were catching fish on crank baits, swim baits, jigs and spinners. It does seem like all fishing techniques are starting to work. This is very typical for bass fishing this time of year.

Striper fishing has still been slow, but all hope that it picks up very shortly. Tom Reynolds of STR Outfitters fished yesterday and landed 3 nice striper and missed two others. Hopefully this is a sign that things are about to change with the striper bite.

The Norfork Lake surface water temperature has dropped to the high 50's to the low 60's. We have some rain and cool weather coming in the next few dasy so it should help to drop the temps a little lower. The Norfork Lake level is at 549.23 and dropping slowly at about an inch per day. The main lake is clear with the creeks and cover starting to clear.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Crappie Fishing Report

2011-10-27T10:01:00.000-05:00

Norfork Lake Crappie fishing has been fun the last couple of days. I had to check out my Tuesday morning success by fishing yesterday afternoon. I decided to just fish brush piles and coves close to my resort dock. I first graphed Hummingbird Hideaway's cove. I marked some bass on brush piles, but didn't find much bait in the area. I headed out to the bluff across from my cove to a brush pile. I spooned up one bass in about 30 feet of water. I switched to throwing a jointed Shad Rap that goes about 10 - 15 feet deep along the bluff line. I picked up another small bass. When I came to a point off a small cut along the bluff line, I hooked a nice blue gill, a small crappie and the above 15 inch crappie. Nice slab! I then headed to another brush pile in the Cranfield area. This was the brush that came alive. I ended up spooning 5 nice 12 - 14 inch crappie in about 20 minutes. WOW!! I moved to a cut along the bluff line I was fishing and picked up another crappie. I then tried a cove across from my cove. When I got back into the cove I could see bait fish on the surface. I started throwing my shad rap and landed a keeper size largemouth bass. I noticed the bait had moved to the bottom (32 feet of water) so I started to spoon. I hooked 3 more bass, but only got to land one of them. The other two shook off the hook. I wasn't keeping any bass anyway.

My short afternoon trip was a success and I did verify that the trip on Tuesday was not a fluke. Crappie on Norfork Lake have come alive and are very aggressive.

Today is a rain day, but the forecast is calling for nice fall weather throughout the weekend. I will be back on the lake more than likely tomorrow. It is really hard to keep me off the lake especially with these nice fall days. My wife just can not understand why I like to spend so much time on the water fishing! I think she would like me to start quilting with her. (Not going to happen) I just love to fish for all species especially striped bass.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2011-10-26T10:45:00.002-05:00

The Fall bite on Norfork Lake is getting better and better each day. Currently the best bite on the lake is for largemouth and smallmouth bass, crappie, bluegill and catfish. The lake is still on the warm side, but with upcoming cool fronts, the lake should dip into the low to mid 60's. Ideal fishing temperatures. It also appears that the lake is close to completing (if not finished) its annual turn-over. The fishing should really start to improve :-)

To all those that will be traveling to Mountain Home for the Mr. Bass of Arkansas Pro-Am fishing tournament on Norfork Lake, have a safe trip to the area. I predict it will be a great tournament with many fish being caught. Have a great time.

The black bass pattern is still very similar to my last report. You will find largemouth and smallmouth bass around brush piles in 20 - 30 feet of water. Also fish along deep bluff lines as the sun comes up, the fish are hanging on the ledges. The biggest change is that you will also find the fish back in the creeks and coves following the shad. I fished a jointed shad rap for a while yesterday late morning and had success on main lake points working the windy side. Most of the fish I caught were short, but I did catch one keeper. There has been some top water action as the sun rises and also as it sets. Most of the fish I have caught have been the small ones. I believe the big boys are staying deep waiting for cooler water. The baits of choice are still jigs worked slowly on the bottom. Cast to about 10 feet of water, let it sink to the bottom and work it though 30 feet of water before bringing it back to the boat. Spinner baits and crank baits are starting to produce some fish, but again mostly short ones.

Yesterday I found schooling crappie off of a rocky bank inside of a cove. I was spooning in about 30 feet of water and saw a lot of bait on the bottom. Each time I dropped my spoon (1 oz. green and white) a crappie would hammer the bait. I ended up catching 4 nice nice crappie before I lost the school. The two fish in the photo swallowed the treble hook so I ended up keeping them. The others were released. I also caught two fat walleye in the same area, but they were only 17 inches long. I have also caught a few crappie on brush piles in 25 - 35 feet of water. The crappie are getting very active so if you are targeting crappie it might be a good time to plan a trip.

Striped bass fishing is still up and down. Last Saturday Tom Reynolds of STR Outfitters had a good trip with Kari and Robert Bahus. They were fishing up north with live shad. Yesterday I fished the same area and only had one fish on that broke off and another pull down and release. I fished for about 3 hours with only the two bites then decided to do a little bass fishing. With the cooling of the water and the turn-over of the lake, I expect very soon the stripers to turn on with a vengeance. I hope!!!

The Norfork Lake level is fairly stable with intermittent generation and currently sits at 570.56. The lake has dropped about 1 feet in the last two weeks. The lake surface water temperature has fallen to the mid to upper 60's. The main lake is fairly clear with the creeks and coves starting to clear.

On a final note the weather forecast for tomorrow is for some rain and cooler temperatures. By the weekend it is forecast for sunny skies with highs in the 60's and lows in the 40's. Great weather for fishing or just viewing the surrounding scenery. Another great fall weekend is in store for us so call for reservations, you don't want to missed out on this beautiful fall weather at Hummingbird Hideaway Resort.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2011-10-13T10:48:00.000-05:00

I want to again congratulate all the qualifiers of the Mr. Bass of Arkansas Pro-Am fishing Tournaments. Good luck at your upcoming Classic on Norfork Lake, The black bass fishing has been outstanding. Read on for some helpful tips for bass fishing on Norfork Lake. If you are still looking for a place to stay call Hummingbird Hideaway Resort at 870-492-5113. I will be able to give you some up to date tips on your arrival. Our dock and concrete launch is located less than 2 miles from Henderson Marina (take - off) and only 4 miles from the Ramada Inn. One of the closest resorts on the lake to your take-off and weigh-in location.

Largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass fishing on Norfork Lake has been outstanding over the last few weeks. The fishing should only improve as the lake water temperature drops into the 60's. The surface temperature is still around 70 degrees, but the cool rain and the cooler evening air temperatures should drop the lake water temp. We currently have several guests who are bass fishing and love to throw a jig & pig. Their color of choice is a brown skirt around the jig head with a white chunk. Larry makes all of his own jigs. Most of the fish are being caught in 15 - 30 feet of water toward the bottom. After dark the bluff lines are producing nice fish and during the day main lake points at the end of a bluff line are holding fish. Sunken brush nearby is a tremendous added plus. I also found a little different pattern for big black bass. I was working a long wide flat that has the deep channel next to it. I found feeding fish on the bottom in about 35 feet of water. The fish could be seen on the locator and were stacked and feeding. Large smallmouth bass, spotted bass and walleye were in this area. I was actually using live bait at this time, but vertical jigging a spoon, swimming minnows or other plastics worked on the bottom should also produce some nice fish. The smallmouth below was 3 pounds and was caught this morning on windy points using a Jig & Pig.

Bluegill fishing has also been fantastic lately. Crickets have been working the best, but cut nightcrawlers threaded on the hook will work equally as well. Some really large thumpers are being caught. I guess the worse part of gill fishing is the cleaning, but the non stop catching action and of course the eating part out-weighs the cleaning.

Stripers are showing up all over the lake, but the bite is still slow. I hooked into a nice one yesterday morning, but it spit the hook as I was setting it. It was pulling drag so I have no idea why the hook did not set. Next time! I hooked into this fish in the Robinson area. I am marking some big arcs in the 40 - 50 feet range suspended in 60 - 80 feet of water. I will keep you updated when the bite takes off. The water should cool a little over the next couple of days so this should help.

The Norfork Lake level is fairly stable and sits at 551.67. Intermittent power generation is going on lowering the lake only about 1 inch per day, if that. The surface water temperature is in the very low 70's. The main lake is clear with the creeks and coves cloudy. The short term weather forecast is for sunny and clear skies with the night time air temps in the upper 40's to low 50's and the day time temps are to be in the 70's to low 80's. The upcoming weekend looks gorgeous. The trees are definitely turning colors so all of you leaf peepers come on out and view our gorgeous scenery.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2011-10-09T15:03:00.000-05:00

I want to congratulate all the qualifiers of the Mr. Bass of Arkansas Pro-Am fishing Tournaments. Good luck at your upcoming Classic on Norfork Lake, The black bass fishing should be outstanding. Read on for some helpful tips. If you are still looking for a place to stay call Hummingbird Hideaway Resort at 870-492-5113. I will be able to give you some up to date tips on your arrival. Our dock and concrete launch is located less than 2 miles from Henderson Marina (take - off) and only 4 miles from the Ramada. One of the closest resorts on the lake to your take-off and weigh-in location.

The best bite on Norfork Lake this early fall has been largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass, bluegill and crappie. Striped bass and white bass are both still a little slow, but with the cooling of the water watch out! The bite will explode.

The weather on Norfork Lake for the last couple of weeks has been gorgeous. The day time temps has been in the upper 70's to mid 80's with blue skies and the nights have been in the 50 and 60's. We have had no rain lately. The fall foliage colors are starting to appear so not only the fishing, but the view on the lake is going to be impressive.

I have never seen so many bluegill being cleaned at my dock as was this week. I have 3 different groups fishing for gills and they are bringing in basket loads daily. There have been some really nice slabs being caught. Crickets have been their bait of choice, those bluegill can not resist that little morsel. The best location to find massive numbers of gills have been in 10 - 15 feet of water that has sunken brush just outside of this location. I think the sunny skies have really turned these fish on!

Crappie are being caught in the same location, but suspended over the brush. They are about 15 - 25 feet down. Live minnows are doing the trick and on occasion they also hit the crickets. Grub fishing tipped with a minnow is also starting to produce a few nice slabs.

Largemouth, smallmouth and spotted (Kentucky) bass are all starting to feed heavily. I fished yesterday morning and concentrated on brush piles in 25 - 35 feet of water off of rocky, bluff line points. I was vertical jigging with a spoon right in the brush. I marked schools of fish suspended from 15 feet to the bottom. I mainly bounced the spoon off of the bottom. I ended up catching 10 black bass in three different locations. 6 were keeper size but all fish were released on sight. My biggest largemouth (had to be a 5 pounder) came up to the surface, very reluctantly and jump out of the water, shook its head and spit the hook out. I was disappointed because you would think that I would know by now, not to reach for the net until the fight is over!! Oh well, he will be there to catch another day. One of our guests is strictly bass fishing and is having a lot of luck throwing a jig and pig in the same locations. He is casting to about 15 feet of water and working the bait across the tops of the brush. He caught 5 nice size Kentucky's this morning. All smallies that I have been catching are in the 17 - 19 inch range and boy do they give a good fight.

Striped bass fishing is starting to pick up, but slowly. I have credible reports that fish have been caught in the point 2 marker area, back in the Bennett's area, 101 area and up north in the Calamity area. These fish have scattered and are located though-out the lake. It does not appear that they have started their winter feeding habits, but they should start feeding in earnest once the lake temperature gets into the 60's.

The Norfork Lake level is falling slowly about 1 - 2 inches per day and currently sits at 551.88. This is normal pool. The lake surface water temperature is in low 70's for most of the lake and in the upper 60's up north and in the far south. The main lake is fairly clear with the creeks and coves still cloudy.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2011-09-27T14:55:00.002-05:00

Norfork Lake is gearing up for a great fall bite. The lake temperature is dropping and is in the low 70's. The thermocline is starting to disappear in a lot of areas. The forecast for day time temperatures is in the upper 70's to low 80's and the nights in the 50's and 60's. Can't ask for much nicer fall weather. We have cabins available so call for you reservations:-)

The bass bite on artificial baits as well as live bait has been very good. I fished this morning and caught more fish vertical jigging with a spoon than I did with live bait. I was fishing in 25-35 feet of water. I had plenty of bites on live bait, but it was difficult getting to the poles when I also had a jigging spoon down. I found the fish on the end of a main lake points that had brush in 28 - 40 feet of water. The points that I am finding most productive are located on the end of bluff lines which gives the fish deep water close by. Last week one of our guests was only bass fishing and caught and released many fish. He was catching on crankbaits, plastic worms and jigs. Most of his success was on bluff lines and it was even better when he found brush.

The walleye bite this morning was also very good. I ended up spooning up 4 walleye, but they were only 17 inches long. I guess I found the day care area. They are located in the same locations as the bass. I caught all on a spoon, but did notice a few bites on my live bait. I guess I get too impatient and set the hook too soon and ended up only getting teeth marks on the the bait. With live bait you need to give them some line when they start to run, but once they stop set the hook. I will get the hang of this some day!!!

The striped bass bite is finally starting to pick up. Last Saturday one of my friends landed 7 nice fish. Tom Reynolds of STR Outfitters took a couple of our guests out and landed 3 fish with the biggest being 22 pounds. I have reports of another guide landing 5 stripers in the midlake area on Sunday. The stripers are on the move and starting to scatter though out the lake. The best part is that they are starting to bite. Another sign that the fall bite has started. The stripers are being found in 25 - 40 feet of water both on the bottom and suspended.

Catfish are hitting trotlines and jugs baited with live bait, chicken livers and cut bait. I have been baiting up a line in our cove the last few days but have only caught two fish. Each morning when I check the line all the bait is gone. I think I have been feeding the turtles. I guess I need to move my line to another location. A couple of our guests had some good success a week ago using live blue gill as bait. Photo on the top. I also caught a nice blue cat spooning this morning. You never know what you are going to catch when you are vertical jigging with a spoon. I guess that is why I enjoy it so much.

Crappie are on brush piles and under docks. You will find them 15ft to 30ft down over and in the brush.

Norfork Lake surface water temperature is in the low 70's and I have also found the upper 60's up North. The lake is falling slowly and currently sits at 553.27. Generation is intermitent and is only dropping the lake about 1 to 2 inches per day. The main lake is clearing quickly due to the light generation, but the creeks and coves are still stained.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2011-09-15T11:43:00.000-05:00

The Fall bite has started on Norfork Lake and will only get better as the lake continues to cool.

I am starting to see more and more top water action early in the morning and at sunset for black bass. We had a husband and wife team last weekend that caught over fifty fish one morning. They were throwing a shiny blade bait and caught many spotted bass, largemouth bass, bluegill and catfish. They also found some top water fish and started to throw a Zara spook. They said not many of the fish were of legal size, but they sure had a lot of fun. I caught several nice smallmouth earlier in the week. I was throwing a Cicada blade bait and a Zara spook. I let the blade bait fall about 20 feet, then start to reel in, then stop and let it fall again. This seemed to work with the spotted bass and smallmouth. I caught several small spots on top water. You will find bass on points at the end of a deep bluff lines and also on brush piles in the 25 - 30 feet range. The fish will be anywhere from 10 - 30 feet down. Jigging spoons or a drop shot rig are working if you are fishing over a brush pile. Of course live bait is also working great for bass around brush piles.

Crappie have also come into the brush piles. Again find your brush in 25 - 30 feet of water and the crappie will be suspended from 15 feet on down. Live bait is working the best, but spooning is producing some nice fish. Grubs tipped with a crappie minnow will start to work very soon if not already. I am also starting to see crappie come under my dock. One of our guests caught a nice 13 inch crappie under our dock yesterday.

Catfish are hitting trotlines and jugs. Live bait is working well, but chicken livers are also producing some nice fish on a rod and reel.

Pan fish are everywhere. Night crawlers and crickets are the baits of choice. Some really nice slabs are being caught from 3 feet to 25 feet down.

Walleye are being caught in 25 - 28 feet of water around brush piles and also on flats. Trolling a crankbait is working as long as you can get the bait down to this level. Lead core line will do the trick if you don't have a down rigger. Drifting with a crawler harness with a bottom bouncing weight is also producing some nice fish.

Striped bass fishing is still slow, but starting to pick up with the cooler water temperature. I would expect over the next couple of weeks the striper bite is going to just take off. With the current warm water these fish just are not feeding normally, but when they get back to it, it is going to be fun. I also expect a fantastic fall bite as well as a good top water bite for stripers once the lake cools. I hope I am correct in my expectations!!!

The Norfork Lake level is still falling about 4 - 5 inches per day and currently sits at 555.17. Just slightly above normal pool. The lake surface water temp in our cove this AM was 76 degrees, a drop of 4 degrees over yesterday evening. The main lake is clear with coves and creeks still stained and cloudy.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2011-08-31T17:43:00.004-05:00

Last Friday I took a couple of our guests out striper fishing on Norfork Lake. We landed two nice stripers and missed 4 others. I was fishing in the dam area in 80 feet of water and the stripers were lying right on the bottom. The bite was tough, but we waited them out and they finally bit. I was using thread fin shad. I have had reports that trollers are catching a few using down riggers and lead core line. Vertical jigging with a spoon is also producing a few nice fish. The stripers will more than likely stay at this depth until the water starts to cool in September and October. Norfork Lake typically turns over sometime between late September and mid October. When this happens the stripers will be at all depths, from deep water to shallow water. Fall and winter fishing is typically a very fun time to fish for striped bass. Sometimes we get a good striped bass top water bite in the early fall.

This week I have started to target largemouth and spotted bass, walleye and crappie. Monday I did a lot of moving around to locate fish and check out the various brush piles near my resort. I did get into some nice top water action with the black bass, but if you luck onto this you need to be ready. They only come up momentarily and if you can get your Zara spook close to them they just erupt on the bait. Yesterday I tried several bluff lines and caught a few nice bass, but couldn't find walleye. I ended up moving to a main lake point that has some nice brush in 25 - 35 feet of water and marked a ton of fish. I had two down lines out with live shad and was also spooning at times, as well as throwing a green grub with an 1/8 jig head. I caught black bass on the spoon and grub and a couple on the live bait. I moved to the inside of the point and started to get walleye bites. I landed two walleye, but both were 1/4 inch under size. I also picked up a nice crappie on the spoon. I had one great bite on the shad and the fish spooled out over 1/2 of my line. I thought for sure it was a hybrid or striper from the way it bit and the way it was running. I finally got it to the boat and found a nice 15 pound blue catfish. This was one of the best fights I have had in a while:-)

Today I left my dock around 5AM and first went to catch a few shad. I then headed to the same point as I ended my trip on Tuesday. I put two down lines at about 26 feet of water and it wasn't 5 minutes before one of the rods bent to the water. This was the nice 4 pound largemouth in the photo. I continued to catch bass on the live bait and missed many more than I caught because I was also trying to spoon at the same time. I was vertical jigging a 1/4 spoon for a while and picked up one of the crappi,e then switched to a 3/4 spoon and picked up the other crappie and a few bass. Overall I think I landed 12 bass and two crappie, but no walleye today. The best part of the last three days is that I have found that crappie have finally moved back to the brush from 20 - 30 feet, the black bass are in the same area from 15 feet to 30 feet down and I think the walleye are in around 25 - 30 feet sitting on the bottom. If you start fishing the brush piles be prepared to do a lot of re-tieing as you will get plenty of snags. I lost several nice fish and tackle after they headed straight into the brush.

I am having a day off of fishing tomorrow (boat rental check-out's), but should be out fishing Friday morning.

The Norfork Lake level is falling around 3 inches per day and currently sits at 560.35 ft above sea level. This is only 8 feet above normal pool of 552. The surface water temperature this morning was 84.5 degrees. The main lake is clear, but the creeks and coves are still cloudy.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2011-08-23T14:09:00.000-05:00

Norfork Lake is the place to enjoy the remaining summer days, before the fall water sports time begins. I have been striper fishing several times in the last couple of weeks and have been catching fish, even though it has been a tough bite. I have been fishing the dam area and finding fishing in 60 - 80 feet of water sitting on the bottom. It can become very frustrating when you know you are on fish and they will not bite. What I have found is that if you wait them out you will eventually get nice fish. I have caught several in the 20 - 25 pound range and some in the upper teens since my last report. I have been using live thread fin shad. Spooning is working somewhat. Some are telling me that vertical jigging has not been working, but instead you need to drop the spoon to the bottom and reel up 3/4's of the way, then drop it back down. They seem to be more aggressive on the reel up and are chasing the spoon. Trollers are catching fish, you have to get your bait down to the 60 - 80 foot level.

Bass, walleye, crappie and bluegill seem to be down 20 - 30 feet on the bottom. I have been finding lots of bait fish hovering in the 20 - 30 foot range and when I find the bait usually I mark a lot of fish. This is also telling me that the thermocline is dropping. Several weeks back the bait was all 20 feet or above. I am still noticing increased numbers of black bass breaking the surface at sunrise. Yesterday I actually saw (in the distance) a huge area of water just start to boil. There were big fish coming totally out of the water. They had to be hybrids due to the size of the fish or some really big white bass. I was a good 1/2 mile away and could still see the fish coming out of the water. This lasted about 15 minutes as they moved up a shore line. I also heard from Robert Lee that he also saw some nice top water action in a different area, but it didn't last as long. Normally you don't see this type of top water action this time of year, but the fishing this year has been a little different than past years.

Catfish are being caugth on trotlines using live bait and also on rod and reels using chicken livers.

The Norfork Lake surface water temperature was 84 - 85 degrees yesterday morning. The lake is sitll falling 2 - 3 inches per day and currently sits at 562.8.. The main lake is clear with the creeks and coves off color.

Hummingbird Hideaway Resort's dock parking area and launch is back to normal operation. We're glad to again have the convenience of launching right beside the dock.
Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2011-08-10T10:24:00.000-05:00

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.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2011-07-26T15:03:00.000-05:00

Norfork Lake is in its summer fishing pattern with a few twists compared to prior years. The striped bass are schooling and when you find one of these schools you won't believe the numbers of fish, they are massive. The main difference over prior years is that the fish continue to move and they may not be in the same location as the day before. I guess that is why they call it fishing. Half the fun is finding the fish and the other half is learning what to do to catch them once you've found them.

Today was no different. I have not fished since a week ago Sunday so I decided to do a lot of graphing to see what I could find. I started my day at 3AM (with a huge cup of coffee) then went out to find bait. Baiting was very tough this morning. My first 3 spots produced 3 shad. At my 4th spot I found a few more then moved one more time and in one throw I had all the bait that I needed. It did take about 2 1/2 hours, but I had fun. I started to graph in the mid lake area. I checked main lake points and bluff lines. I graphed from 50 feet of water out to the channel. I found a few fish, but nothing really exciting. I then headed to the Diamond Bay area and again I marked a few fish. I continued down to the dam area and marked some good fish on the bottom in 60 feet of water. I fished this area for a while and had one hit, but no fish. I moved to several other points and finally I marked many fish. I ended up catching one, broke off another and missed a third. As quick as the bite started it stopped. So I headed out. I got a call from one of my guests who was starting to get some nice bites, but his electronics were out and he wanted me to graph the area. I set out two poles 60 feet deep and in about 15 minutes I was marking lots of bait and big arcs all though the bait. I landed this nice 14 pounder and Jeff was also fighting a couple fish. It was a good area, but was it was getting late for me to be out so I headed in and am hoping the fish will be back in this location tomorrow!

Live bait fishing for stripers is working very well, but once you find the school you can also vertical jig a spoon. I have been finding the fish 50 - 70 feet deep, either on the bottom or suspended in 80 - 150 feet of water. My fish have been found on main lake points and along deep bluff lines.

I have not done much walleye fishing lately, but I talked with Leslie Wake of Twin Lakes Guide Service yesterday and he stated the walleye on Norfork Lake are becoming very active. Leslie has found that the walleye have finally moved out of the brush and can be found in 25 - 35 feet. of water on main lake points and flats. He has been doing very well with crawler harnesses. If you looking to take a guided walleye trip give Leslie a call at 417-252-0906.

We have a couple of young guests that are very avid fisherwomen. They love to fish off of the dock and also from their Dad's boat. (Mom's boat too!). Their bait of choice is either nightcrawlers or crickets. Both are working great.

I have no reports on Crappie fishing.

Catfishing is still good with live bait either on trotlines or jugs. Dragging a crawler harness at dark is also starting to produce some nice fish.

The Norfork Lake level is still falling slowly and currently rests at 568.8. The lake surface water temperature this morning was 89 degrees at both ends of the lake. The main lake is clear and the creeks and coves are clearing.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2011-07-18T14:28:00.000-05:00

The weather and the water temperature on Norfork Lake are perfect for your summer time pleasure. Whether it be skiing, tubing, swimming or fishing, Norfork Lake has it all.

Striper fishing on Norfork Lake has been outstanding lately. The fish have gone deep and you will find them on the bottom early mornings in 40 - 50 feet of water or suspended in 100+ feet of water 30 - 70 feet down. The stripers have finally started to school and when you find a school get ready!! Live bait is working great and vertical jigging a spoon through the school is producing some nice fish. Last Thursday I fished alone and landed 6 stripers by 8AM. I had to work at it but I finally got the first three fish to go back down, then I kept the next three fish. I am going to have to learn how to vent these fish because starting soon and for the next couple months they will not be able to be released. When you catch your limit you will need to go do a little bass or crappie fishing. Friday I fished with my daughter and a couple of our guests. We had a great time. At about 6:45AM the stripers started to erupt all around my boat. Every rod bent to the water. We landed two and broke off two. Each time I rebaited and cast the bait out it got hammered within minutes. We ended up landing 5 stripers out of this school. The fish were from the surface down 40 feet. It was really fun. My top water rod with a Zara spook tied on had a malfunction so I could not cast it out which really disappointed me. I know I could have landed a couple more fish. This top water action is very unusual for this time of year. I also fished Sunday with my daughter and granddaughter. We ended up missing three good bites. I was on fish, a huge school which was 50 - 70 feet down in about 140 feet of water. Boats all around me were catching fish with live bait as well as by spooning. I guess I didn't have my bait deep enough as we only got one bite and missed it. My granddaughter had a blast playing in the bait tank :-) I think she was relieved we didn't catch a big fish because they scare her a little!!!

There is still a little top water action early in the morning for black bass. This action is typically just as the sun is starting to rise and can last a couple of hours. I have found bass around docks and also off of main lake points and creek points. The black bass are also starting to go deeper. You can find them on the bottom just outside of the brush line in 20 - 30 feet of water. They are also on sunken brush in 40 feet of water.

I have had reports that crappie have started to move to the deep brush in 30 - 40 feet of water. Live bait as well as small jigs are working. Crappie are also being found under docks. Yesterday morning I netted 5 huge slabs by a dock where I was trying to net shad. These fished were 15 and 16 inches long. I released all.

Pan fish are plentiful under docks and in the brush. My granddaughter had fun fishing on my dock and caught some nice bluegills.

Catfishing with live minnows on trotlines are producing some nice fish. If you are pole fishing drag a nightcrawler on the bottom in coves after dark. You will find them in 20 - 25 feet of water and possibly at shallower depths.

No reports on walleye, but they should be in the 20 to 40 feet range on the bottom off of points with rocky bottoms.

The Norfork Lake level is still falling slowly and currently sits at 570.59. The surface water temperature is in the upper 80's. The main lake is clear and the creeks are coves are continuing to clear.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2011-07-06T12:39:00.000-05:00

Fishing Norfork Lake has never been any better. I have been out the last two mornings as well as a few days last week, and have had a blast. Stripers seem to be in their normal summer pattern. That means that they are starting to feed heavily, starting to school and are going deeper. I have been catching stripers over 80 feet of water suspended at 20 - 50 feet deep. I have been using a 1 ounce egg sinker on my front two poles and a large split shot on the back two poles. I usually have the heavy weights down about 40 - 50 feet and the split shot down around 30 - 40 feet. I am getting equal number of bites on both. I have been using live thread fin shad, but I am starting to notice the fish starting to school so vertical jigging with a spoon should pick up very soon. This morning was a riot. I landed 7 stripers in the 9 - 15 pound range and lost another 4. All fish were released on sight except for the 3 in the photo. I have been fishing main lake deep bluff lines and points. Yesterday I fished with a guest and his daughter and we landed 3 stripers and missed numerous other good bites.

Last week I fished ith a couple of guests from the St. Charles area and we just hammered the black bass. We were catching a few on Zara spooks and many more on live shad. Last week I was finding them on creek points close to inside of trees and brush. Yesterday I tried some of the same areas and the fish were not there or at least would not bite. I believe they also are starting to go deeper, but are still on creek points and main lake points. You will need to start getting your bait to the bottom. I am still noticing a little top water action early in the morning, but this seems to be slowing.

Walleye are being found just outside the brush line in about 20 - 30 feet of water. Dragging nighcrawler harnesses and vertical jigging with a spoon is producing some nice fish.

Pan fish are still in the sunken brush. Crickets and worms are working very well.

The Norfork Lake level is still falling slowly and current is at 572.59. The surface water temperature has risen back to the upper 80's. The lake is still slightly stained, but it is continuing to clear.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2011-06-27T12:53:00.000-05:00

Norfork Lake has been on fire for the past week. I have been out in the mornings live bait fishing as well as throwing a topwater Zara spook . We have landed striped bass, hybrid bass, white bass, largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass, with a few catfish thrown in for good measure.

The stripers and hybrids were caught in 25 - 40 feet of water. They seem to be suspended in the 10 - 25 feet range. I have been using all down poles with live shad set at 20 - 30 feet deep. My daughter and I arrived at my current fishing location at around 5:15AM this morning. I started marking fish, but nothing was biting. I was rebaiting a pole and had drifted into 25 feet of water when all of sudden one rod bent to the water. My daughter grabbed that pole and the fish started to swim into a line next to it, I grabbed this rod and as soon as I had it, it bent to the water. I got that pole out of the way and it had a large white bass on it. I flung it into the boat because a third rod took off. Both of us had a big fish on and it was really fun listening to the drag of both rods zing out to deep water. I had my fish close to the boat, it took a dive and my line snapped. I guess I should have retied after yesterday's trip. My daughter did a much better job and finally landed her 12 pound striper. With all the break-offs, missed fish and released fish we could have had 3 limits by 7:30AM. It was a really fun morning.

Largemouth, smallmouth and spots are coming to the surface early in the morning, off of points that have trees in the water. You need to have space between the trees to cast your lure. I caught 4 nice black bass this morning and I think around 6 yesterday morning all on a spook. Live bait still is working the best for the black bass. Today we released over a dozen bass including this nice 3 - 4 pounder that my daughter caught. Shiners should work as well as the shad. I have been using a down rod with a slip sinker and dropping it to the bottom. The fish are in the 20 to 25 feet range. Last Friday I had a couple of our guests (Jim & Scott) out and we started to pitch live shad between the trees with no weight. We were catching fish after fish. Jim also landed one nice striped bass. On Wednesday I fished with one of my guests (Greg) and my daughter and we landed one nice striper and many, many black bass. It has really been a great week of fishing for me..

I have been fishing the mid lake area both on points in the creeks and off of main lake points.

Pan fish are biting well on crickets, worms or nightcrawlers. Use a bobber and a small split shot. The fish are on the bottom in the trees and at the edges of the trees. You should be able to fill up a basket in no time.

Catfish are still biting well on trotlines with live bait.

Norfork Lake is still falling slowly (about 2 - 3 inches per day) and currently sits at 573.91. The water temperature is in the low 80's. The main channels are clear and the creeks and coves are clearing up nicely.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2011-06-20T10:15:00.000-05:00

What a great striped bass bite this morning on Norfork Lake. I headed out to catch shad at 4AM and on my first throw I caught enough for me to fish. I love it when one throw works. I have had mornings that what seemed like 100 throws didn't catch enough. I was fishing alone so I just headed straight out to the same spot I had fished last week for several days. What a change a few days can make in fishing. I set out two down poles to about 40feet and one free swimmer with a large split shot. It wasn't more than 5 minutes before one of my down poles started to sing. I was fighting this fish when the second down pole took off. What a dilemma :-) I decided to land the first fish and as I was reaching for the second I noticed it was under the boat next to the trolling motor. That was all she wrote, the line was cut off by the trolling motor. The third rod that had the free swimmer ended up getting wrapped around my big motor. What I'm willing to go though for a fish :-) The main reason for all the mess up with the poles was that the wind was blowing about 15 miles an hour. It's hard to control the boat in wind when you fight a fish. After the first fiasco I decided to just fish with 2 down rods. This made it much easier. I motored back to my point and set out the two down poles and again it wasn't more than 5 minutes before both poles started singing. I grabbed one and set the hook and the fish came off, but the second rod was was still going strong. I set that hook and landed the fish. I ended up landing 5 striped bass and missed 4 others. I kept my limit of 3 for the freezer and released the others. I did all of this in the first 2 hours of fishing, what a great morning!!! The stripers I caught this morning were 25 - 50 feet down in 40 - 60 feet of water biting on thread fin shad.

This morning was quite different than a few days last week. I fished 4 mornings last week and did not boat a striper. I fished with my brother-in-law and daughter 2 of the days and we did fair on black bass and white bass, but we could not bring a striper to the boat. One day we did break off two stripers and missed several other short bites. I also had two trips last week with a couple of our guests. Again I could not buy a striped bass bite. We caught some nice smallmouth bass and white bass, but could not find a striper.

The black bass are still in the bushes on main lake points. The white bass are also in the same areas. We caught some nice whites and smallmouth's on 1/4 - 3/8 oz. rooster tails, Rogues, flukes and spooks. These fish are in 10 - 25 feet of water and are starting to go deeper.

Catfish are biting well on trotlines. I caught 4 nice channels the other day with live shiners.

Panfish are also biting well on nightcrawlers, worms, and crickets. They are in the bushes on the bottom. Some really nice red ears and pumpkin seeds are being brought into our dock for cleaning. Many are also being caught off of our dock.

The Norfork Lake level is falling 1 - 3 inches per day and currently sits at 575.49. The surface water temperature is stable at around 82 degrees. The water is somewhat stained, but clearing every day.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2011-06-12T13:58:00.000-05:00

I have had a fun week of fishing on Norfork Lake. Not to mention that the weather has been just gorgeous. All species have been very aggressive and biting well on both live bait as well as artificial baits. I fished 4 mornings this week and did very well with bass and stripers. I fished with my son-in-law and one of his friends. The 16 pound striper that Jason is holding was his biggest striper so far on Norfork Lake. The hybrids that Vance is holding were the biggest fish he has ever caught. We also caught many largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass along with a few whites. I fished the mid lake area off of points. Tom Reynolds of STR Outfitters took four of our guests out last week and they just slayed the stripers. I believe these were the first stripers that a couple of the guys have ever caught. Tom was fishing the dam area. Fish are being caught all over the lake. This time of year is great for fishing Norfork Lake in the early mornings and afternoons. This frees you up to play in the water during the midday :-)

Striped and hybrid bass can be located on main lake points early in the mornings. They are feeding heavily on shad and crawfish. If you're fishing with live bait pitch a free swimming bait next to the trees and keep working the points and the sides of each point. If you prefer artificial baits try a fluke, bass assassin or a swimming minnow with a weighted hook. Cast between the brush and work it back to the boat as a jerk bait or slow it down and work it with slight twitches until you reach the boat. Grubs with a 1/8 ounce jig head are also working once the fish go down to the 20 - 25 feet range. Top water baits are working occasionally as well as shallow diving crank baits. Once the sun gets higher in the sky the stripers are moving into deeper water. Live bait will need to be weighted and set straight down next to the boat about 30 - 40 feet down. The fish may be suspending in deep water so watch your sonars. You can also slowly drag a long line with live bait with a split shot to get the bait down a little. Vertical jigging a spoon is starting to work once you find the fish.

Largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass are also in the brush early and late in the day. Same techniques are working for the black bass as for the stripers. Flukes, bass assassins, swimming minnow and crank baits. Top water for the black bass is found more frequently than for stripers. Live bait is working very well.

Walleye can be found in 20 - 30 feet of water on the bottom. Live bait on a drop shot rig is working as is vertical jigging a spoon. Trolling a crawler harness slowly is catching some nice fish.

White bass are schooling and can be found in the bushes with the black bass and stripers. Flukes are catching a few, but the hooks are a little big. Small spinners (rooster tails) are work well both in shallow and deep water. You can also find them in deeper water along chunk rock banks. Use a rooster tail and let it sink about 10 feet down then reel back to the boat slowly. If you find the school of fish you can also vertical jig a spoon.

Crappie are biting well if you can get to them. They are back in the bushes in very shallow water. You can also find them under docks that have brush sunken under them. I had a guest last week that had an under water camera and was seeing many crappie as well as large blue gills. The blue gill fishing has been really good. I have seen many huge slabs brought into the dock for cleaning.

Catfish are biting well on trot lines baited with live shiners. I pulled off three nice channels from my line this morning. One of my guests caught 6 nice cats fishing with nightcrawlers and stink bait last evening.

The lake level is falling slowly 1 - 3 inches per day and currently sits at 576.7. The surface water temperature is in the mid to up 80's. The lake is clearing and appears to have a 5 - 8 foot visibility.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2011-06-06T14:12:00.000-05:00

It was a great day to fish Norfork Lake in the Arkansas Ozarks. I decided to fish with live bait this morning and finding bait was no problem. One throw and I had all I needed and more. This was a good start to the day since I over slept and didn't wake up until 4:30AM. I should have already been out on the lake baiting. It worked out and I got an extra hour of sleep:-) I headed back to Fall Creek and started with two poles down with weights at about 25 feet and two poles with free swimming baits that I was pitching toward the shore. It didn't take long before I found spotted bass, smallmouth bass and largemouth bass. I ended up catching 12 bass in total and 7 were keeper size. I released all but 3 spotted bass. At one point while I was setting the hook on a bass, one of my down poles bent to the water and the drag started to zing. This fish just would not stop running. I actually started to use my trolling motor to make sure the fish did not spool me. It was a very good fight but finally I won the battle (this time) and landed this nice 12 pound striped bass. I also caught another striper on a free swimming bait and one on a weighted fluke. Those two 10 pound stripers were released. I tend to cast artificial when I am live bait fishing. That gets me into trouble frequently. It's difficult to retrieve the artificial bait when one of my other poles takes off. Live bait fishing can be very exciting and sometimes it's very hard to handle multiple poles when you are fishing by yourself.

Robert Lee of Lee's Lite line took three of my guests fishing this morning. They ended up "having one of the best fishing trips ever!" (quote) They limited out by 6:30AM with 7 striped bass and 2 hybrids. The big fish weighed 15 pounds. They ended up fishing for bass and had a blast. Robert was fishing in the Bennett's area. Tom Reynolds of STR Outfitters has been fishing the dam area and limiting out with consistency. The fish are all over the lake and are being found off of points and the side of points on the main lake as well as back in the major creeks. If you are artificial fishing use a fluke with a weighed hook, I like white with a chartreuse tail. Swimming minnows and a 3 inch grub are also working. A top water bait is still handy to have ready as it would have been today but I was already fighting the 12 pound striper when the fish exploded all around me. All I could do was watch with!

The Norfork Lake level is dropping about 2 - 3 inches per day and currently sits at 577.8 feet above sea level. The lake surface water temperature is in the upper 70's and you could find temps in the 80's back in the creeks. The lake is still stained, but is clearing.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2011-05-29T11:05:00.000-05:00

I could not have ordered a better morning to fish Norfork Lake than this morning. The lake was calm, the air temperature was in the 70's and the sun was out. And the best of all, the fish were really biting well!!! I love being able to fish in shorts and a tee shirt! This was the first morning fishing trip I have been able to take since May 5th and what a homecoming it was. I ended up with my limit of striper and hybrid and actually caught 3 other hybrids that were released on site. I also caught smallmouth, largemouth and white bass. All fish were released except for the two stripers. Fish tonight!!

I headed out of my dock around 5:15 AM and fished Panther and Fall creeks. The shad were flipping all though the bushes and the fish were gorging themselves. I was using a fluke with a weighted hook. The fluke had a white body and chartreuse tail. Top water lures would have worked, but there was too many leaves and pine needles in the water to throw a top water bait. The fluke worked great, but the hook was a little big for the white bass, but I did manage to land 4 nice size whites. I was sitting in about 40 feet of water and casting to the shore. The hybrids were caught casting out to deep water when I noticed them coming up for shad.

I fished two different evenings earlier in the week and got into some nice top water action with white bass and hybrids. I was throwing a 3/4 ounce red and white Rooster Tail and the fish hammered the bait. I was fishing in the Cranfield area.

Catfishing is going strong on limb lines and trot lines. Live shiners have been the bait of choice.

Black bass are also hitting spinner baits and lipless crank baits. You need to cast into the bushes and hang on. Jigs are also producing some nice bass in 20 - 25 feet depths just outside the brush line. Darker coolers seem to be working the best.

Walleye are being caught in the bushes with spinner baits and crank baits and also with a crawler harness slow trolling them just outside the brush line.

The Norfork Lake level is starting to fall slowing and currently sits at 579.37. The lake surface water temperature was 68 - 69 degrees this morning. The air temperature is forecast to be in the 80's with plenty of sun. The lake is stained, starting to clear in the main channels. Our swimming pool at the resort is warming nicely and getting plenty of use this weekend.

I hope all have a fun and safe Memorial Holiday.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2011-05-22T12:10:00.000-05:00

She said her arms were sore.

Big hybrid and walleye Day 2

Big Bass Day 2 - 5.28 pounds

Big hybrid Day 1

Finding the Big Bass in this limit of fish.

We would like to thank all the Bass Cat Owners who came to Norfork Lake this past week end. We know you were disappointed with the cancellation of your Owner's Invitational Tournament and appreciate those of you that still came to enjoy Norfork Lake. We look forward to your visit each year and are glad you came to participate in our first Norfork Lake Fishing Derby.

We had two great days for our 2011 Fishing Derby on Norfork Lake. 54 Bass Cat boats registered for the 2 day tournament and we mainly had good weather. The afternoon of day 1 brought in a few storms, but it ended during weigh-in. We weighed-in a total of 240 black bass at a total weight of 523.58 pounds. The stringers were somewhat light due the fish being spawned out in the last week or so. Big heads and skinny bodies. They are really starting to feed and will fatten up quickly. The overall winning team of Hannaford/Cooley weighed-in 10 fish at 24.14 pounds and were paid $2,015.00. Second place went to the team of Thorne/Mitchell with 9 fish at 23.61 pounds. Second place paid $1,140.00. Third place went to the team of Moser/Ziegler with a 10 fish limit weighing in at 23.56 pounds. Third place paid $685.00. The Fishing Derby paid a total of 11 places. Big Bass for day 1 went to the team of Stone/Stone at a weight of 4.72 pounds and paid $520.00. Big Bass day 2 went to the team of Drumright/Reihm which weighed 5.28 pounds and also paid $520.00. We also had a couple of fun pots for big walleye 2.52 and 3.33 pounds and big striper/hybrid 6.39 and 7.78 day 1 and day 2, respectively. Hugh Ethridge won for big striper/hybrid day 1 and the team of Hideyudi Manura/Todd McCoy won big walleye for both days and big striper/hybrid day 2. All fishermen and spectators seemed to have a great time and enjoyed watching the fish being brought in to be weighed.

The fish were caught all over the lake in shallow to 25 feet of water depths. Spinner baits shallow and jigs worked deep seemed to be the baits of choice.

We want to thank the Norfork Lake Chamber of Commerce for sponsoring this event. Thanks also goes out to the Arkansas Game and Fish for helping us keep these fish alive and delivering them back to the lake. Thanks goes out to the Army Corps of Engineers for all the help in expediting our tournament application and with the clean up at the Panther Bay boat launch and at Cranfield Park. In addition to the above many thanks goes out to Panther Bay Marina for the use of their facilities for take-off, the Lake Norfork Inn for the use of their restaurant for registration and dinner, The Norfork Lake Bass Club for the rental of their weigh-in equipment, Sean's restaurant for providing the yummy food at registration with such short notice. Thanks also to the Baxter County Sheriff's Department for providing a courtesy boat at take-off and lie detector equipment and personnel for the final weigh-in. Finally many, many, many thanks to all the Norfork Lake Chamber members that volunteered to helped make this event a great success and a fun fishing derby.

Keep watching for future details of fishing events that the Norfork Lake Chamber of Commerce and the Norfork Lake Resort Owners are starting to plan. They will be a lot of fun with great fishing.

Happy fishing and see you on the water.

Norfork Lake fishing Report

2011-05-17T08:06:00.000-05:00

If you are wanting to catch largemouth, smallmouth, hybrid and striper bass as well as catfish now is time to come and fish Norfork Lake in the Arkansas Ozarks. The sun is shining and the air temperature will be in the 70's today.

I must apologize for the lateness of my report, but I have had no time to get out on the lake myself. With the cancellation of the Basscat Owners Invitational Tournament on May 6th, a group of us got together and started to form our own fishing Derby. My time has been consumed in the venture. Our fishing Derby will be held on May 20th and 21st for any Basscat boat owner that would like to participate. Registration is this Thursday, May 19th at the Lake Norfork Inn from 4 - 7PM. Take-off will be at Panther Bay Marina and Weigh-in will be at Cranfield Corps of Engineers pavilion by the launch area. Registration Fee is $100.00 and several other option side pots are available. Should be a great time. Call me for more details 870-492-5113.

All my current reports are coming from my guests and guide friends, good credible information. Largemouth and smallmouth fishing has been really good. You will find the fish on sunken roadways and parking lots as well as in the brush. Spinner baits, floating worms and grubs with a 1/8 ounce jig head are working well. You may want to go to a weedless hook set. Most of the black bass have spawned out so they are starting to feed heavily. Top water activity is still going on so be ready.

Stripers and hybrids are feeding along the brush line early in the morning. I have had reports of good fish being caught in the Cranfield, Bennett's, midlake creeks and in the dam area. Top water baits are working early and late in the day. Flukes with a weighted hook and grubs are producing some nice fish. If you are a live bait fishermen then pitch your bait as close to the brush line as possible with no weight then just wait, they will come out after it. If no hits in 15 minutes or so go to the next point until you find them.

Catfish are hitting jugs and trotlines really well. Live shiners are a good bait at this time. I usually set my line late in the day and check them at first light. If your pole fishing find some flooded grassy areas and cast out a night crawler with a weight on it. The cats, hybrids, walleye and black bass are feeding in these areas, you will have fun.

Walleye are starting to hit all the above baits. Use whatever method of fishing you prefer. Walleye are being caught in the brush on spinner baits or live minnows, and along the grassy banks with nightcrawlers and floating worms.

The Norfork Lake level is still falling slowly and currently sits at 577.9. The surface water temperature has dropped to the low to mid 60's, but should start rising again with the upcoming warmer temperatures. Most of the lake is stained (great fishing color). The mud has settled out and clearing is happening daily.

Happy fishing and hopefully see you on the lake very soon.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2011-05-03T19:37:00.000-05:00

Fishing on Norfork Lake today was exciting and a lot of fun. The rain has finally stopped and the sun is shining. We're getting back to our typical great spring fishing season. The twin lakes area has received 14 or 15 inches of rain over the last week or so, bringing the lake to the top of the flood pool. Some may think this is a bad thing, but think again. Fishing on Norfork Lake is starting to explode. Just this morning I took a couple from the Tinley Park, IL area out fishing and we had great fun with smallmouth bass. The largest was about 20 inches. We ended up catching over 30 fish in a two - three hour period, 14 were keeper size. We missed as many as we caught. We started fishing right after day break and that was definitely the best bite. As the sun rose the bite slowed, but they did still bite. My Tinley Park guests headed out this afternoon to try their hand at striper fishing. They were using large shiners as bait and landed this nice 11 pound striped bass. Pictured is Brian's first Norfork Lake striped bass. He is really really excited! Brian caught his striper with a large shiner with a small split shot on 6 pound test line. The fish hit the bait about 10 ft down. Striper guides have been doing very well on the striped bass. Tom Reynolds of STR Outfitters has caught over 40 fish for his guests over the last 5 days. The photo is some our guests after a trip with Tom. Robert Lee of Lee's Lite Line has been pulling in many quality fish for our guests. A friend set some trot lines for catfish last weekend and caught over 15 nice size catfish. A few crappie are being caught over deeper brush piles in 25 - 30 feet of water, but watch for these fish to move into the trees along the sides of the lake very soon. They may be tricky to get to, but when you get to them you will be rewarded for the effort. I have had many reports of top water action for black bass, white bass, striped and hybrid bass. This will only increase with the upcoming warm dry weather. It is becoming a very exciting time!

A second benefit of the high water is that it is going to be great for the spawn of all lake species, insuring great fishing for the future. I can definitely see the quality and quantity of all Norfork Lake fish species just growing by leaps and bounds. The numbers and sizes of largemouth and smallmouth bass that I have been catching this spring is exceeding all previous fishing seasons thanks to the high water we had in 2008 and 2009. I'm hearing the same thing from the crappie guides.

To find water with the best clarity look back in creeks in the Robinson area and on down to the dam or around the 101 area. The best bite will be in this off colored water to clear water. The main lake from Cranfield to Robinson is still muddy. Some of the creeks are starting to clear to a greenish off color (great fishing clarity). With the upcoming week of nice warm weather I expect the muddy areas to start clearing.

The Norfork Lake level is falling about 9 - 10 inches per day. The fall in the water level is due to the spillways being opened releasing high volumes of water into the North Fork River. The lake level is currently at 579.78 feet above sea level. The surface water temperature this morning was 60 degrees which is a drop of about 5 degrees from a week ago.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2011-04-18T11:16:00.017-05:00

Striper fishing on Norfork Lake is going strong. I fish this AM with some success. I decided to check out several areas that I haven't fished in a while. I started in the Diamond Bay area. I arrived about 5:15 AM and set out two balloons and two free lines with live thread fin shad. It wasn't more than 15 minutes before both balloons started to ZINGGGG! I set the hooks on both fish, set one rod back into the rod holder and started to fight one of the fish. I had it almost in and saw it dart right into the other line. And then there was one. I landed this nice 10 pounder, but who knows what the other was. (must have been a 35 pounder!!) As soon as I reset the two balloons one of the free lines took off. I was heading into the wind at this time and I guess when I got off of the trolling motor it gave slack in the line and the fish escaped. I was fishing in 20 - 30 feet of water. Sunrise was starting and it was like someone turn off a switch and the fish stopped biting. I then headed to the dam area to see what was happening there. As chance would have it nothing was happening for me. I fished three different areas with no bites. Robert Lee of Lee's Lite Line has been fishing the dam area for the last week and has done quite well on hybrids and stripers, but I guess I didn't go to the right places. I then headed back to Fall Creek. No stripers, but plenty of bass. I landed 7 spotted and largemouth bass in about a 45 minute period. It was then time to head back to the resort and start cleaning the pool.

Jeff, one of our MO guests landed this nice 28 pound striped bass the other afternoon. He released the fish after the photo. He has caught many striped bass over the last several days all with gizzard shad. He has been fishing the Bennett's area and has had most of his success late in the afternoon. He has been pulling 4 - 6 planer boards trying to stay near the shoreline. His fish have been caught in 8 - 30 feet of water.

Bud Gauger of Howard Cove Striper Service took several of our guests out fishing yesterday. They had a successful trip, landing 6 striped bass and missed 3 others. The largest was 17 pounds. Essie caught the big fish of the day, and by the way she is 90 years young and going strong. She had a great time on her guided birthday trip and fishing off of our dock. Bud was fishing with gizzard shad back in the Bennett's area.

Norfork Lake level is on the rise and currently sits at 552.21. The surface water temperature has dropped to around 60 degrees north of the bridges and as low as 55 at the dam. A warm southerly wind is forecast for the next several days, this should help spur on the top water action. Coves and creeks are still stained and the main lake is clear.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2011-04-16T12:32:00.015-05:00

Fishing on Norfork Lake has been going strong the last several days. Striped bass, hybrid bass, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass and crappie have been hitting well. Due to the windy weather I haven't been on the lake the last two days and there were several postponed guided trips today so I have no report on how fishing was today. The low pressure and cool front might have affected the action today, but the weather forecast after today is back to normal. (Highs in the 70's lows in the 50's)- perfect spring weather is coming back soon.

I did fish Thursday evening and just slammed the bass. The photo shows a sampling of the bass caught. I landed 7 bass in the 3 - 5 pound range. All fish were released. I also had two striper hits and lost both. I was fishing with small gizzard shad in the strong wind. I have realized that fishing alone with live bait in strong wind is almost impossible. I fished Wednesday night with a couple of our guests and landed one nice striped bass, but it was a slow rogue fishing night. We did have several other hits. At sunset on Wednesday another of our guests fishing in the same area with live bait had a frenzy of top water action for about 45 minutes. He ended up landing 6 stripers in the 8 - 20 pound range. He released all fish that evening. We were fishing in the Bennett's area. Robert Lee of Lee's Lite Line had another successful trip with several of our guests. They caught plenty of hybrid bass, black bass and smallmouth bass. Last evening a couple of our guests battled the strong winds and landed a nice 28 pound striped bass. I commend their perseverance in the weather conditions we had yesterday evening.

Crappie fishing during the week was really good. The fish are moving to the banks and on shallow brush piles. It seems live bait is working the best, but artificial jigs are holding their own.

Walleye are in the same brush piles as the crappie and also can still be found on the rock bluff lines from 5 - 20 feet down.

The Norfork Lake level is rising due to 1.3 inches of rain the other day. We are currently at 551.63. The lake surface water temperature has dropped and is in the hight 50's to low 60's. Creeks and coves are stained due to the rain, but the lake is clearing quickly.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2011-04-12T23:40:00.010-05:00

Spring fishing on Norfork Lake is heating up and will only get better. The warm Ozark weather has helped to increase the surface water temperature which is making the fish more active. Top water action for black bass has been good at sunrise and sunset back in coves and creeks. Yesterday morning I went to check on the dock at around 6:30AM and when I got there the fish were popping all over. I always carry a rod with me when I go to the dock and of course I had a Zara spook tied on. What's the jingle? - Don't leave home without it- something to do with a credit card not really a rod and reel! In less than 15 minutes I landed 4 spotted bass in the 2 pound range. I was casting from the end of the dock. When the bass aren't breaking the surface I have been using a 3 inch curly tail grub with a 1/8 oz. jig head. I have had a lot of luck on deep bluff lines especially on bluff points.

Word has it that the crappie are starting to move to the banks. They have either started to spawn or are really close. The crappie in the photo were caught off of my dock. Several very good places to find crappie are on fallen timber that is close to the shore or brush piles in 10 - 20 feet of water. The crappies are suspended only 2 - 6 feet down. I like small twister tail grubs with a 1/16 or a 1/32 ounce jig head. Use very light line, just 2 - 4 pound test. Live minnows are also working very well.

White bass are schooling and can be found back in coves and creeks in shallow water, 10 - 20 feet. They also can be found close to brush piles. I haven't seen any top water action on whites yet, but it should start soon. Small spinners and spoons are working well.

Walleye are being caught in many different locations. They are typically being found in 10 - 20 feet of water and at night on the shoreline feeding. The same 3 inch grub I use for bass is catching walleye. Last night a suspending rogue cast to the bank was the ticket for this nice walleye. Crank baits being slow trolled along the banks are picking up a few nice walleye.

Striped bass fishing is starting to heat up. I just got back from a successful night fishing trip. I ended up catching 2 striped bass (15 pound and 10 pound), 1 walleye, 3 white bass and a couple of bluegill. I missed as many as I caught. I caught all on a Smithwick Rattlin Rogue, blue on the top, white on the sides with an orange belly. The bite really didn't start until around 10pm, but when it did the fish just started to explode around me. I could hear stripers and white bass breaking the surface all around me. As soon as I heard the splashes I got my first fish. They stuck around in the area for an hour worth of fun. I released all fish, the ones in the photo where released at my dock. The morning bite for stripers is also heating up. Stripers and hybrids are being caught all over the lake. Three of my guests from the Oklahoma area took a guided trip with Robert Lee of Lee's lite line and they landed these 3 nice hybrids and lost as many more.

The Norfork Lake water level is rising slowly and currently sits at 550.54 ft above sea level. The surface water temperature last evening was in the low 60's. The water is clear with some stained water due to the 1.25 inches of rain that we had the other day.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2011-04-04T15:27:00.009-05:00

If it wasn't for the 20 mile per hour wind it would be a great day to be on Norfork Lake. It has cooled off a bit today, but warmer and less windy days are not far off. The fishing is improving with the warm weather we had the last few days and if we get the warm south winds that are forecast, fishing should start to explode on Norfork Lake.

Stripers are being caught both during the early in the day and at dark and after dark. I fished Saturday evening and caught one nice fish and lost two others. The fish pictured was released after its photo op. I was throwing a rogue and slow rolling it back to the boat. Two important techniques to remember on the retrieval, reel really slow and reel all the back to the boat. The fish that are biting my bait are hitting it just before I lift it out of the water. I believe that they are following it all the way to the boat from the shoreline. One of my quests has been catching stripers with a 3 inch paddle tail grub. He has been catching bass, walleye and striper with this bait. He casts to the shore and lets it sink to the bottom and works it slowly back to the boat. Most of his fish are being caught in 10 - 25 feet of water. He has also had luck with a white Rapala Shallow Running crank bait. No pictures of Ed as he practices catch and release on most all fish.

Robert Lee of Lee's Lite Line Guide Service took a couple of my guests out fishing this morning. Their trip was delayed for about 2 hours due to the lightening, but the late start did not effect the fishing. They were using good sized thread fin shad and were long lining the bait as well as pitching the bait to the shoreline. They ended up catching 5 stripers, 4 were released with the 20 pound fish in the photo going to become a wall mount.

Stripers are being caught at all ends of the lake. Bennetts, Cranfield, Pigeon, upriver, and down at the dam. All of my main information sources are fishing my end of the lake.

Bass fishing has been very good for most folks. Swimming minnows, twister tail grubs, and paddle tail grubs have all been productive baits. It appears slow motion is still working the best for bass. As the lake warms up into the 60's the bass will start looking for faster moving baits. There is also a small window of top water action early in the morning and right before dark. If you can get close enough to the schooling fish cast a top water bait or a rogue and work it through the active fish. Top water action will improve as the water temperature warms.

Crappie fishing is another thing. One to two weeks ago with all the warm weather the bite was getting very good. The cool weather last week slowed the bite, at least for my guests. Crappie are on the verge of spawning so the fish will be going to the banks. Look for fallen timber close to shore and cast a small grub, small swimming minnows, or a roadrunner. You can still find fish suspended over the brush and as the water warms the fish will not be very deep. With all the warm weather a week ago the fish were only 3 - 6 feet down.

The Norfork Lake water level is rising and currently sits at 549.61 ft. This is only a little more than 2 ft below normal pool. The lake has been gin clear, but with this mornings .4 inch of rain it should cloud up the water a little especially back in the creeks and coves. The water temperature yesterday was in the mid to upper 50's, but it has dropped several degrees today. Our end of the lake appears to be about 3 degrees warmer than areas south of Robinson.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2011-03-28T08:21:00.011-05:00

Striped Bass, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, walleye and crappie are all being caught on Norfork Lake. The fishing has been really good and will only get better as the temperature rises. I have guests striper fishing using medium size gizzard shad and they are just hammering the fish. All of their fish were caught on free swimming baits and the stripers came out of the water to attack the bait. The best bite for them seems to be in the late afternoon. The Bennett's area has been their top location, but they have caught stripers in East Pigeon and the Cranfield area as well. I have heard that the night bite is taking off. I can't confirm that since I have fished after dark in several areas and have found no stripers. Or at least they didn't like the flavor of rogue I was casting. I will keep trying and will find them eventually.

Crappie, bass and walleye fishing yesterday under the cloudy skies was really good for Ed, a Wisconsin guest. Ed was using a small paddle tail with a 1/8 ounce jig head. The paddle tail was in the darker colors with a lighter tail. He found fish in shallow water 7 - 15 feet deep back in coves. He found some fallen timber that was laying on the shore and stretched out into the water and caught fish all day long yesterday. This almost 16 inch crappie was his prize. Ed was fishing the Cranfield area and coves heading up river. The fish were lying on the bottom to a few feet off of it.

As mentioned earlier I fished last evening. I started trolling a couple of shallow running crank baits because the wind was blowing pretty brisk. As the sun was setting I started to cast the shore with a rogue. All of sudden fish started to break the surface. I cast my rogue into the break, cranked down two cranks and largemouths would just hammer the bait. In about a 45 minute period I landed 6 bass in the 3 - 4 pound range and lost several other. It was fun!! Once it got real dark the fish went down and I started casting the shoreline again. I fished until about 9PM with only one strike. I think it was a bass. I was fishing back in the Bennett's area.

The lake level is rising slowly and currently sits at 548.31. Minimal generation. The surface water temperature has fallen to 51 - 53 degrees due to the cool nights that we have been having. The water clarity is gin clear. The clarity may change a bit as there is rain in the forecast tomorrow, then the weather is to become gorgeous and warm again. Fishing in April should be out of site!

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2011-03-25T08:33:00.009-05:00

This past week has shown what spring fishing is all about. Top water action for stripers and bass, as well as the night bite starting to kick-off. What 5 days in the 70's and nights in the 50's and 60's can do for the fishing and lake water temperature. Of course my fishing time last week was very limited due to spring time cabin opening and maintenance. Work first play second.

I have credible reports that several lucky fishermen got into some nice striper, hybrid and spotted bass top water action for about 2 1/2 hours last week. They were launching their boats at Panther Bay and the fish started erupting. They were catching fish on every cast. Also back in Pigeon Creek the Kentuckys and whites were hitting top water baits.

Spawning report: The white bass are spawning back in the creeks. Crappie have either started or they are really close. Stripers are ready to go though their mock spawn as you can see white milk pouring out of the males when you catch one. Bass are still a ways off, but it appears they are staging. Walleye should be close to finishing their spawn

Stripers are being caught all day long. The best bite appears to be in the afternoon. I got a call from some of my guests yesterday at about 7:30PM for a photo opportunity, they landed 5 nice stripers. All fish were in the teens and twenties. The two larger fish (23 and 24 pound) were released and the three in the mid teens will become supper. I didn't get the photo as I was in Float Creek trying to catch my own striper. They had better luck! My guests have been catching fish all week long in different areas of the lake. The photo of Peter holding a nice 15 pound striper was caught Wednesday afternoon. They have caught fish in East Pigeon, Bennett's, and the Fouts area. They are using gizzard shad both the large and small ones and the fish don't seem to be very choosy on the size. All fish have been caught on free swimming baits without weight.

I had the chance to get out several nights during the week. Last evening I ended up landing 4 largemouth bass and 2 smallmouth bass, but no stripers. I fished Float Creek until about 9PM. A few nights ago I fished the Cranfield area and ended up landing several bass and one smaller striper. There were several other boats that landed fish and they were in the same size range. I also tried the Diamond area with zero luck, even though I had many reports of stripers and walleye being caught. I have been using different color rogues and using a very slow steady retrieval to the boat. The night bite should get much better with the warmer water assuming our current cool front doesn't mess things up.

Crappie fishing last week was really good. The fish are suspended over shallow brush and being caught in 3 - 6 feet of water. Small live minnows has been the best bait, but small jigs are producing some fish. They are ready to spawn.

The Norfork Lake water level currently is at 547.4 ft above sea level. The water is gin clear. The lake surface water temperature was 57 degrees back in float and 53-54 degrees on the main lake.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2011-03-13T08:36:00.008-05:00

Spring has finally arrived on Norfork Lake. It has been sunny and warm the last couple of days and more of the same is in store for us next week. There are a few days of rain forecast, but this will only help the spring bite get better.

The striped bass, hybrids, white bass, black bass and crappie are starting to get very active with the warming of the lake. Yesterday I was marking 50+ degree surface water temperature for Norfork Lake.

Ed, a guest from Wisconsin, was thrilled with the battle given to him from this nice 23 pound striped bass. He states that the stripers are much stronger fish then Muskies. He caught this fish yesterday trolling a Shad Rap back in the Bennett's Bayou area. He was following the channel in around 20 feet of water and his bait should have been about 7 to 8 feet down. He was also using light tackle with only 6 pound test. The fish are coming up. He also noted that there were other boats in the area, both trolling and using live bait, that he saw boating fish. Ed has also caught his share of white bass and hybid bass in many different areas of the lake. I believe the whites have started their spring run and fishing for them will only get better. Look for the whites and hybrids on shallow sand flats. Small crank baits, jigs, rooster tail spinners and gulp minnows should all start to work.

After working around the resort all day yesterday, I decided to see if the night bite was heating up. I have heard though the grape vine that stripers are being caught after dark, but I guess I was not in the right location. I was throwing several different colors of rogues and did catch a few nice largemouth but no stripers. The largemouth bass were caught right as the sun was setting, then I did have a few bumps after dark, but did not hook them. I only fished till about 8:30PM so the bite could have been later.

Crappie are on the brush and should be close to their spawn. Whenever I crossed a brush pile last evening the fish were just stacked from 5 to 15 feet down. The brush that I was marking was in 20 - 30 feet of water. Live bait on a slip bobber should be the most active bait, but throwing a small jig tipped with a minnow will entice a few fish.

The surface water temperature last evening was 50 degrees in the main lake up to 55 degrees back in the creeks and coves. The main lake is clear with the creeks off colored due to the rising water. The lake is rising slowly and currently sits at 545.2 feet above sea level. Currently no generators are running and they have mainly been shut down for that last week or so.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2011-02-21T08:52:00.008-06:00

The weather on Norfork Lake has been fantastic. Warm temperatures have arrived, but I don't think it is going to last. A slight cool front is on its way and the evening temperaturess are forecast to get in the high 20's and the days are to be in the 40's and 50's. Not bad for fishing, but not warm enough to increase the water temperature. I'm looking for surface water temperatures in the 50's to activate the fish.

Jeff and crew had another good day fishing in the Bennett's area. They caught this massive 37+ pound striped bass. They landed another and lost several others. A large gizzard shad attracted this trophy fish. The fish have been back in the creeks where the water has warmed to the upper 40's. Shad has also been back in the bayou in the shallow water. Sun and a south wind really helps fishing this time of year. I have also gotten reports that the stripers are up past Red Bank in the shallow warm water.

I was feeling pretty good yesterday afternoon so I headed out at about 4pm to see what I could catch throwing rogues. (It felt great just being back on the lake.) I fished back in Float Creek until about 8PM. I landed 3 smallmounth and 1 largemouth just before it got really dark. I was hoping to get a little striper night bite action, but nothing was happening, for me anyway. The water temperature was about 46 degrees back in Float. Two other boats arrived at dark, one left before me and the other was still fishing when I left. Hopefully the fish finally came in for them.

The Norfork Lake level is still rising slowly and currently sits at 541.5. The main lake surface temp is around 45 degrees, a little warmer back in the creeks. The lake is clear.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2011-02-18T19:59:00.011-06:00

Temperatures in the 70's for the past several days has really made the fish active on Norfork Lake. I had two different guests fishing, one up river past Cranfield and the other fishing in the Bennett's area. Walleye, smallmouth and largemouth bass were the catches of the day up river. My guest was using a 3 inch paddle tail with a small jig head. He was finding fish on points. When he got off of the points, he got no bites. He ended up catching 6 walleye, only one keeper size and as many bass. He caught all his fish in 7 - 20 feet of water dragging the bottom. The water temperature up river was in the mid 40's. (hopefully I will be able to get the walleye photo tomorrow)

My other guest was striper fishing in the Bennett's area and using live shiners. The stripers were active and chasing shad to the surface. The water temperature was near 50 degrees. The big fish was 27 pounds and was caught on a free swimming shiner (no weights). He told me the striper came clear out of the water when it attacked the bait. (I just love spring time fishing!!!) They also caught this nice 15 inch crappie and several nice bass.

I have been homebound with the flu, but hopefully I will feel up to fishing in the next day or so. It seems like I haven't fished in forever with all the bad weather, our winter sport shows and now this yukky flu. I am really starting to get anxious to get back to fishing. The 10 day forecast shows that the temps will fall a little, but still should be great for fishing. Forecast is calling for highs in the 50's & 60's and lows in the 30's and 40's.

The Norfork Lake level is rising very slowly and currently sits at 541.35. No current generators are being run. The lake temp is in the mid to upper 40's. The main lake is clear, with the creeks slightly stained.

Happy Fishing. Hope to see you on the lake soon.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2011-01-25T08:40:00.003-06:00

The weather in the Arkansas Ozarks and on Norfork Lake is starting to settle back to normal. Our daytime temperatures are in the mid 40's and the nighttime temperatures are in the upper twenties. Makes for a cool morning of fishing but the bite has been better earlier rather than late for striped bass. Last week a couple of our guests had a really good morning striper fishing. They were fishing in the Henderson area using live shiners. Over the last week the best locations have been in the deep channels. They had their bait 50 - 60 feet down where they were seeing a lot of bait fish. The bait fish are suspended in 80 - 120 feet of water. They ended up landing 4 and missed netting a fifth. They also at least 6 other bites that were missed. The stripers ranged from 10 - 16 pounds. The trick is finding the bait fish. I have been out a couple of times in the afternoon over the last week and really have had a hard time finding the bait. Usually around 5PM I find the bait but it is getting late and starting to get too cold for me. The mornings have been chilly, but I guess I am going to have to suck it up and go out at sunrise. The stripers are hanging in and around the bait so set your shiners just above the bait or if you are spooning drop the spoon to the top and start jigging or let it fall all the way through the bait then reel up through through the bait and start jigging over the top. With the cold water a slower presentation works the best for all species.

I haven't been out bass or crappie fishing lately so no news from me. I have heard that crappie are still on the brush, but are going a little deeper. They may start to come back up with the warmer days we are having. You should be able to find them 10 - 25 feet down, over and in the brush.

The Norfork Lake water level has dropped to 542.6 and falling about 1 - 3 inches per day. The lake is getting really clear. The surface water temperature was 42 - 44 degrees yesterday afternoon.

Remember that in this cold water slow down your presentation and also downsize your artificial baits. The lake is clear so using light and clear line will get more bites.

Have a great day and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2011-01-14T18:17:00.008-06:00

Happy New year to all!

It has been a pretty busy winter for Linda and me, but I am finally back to fishing on Norfork Lake. I think I have only been out on the lake a couple of times, so I am more that ready to get back at it. I headed out on the lake around 1PM to try the afternoon bite. My goal was to striper fish and try to find where the fish are feeding. I did a lot of graphing. I started graphing around the 62 bridge and Henderson area. I marked bait and some fish, but nothing real exciting. I then headed to the mouth of float creek. I headed towards the hump and marked a nice school of striper. I set out four down poles with large shiners. Two at 60 ft and 2 at 45 ft. But as happens on occasion (more than I like to say) I could not find the school again. I was getting ready to move and one of my deeper poles bent to the water. The fish started to run, then it just stopped. I thought I was snagged, then took a quick glance at the depth find and saw I was in 99 feet of water. I finally felt a few head shakes and a constant pull straight down. For about 10 minutes each time I gained on the fish, it headed to the bottom and gained on me. It was a good fight, but I knew it was not a striper. It had to be a huge walleye or a big catfish. Low and behold it was a monster blue catfish. As I was trying to net the fish the hook came out and the cat just layed on its side. I got the net over the head with the tail hung over the edge. It was fun trying to get the fish into the boat, but I finally did. The cat weighed well over 50 pounds as my scale maxed out. I am guessing in the 65 pound range. I am still using 8 pound test monofiliment fishing line on light tackle.

I resumed my search for stripers and graphed back by the 5A marker and didn't see much. I did mark a lot of smaller fish, largemouth and Kentucky bass when I got into less than 40 feet of water. Spooning would have worked as these fish were in good size schools. I headed over the mouth of Fall Creek and then to Panther Creek and again I marked bait, but no fish. I graphed the bluff line along the number 4 marker and started to mark stripers and a lot of bait. I set out my poles and my bait was continually becoming excited, but no strikes. There was fish, but I guess the Arctic blast that we had slowed the bite. Hopefully the warmer days will turn the fish on!

I currently have a guest striper fishing and he had a similar type day. He did land two small stripers, marked plenty of bait and fish, but they were not going to cooperate today. Tomorrow will be a new day.

I went to the Corps of Engineers office on Wednesday and picked up my tree cover permit. At the meeting I got to talk with several crappie fishermen and crappie guides. They are currently doing well with live bait. The crappie are suspended in 10 - 12 feet of water over brush that is in 25 -35 feet of water. Start using your slip float and cast to the brush as our water has gotten really clear. I have also been told that suspending rogues and small crank baits are working for crappie and walleye when cast over the brush.

The Norfork Lake level is falling and currently sits at 544.08. The surface water temperature was 45 - 46 degrees today in the main lake and colder in the creeks where the water is more shallow than 20 feet. The lake is getting gin clear, some stain back in the creeks. The Corps has been running all generators sporadically during the day. The air temperature this afternoon almost hit 50 degrees. I LOVE IT!

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2010-12-21T22:42:00.007-06:00

LINDA AND I WISH ALL A MERRY CHRISTMAS!

The weather warmed and the fishing heated up over the last several days on Norfork Lake. Striped bass fishing has been good, but the fish are moving. It appears that they are shallow (30 - 40 feet deep on the bottom)early in the morning, then they go deeper as the sun comes up. When they go deep you can find them on the bottom or suspended at 50 to 60 foot depths. You need to use your electronics to find the fish and the word is that they are hanging close to deep bluff lines. Fish are scattered and can be caught all over the lake. My guests have caught fish over the last several days in Float Creek, in the 101 and Bennetts area, the Henderson area and also in the Cranfield area. I caught and released fish in Panther Creek as well as Fall Creek on Monday. Live large shiners are working well fished straight down next to the boat.

Crappie are over the brush piles from 15 to 40 feet down. I fished for Crappie on Sunday afternoon and caught several in our cove and also over brush in the Cranfield area. I was using a small white grub tipped with a Crappie minnow. This method also caught 5 black bass. Bass are being caught in all depths of water, but I have been having the best luck in 30 - 35 feet of water. I have been releasing the bass and crappie under my dock. I hope they stick around.

The Norfork Lake level is falling slowing and currently sits at 545.65. The Corps is running a couple of generators sporadically during the day. The surface water temperature is close to 50 degrees or just a little lower. The lake is clear.

It appears Basscat Boats has elected to stay at Norfork Lake for their 2011 Owners Invitational. It will be held on May 20th and 21st. Plans for a week long list of events and activities are being put together to make the 25th anniversary OI a great success. They are gearing towards making the event even more family friendly. If you need a place to stay give us a call for reservations.

Have a safe and Merry Christmas and see you on the water.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2010-12-12T08:01:00.007-06:00

Yesterday morning was a perfect day for fishing on Norfork Lake, even with the light rain. Today, however, is a different story. Snow flurries, cold, and strong winds. This current weather pattern is to last a couple of days, but then get back to normal. I will get back to the business of fishing at that time.

I had a great day of fishing yesterday. I got back to Float Creek at around 7 AM. A few boats were already fishing. I spent the first half hour graphing different areas in Float, then I finally started to mark some big fish. I haven't used the large shiners since last winter so I decided to give them a try. I put out 4 down poles. Each pole had a 3/4 ounce egg sinker, a plastic bead and a number 7 barrel swivel. The bead helps protect the knot from the sinker. I then put on a 2 - 3 foot leader with a kahle hook. I was using a number 4 hook yesterday, small but effective with the size of the shiners. When using large gizzard shad as bait, tie on a much larger hook. I still use 8 pound test Ande green monofilament line. I started to drift down the deep bluff side on the edge of the channel. I tried to stay in 40 - 50 feet of water and the fish were at all depths. I had each pole at a different depths starting at 30 feet down to the bottom. I caught fish at all depths. The bite started around 8AM and lasted for about 2 hours in this location. I ended up landing 4 stripers and 1 hybrid in the 8 to 12 pound range and broke off 4 others. I don't know why I had all the break offs but they seemed to be close to my knots. I guess I retied my poles too late the night before and my eyes sight was just not good enough!!! When my boat drifted into 30 - 40 feet of water I started to get black bass. They were all the nice big ones. I landed 7 bass and the 4 in the photos would not go back down, so we had fish tacos for supper.

When the bite stopped close to the bank I headed out to the deeper water in the main channel. I ended up catching two other stripers. Both were caught when I was moving with my trolling motor. So this meant that my baits were much higher up in the water. The fish are continually moving so make sure you check out all areas. I have also received reports of stripers being caught in all the major creeks and also up in the Calamity area.

Crappie have moved over the brush in deep water. The brush in 40 feet of water is producing some nice fish. The Crappie are suspended over the brush from 15 - 40 feet down. Bass and walleye are also hanging close to the brush piles.

As you have noticed by my last couple of reports, I have been using live bait more than I usually do. I'm in a learning mode. My new boat gives me many more options. I have been testing out the shad tank and also learning how to throw a cast net and catch my own bait. I will be fishing the live bait method for a while until my comfort level is right with all aspects. Then I'll be back to artificial bait fishing, which I dearly enjoy.

The Norfork Lake water level is holding fairly steady and currently sits at 546.7. The surface water temperature was in the 54 to 55 degree range. The lake is clear and just gorgeous.

Stay warm, happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Have a great holiday season.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2010-11-23T10:49:00.007-06:00

Yesterday morning was another great day for striped bass fishing on Norfork Lake. I took out Robert Lee of Lee's Lite Line (striper guide on Norfork Lake) and we had a very productive morning. We boated our limit of stripers in 2 1/2 hours, broke off 2 others and missed at least 4 short bites. We were using live bait, large gizzard shad and suckers, on down rods. I was setting the bait about 24 feet down and fished in 27 - 32 feet of water. We were fishing the Calamity area. I have also gotten reports that large shiners are starting to catch fish.

Bass fishing has been good. I have had a lot of luck off of main lake points at the end of a bluff line and points on channel swings back in creeks. The fish are anywhere from the shoreline to 30 feet deep. You can also find many bass hanging around brush piles.

Crappie are just stacked over brush piles. They are suspended from 10 to 20 feet down. The brushy area where I have marked fish is in water 25-30 feet deep. Small jigs and a Northland Tackle Bro's Bloodworm has been the ticket.

The Norfork Lake level is at 547.05. The surface water temperature is in the high 50s to 60 degrees. The lake over all is clear with the main lake being the clearest. The Corps is running generators sporadically during the day.

This is a short report, but I mainly wanted to brag about yesterdays catch!!

Happy fishing, Happy Thanksgiving and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2010-11-21T06:47:00.012-06:00

Fall fishing on Norfork Lake is in full swing. The lake is in great condition and the fish are biting. I have fished the last 6 days and have caught largemouth, smallmouth, walleye, crappie,catfish, panfish and striped bass. I fished for striped bass yesterday with my brother-in-law, his son and his son's girlfriend. We traveled up the river to the point 9 area of Norfork Lake. We arrived around 6:30AM just as the sky was starting to brighten. I was fishing with large gizzard shad. I hooked the bait onto my leader and dropped it to the bottom in 32 feet of water and set it into the rod holder. As I was reaching for the next pole the first pole bent to the water and line started zinging out. I had my nephew grab the rod and set the hook and the fight was on. All of sudden the line went slack he reeled it in and found that the line had snapped just below the weight. Must have had a kink in the line. I guess I need to be more diligent about checking the line for bad spots. I finally got four rods set, two down lines and two free swimming baits set on a Redi Rig float. This float works in the same method as a balloon keeping the bait away from the boat and at the depth you want. Our fishing trip was a success, we ended up landing five stripers in the 8 - 14 pound range (average Norfork Lake fish), broke off 2 fish and missed at least eight other bites. I had a blast watching my family fight those fish and took a lot of photos and probably gave more advice than was wanted.

Friday I fished with a writer and advertising agent of Northland Tackle and Frabill (Noel Vick). His goal was to bass fish and catch many fish. We started fishing around 8:30AM along bluff lines and points in the 101 Marina area. We were using crank baits, jig and pigs. Noel had a couple of hits along the shoreline, but no fish. The wind started to blow really hard out of the south and it became almost impossible to hold the boat and cast with any accuracy. We motored over to the Big E bluff line, which was blocking the strong winds. I went to a point that has a nice brush pile sunken in 40 feet of water. I rigged up a couple of rods with small live gizzard shad and immediately we started to get hammered. We ended up landing small mouth bass and spotted bass. We fished this location for a while then moved to the back of Float Creek. Again I rigged up live bait and was fishing in 23 - 35 foot depths and the largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass were there and hitting very aggressively. I marked a small school of larger fish sitting in 25 feet of water, I told Noel get ready and all of sudden he was slammed and the drag just started zinging out. The fish was headed for deep water. Noel finally landed a nice size Norfork Lake striped bass (photo of me with the fish). I was amazed that these fish were in such shallow water. I floated over a big brush pile and was marking crappie and pan fish just stacked. They were suspended over the brush in 10 to 18 feet of water. The brush piles were sitting in 23 - 35 feet of water. We re-rigged with some Northland crappie tackle. Noel tied on a red Bro's Bloodworm and I tied on a white Mini Thumper-R-Blade (twister tail grub with a small spinner). Noel immediately got wacked on the Bro's Bloodworm and brought in a nice 12 - 13 inch white crappie. He ended up catching crappie and bluegill on the Bro's Bloodworm. My jig kept getting hits, but I think the grub was a little big and they keep biting the tail and not taking the whole bait. We ended the trip fishing back where we started. I baited the poles up with live shad and we dropped to the bottom at 23 - 30 feet. We started catching spotted bass, one after another. We both had a great day and a fun time. I want to thank Noel for the new Frabill net. It works great and hooks don't get stuck into the webbing. Great net.

The Norfork Lake level is falling slowly and currently sits at 547.12. The lake temperature is falling as well and I was marking 59 degree water up north and around 60 - 61 degrees in my cove. The main lake is clear and the creeks and cover are clearing.

Have a great day of fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2010-11-17T15:52:00.012-06:00

Linda and I are back at our resort after a long overdue vacation. We both had a great time. We are hard at work around the resort and I have also started fishing again on Norfork Lake. So far we have had a relatively warm fall and the fish are starting to bite. Yesterday I took some of my visiting family out striper fishing and we did Ok. We landed 2 stripers, one 15+ pounds. We broke off another and missed four other strikes. We were fishing up the river past point 8 with live shad. They were not the big jumbos so we were doubling up the shad on one hook. A couple of my guide friends have also been fishing the same area and are doing well. Yesterday Tom Reynolds of STR Outfitters landed 10 stripers and hybrids and the day before landed 14. I guess my boat missed too many of the strikes.

Today I fished with my brother-in-law and we slayed the bass. We ended up landing over 20 largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass and lost over 5 fish at the boat. We limited out on spotted bass and released the largemouths and smallmouths. We started at sunrise and were throwing Zara Spooks around some docks. The fish were out in deep water (25feet) as well as right on the shore line. Next we headed over to the Big E area and switched from artificial baits to live bait. We used Carolina type rigs with a 1 ounce weight, then a couple of feet of leader with a number 4 kahle hook. I was fishing around some brush that is close to a point on the bluff line. The spotted bass were stacked. We landed 4 fish in this location then they seemed to turn-off. Next we headed to Panther Creek. I was graphing at different locations looking for striper without success. I stopped on a point and started to use live bait. We landed 3 spotted bass. Again the fish were in 20 - 25 feet of water. My third location was past Bidwell point. This was our most productive area. Again the bass were stacked and were very aggressive. We caught our first 3 fish in 8 - 10 feet of water and continued to catch fish after fish in 10 - 30 feet of water. I really think spinner baits and crankbaits would have worked great, but we were having so much fun with the live bait I could not get myself to switch. It was a great great day.

Two 17 inch smallmouth, a 16 inch spotted bass, and a white bass (all caught today) were given to an advertising firm that is photographing for 2011 fishing equipment catalogs for Northland and Frabril, both Minnesota companies. Arkansas is having over 19 nationally known reporters in the area fishing and exploring to see what Norfork Lake and Mountain Home have to offer. I am taking some of the writers out fishing on Friday and Saturday, My trip for today was cancelled.

From reports, crappie fishing is starting to get really hot. Small twister tail grubs tipped with a minnow and just minnows are working well. The fish are suspendied over brush piles anywhere from 10 feet to 20 feet down. Keep trying different depths until you find the one that works the best.

The Norfork Lake level is falling slowly and currently sits at 547.45. The surface water temperature was 62 - 63 degrees today. The main lake water is clear and the creeks are cloudy but clearing.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2010-11-02T17:41:00.008-05:00

The weather on Norfork Lake has been great. Daytime temperatures have been in the upper 60's to 70's and the evenings have been in the 40's & 50's. I couldn't ask for a better fall. The fish in Norfork Lake are starting to move to their winter patterns. Basically this is saying you can find fish both shallow and deep and anywhere in between. This morning I fished with one of our guests (Grant) and we ended up catching largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass. We started throwing a Zara spook at sunrise at the end of docks, with no success. I headed into the bank and on the first cast this nice 16 inch spotted bass hammered my spook in less than one foot of water. We continued to work the shoreline for the next couple of hours and landed several bass. All received their freedom. Once the shallow bite stopped we moved to a semi deep bluff line and started working worms and a jig and pig on the bottom. I ended up landing a smallmouth. We started to vertical jig with a spoon, but the wind picked up and it became too hard to hold my location. We had a good morning and decided to head back home for that second cup of coffee.

Yesterday morning I found a large school of white bass pushing shad to the surface. We started throwing a spook, but they just would not hit them. I saw the school on my fish finder so we started to spoon and had a great time pulling in one after another, with plenty of misses. We were fishing back in the 6A area. We then headed to a point at the end of a bluff line and started to spoon. The bass didn't show up, but we did catch several crappie that were hanging around a sunken tree. One of these days I need to take my crappie gear to this location. The crappie were just stacked over the tree in 15 - 35 feet of water. In the other photo Grant landed this nice 22 inch walleye on a rogue type bait.

Stripers are starting to show up all over the lake. They have been caught in front of 101, in Panther Creek, Float Creek and up from Cranfield. I have not found any top water action yet, but hopefully this will happen soon. Fish are being caught on live bait, from 20 - 50 feet down. Hopefully I will get out and do some serious striper fishing in the next day or so. My new shad tank arrived so I will be able to live bait fish along with the artificial bait.

Linda has been after me for some catfish. I guess I will set a trot line out before long and see what happens.

The Norfork Lake level is falling and currently sits at 559.5. The surface water temperature was 66.5 degrees this morning and should drop over the next week. The main lake is clear and the creeks and coves are starting to clear. The Corps is running one or two generators sporadically during the day.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2010-10-27T13:48:00.007-05:00

It has been windy on Norfork Lake for the last 4 days. Even with the wind I have been able to get out this morning and a few evenings over the last week. The bass bite is still good. I am catching bass in 30 - 37 feet of water on the main lake points as well as over sunken brush piles. I have been using a 3/4 ounce spoon for vertical jigging. This morning I caught several bass. One was a 6 pound lunker. I caught a double header on a Zara Spook top water bait. Both were Kentucky bass. One was 14 inches long and the other was 12 inches. I thought I had a really big fish when I was bringing them in. The double headed was caught casting close to docks. All bass were released immediately so I have no pictures today.

The crappie bite is improving. They are on sunken brush and suspended anywhere from 15 feet down to the bottom of the brush. Minnows are working the best at this time. Once the water cools the crappie should become more aggressive.

Still have not caught any striper lately and haven't heard of many being caught. I did see some really nice top water stripers about 4 evenings ago. I was fishing the Cranfield to Point 8 area. Along the bluff line the stripers started to blow up. By the time I got close enough they went down. I started to spoon in the same area and saw them come up again right behind my boat. I got so excited I almost threw my spooning rod in the water reaching for my top water rod. To say the least I was too late and they went down not to be seen again that evening. I am soooo happy I didn't lose my rod and reel! I hope this early top water action is a sign of what's to come in November.

The Norfork Lake level is falling and currently sits at 550.12. One to two generators are being run sporadically during the day. The surface water temperature this morning fell to 69 degrees. (This is a good thing) The main lake is clear with the creeks and coves stained.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2010-10-19T12:32:00.008-05:00

Early fall has been a great fishing time for the bass fishermen and fisherwomen. Largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass are being found all over the lake. I have had the best luck on bluff line points for spotted bass, deep bluff lines and brush piles for the largemouth and deep bluff lines for the smallmouth. All of my fish have been caught in 30 - 40 feet of water either vertical jigging with a spoon or with live shiners. Live crawdads will work great this time of year for the spotted bass. One guest last week fished a few hours in the morning and a few hours at sunset and after dark. He was pitching a dark colored jig and pig along the bluff lines and caught close to his limit each time he went out. His fish were caught in 15 - 25 feet of water.

I fished with a couple of my guests yesterday morning and we started looking for stripers with no luck so I started to move closer to the points and bluffs. We hooked up with some nice bass, catfish and walleye. We were fishing with live shiners as well as spoons. One of the guests started throwing a small popper at the banks. He picked up a few nice largemouth and a whole bunch of hand sized blue gill. I fished the Fall Creek area, Diamond Bay area and along the Robinson bluffs. We caught fish at all locations. It wasn't non-stop action, but we caught some quality fish.

Last week we also had a couple of pan fisherpeople. They loaded up on large hand size red eared blue gill and had a blast. They took home a freezer full. Crickets were the bait of choice. This was non stop action!

Striper fishing has still been slow. I have had reports of one or two being caught, but nothing to say they are in the fall feeding pattern. This time of year we should be finding them schooled in the mid lake area, but we're not at this time. The lake is still a little warmer than normal so this may be affecting the bite. I have marked stripers, but I can not get them to bite. This is what I'm hearing from everyone I've asked. Once the lake temperature gets into the 60's I think we will see a major change. Of course this is not going to stop me from trying to locate and catch them. If all else fails I will go catch some nice bass and walleye.

Crappie fishing has picked up. You can find them over brush piles that is in 30 - 40 feet of water. The crappie should be suspended about 15 - 30 feet down. Use live minnows, a small spoon or a twister tail grub tipped with a minnow. Keep checking the various brush piles in the lake, you will find them.

The lake level is falling slowing and sits at 551.2. The Corps is running 1 - 2 generators sporadically during the day. The surface lake water temperature has been around 72 degrees. The main lake is clear with the creeks and coves cloudy.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2010-10-06T12:05:00.010-05:00

I have been having fun fishing Norfork Lake the last 3 days. I fished in the evening Monday and Tuesday, then today switched to find the early morning bite. The bite has been equally good each day that I have fished. Monday afternoon I had planned on just traveling to several areas to check for bait and fish, but when I was graphing my cove I noticed a lot of fish in 22 - 24 feet of water. I started to spoon and caught white bass after white bass. I went back to my dock and talked one of my guests into coming out with me. In minutes we were on the whites again and had a great time. We ended up catching a dozen or so whites and a nice largemouth. Greg is picutered holding the largemouth and a white. On Tuesday afternoon I headed out around 4PM and decided not to graph my cove so I would be able to check out other areas. :) I headed across from Bidewell Point and marked a few fish, but nothing exciting. I then headed back to the 6A area and marked a few big arcs but no schools of stripers. Once I got into 30 - 38 feet of water I started marking huge schools of bait and fish. I started spooning and ended up catching 5 largemouth bass and 2 crappie. I was fishing rocky points on the bluff side. The black bass and crappie were just stacked. I was hoping for a little top water action, but didn't find any. This morning was equally good. It was a very foggy morning so I couldn't travel fast. I planned on checking out Float Creek and Diamond Bay, but decided to stay closer to home. I fished across from Bidwell and went to the back of the cove. Largemouth bass and Kentucky bass were stacked in 35 - 40 feet of water. I had one of my guide friends, Robert Lee of Lee's Lite Line, with me. We end up landing 6 bass, 3 that were keeper size. We kept one Kentucky for fish tacos. Then we headed to the 101 area and fished a rocky point where I usually catch bass. We didn't find bass this time, but instead we started catching crappie on 1 ounce spoons. The crappie were stack in 30 - 38 feet of water. All fish caught were on the bottom, but I was marking many, many fish all the way from 20 feet, down to the bottom. If I only had my crappie gear with me, we would most likely have had a field day with them. I then headed back to the 6A area and fished rocky points. Again we found crappie just stacked in 30 - 38 feet of water. I found the most fish on drop offs. What a fun morning. Robert got to clean the fish since he is going to have the fish tacos for dinner this evening.

In a nutshell, I found crappie in 30 - 38 feet of water off of main lake rocky points. They were hanging on the ledges or drop offs. I had been finding bass in the same locations. White bass seem to be back in creeks or coves in 22 - 30 feet of water. For all the fish make sure you find the bait fish and the other fish will be there feeding.

Stripers have been tough to find the last 5 days. I think the cold front that rolled through our area put them on the move. Just one week ago I got into a large school of top water feeding striper and had a field day. I found the fish in 20 feet of water. Hope this happens again soon. The forecast is back to normal temperatures so hopefully the stripers will get back to their normal seasonal routine. We should start finding them in the mid lake area soon.

From all reports and my observations the lake conditions are great. Oxygen levels are up and the water is cooling. With all the fish coming up into shallow water it appears we may not have much of a turnover if any this year. If we have a lake turnover it typically happens in October some time, dependant on the water and air temperatures. Of course anything can happen at any time.

The Norfork Lake level is falling slowing and currently is at 551.75. One generator is currently being run. The surface water temperature had fallen to the low to mid 70s. The main lake is clear and the coves and creeks are still a little stained.

Follow Hummingbird Hideaway Resort on Facebook for additional pictures and short notes.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2010-09-29T13:04:00.009-05:00

It was a fantastic morning of fishing on Norfork Lake. I needed to put a few hours on the new motor to break it in so I headed toward the dam. I caught fish everywhere I stopped to look. I first stopped near the dam and was marking fish on the bottom in 40 - 45 feet of water. Then all of a sudden the stripers started to explode close to shore. They were chasing shad on the surface. I quickly got the rod with the Zara spook and on the first cast landed a 12 pound fish. I always have a rod ready with a Zara spook tied on. The fish continued to come up in the same area for about 30 minutes. I landed a second fish about 10 pounds and then I had my third on and after about a 5 minute fight it came unhooked. I checked out my hooks and all were bent out. I guess the first two fish took a toll on the hooks. I better change out the hooks to a stronger one before my next trip. My second spot was back in Koso. Again I was marking fish in 40 - 50 feet of water on the bottom. I started to vertical jig and caught 2 hybrids and a undersized smally. I then headed back into the Diamond Bay area and marked fish in the 35 - 45 feet range. This is where I landed the 18 inch largemouth and smallmouth bass. I also caught 2 whites in the same area. The bass and whites were all caught vertical jigging with a spoon.

All in all it was a great maiden voyage (or at least the first true fishing trip) in my new Skeeter Bay boat. I am really liking this boat!!!! I do have a shad tank on order so I will also be doing live bait fishing in the future. My new bay boat will allow me to be very versatile in my fishing methods.

I hope the early fall top water action is a good sign to how the fall fishing is going to be. I'm looking for a great fall fishing season.

I am getting encouraging reports from the crappie guides that they are starting to catch crappie on sunken brush piles. The brush should be in about 40 feet of water and the crappie are suspended from 20 feet all the way down to the brush. You will need to test various depths until you find the right one. Catfishing has been really good on trot lines and jugs. I have also caught quite a few spooning in 35 feet of water. The trot lines need to be in 15 to 20 feet of water, but as the water cools shallower depths will work.

The Norfork Lake water level is holding steady at 552.26. The surface water temperature has fallen to 77 degrees. The main lake is clear, but the creeks and coves are still a little murky.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Welcomes BASS tournament

2010-09-23T07:24:00.008-05:00

Welcome BASS fishermen and women to Norfork Lake. The Arkansas BASS Federation is holding their annual championship tournament on Norfork Lake this week. The actual tournament will be this coming Friday and Saturday and the weigh-in is at Henderson Marina. I haven't heard a final count, but I am being told it should be close to 150 boats.

My new Skeeter Bay boat has finally arrived. This new addition to the Hummingbird Hideaway fleet will allow me to fish whatever style is working best. I have a shad tank ordered so I will soon be able to live bait fish as well as fish with artificial bait as I have done in the past. I will also be able to start guiding occasionally. With all the bass boats around I was trying to wait until after the tournament to break in the boat, but I couldn't do it. We cruised around for about an hour this morning.

Look for an updated fishing report next week, but the guides are telling me that the fishing trends have not changed from my last report.

Norfork Lake level is at 552.3 and hold fairly steady. Generation has been sporadic. The surface lake temperature is in the low 80's early and mid 80's in the afternoon. The lake is clear and the creeks and covers are clearing nicely.

Happy fishing and see you on the water.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2010-09-18T07:49:00.005-05:00

The Norfork Lake striper bite has been off the chart using live bait. The morning and evening bites have been really good. Fish are being caught from Diamond Bay to the dam. Guests in the photos have been fishing all week long and have been limiting out in the mornings as well as the evenings. Jeff catches live shad and this seems to be the bait of choice. Last evening Jeff and I were fishing next to each other off a point in the dam area. I watched him land two nice 12 pound stripers and miss 5 others. I was vertical jigging with a spoon and only had one hit and missed it. They definitely wanted fresh bait instead of artificial. The fish were 38 - 45 feet down either on the bottom or suspended in about 55 feet of water. This evening I am going to try live shiners to see how and if they will work. I will let you know.

I have been catching black bass and white bass with catfish and walleye thrown in for good measure. I've been fishing in 35-40 feet of water. These fish are on the bottom feeding on shad. White bass are back in coves and creeks usually towards the center of the creek not on the banks. The black bass that I have found are on points or the sides of points in this same water depth. The lake thermocline is hovering in the 35 feet range and varies depending on where you are on the lake.

The Norfork Lake level has risen to 552.3. The surface water temperature has stabilized in the low 80s during the morning and the mid 80s in the afternoon. The main lake is clear and the creeks and coves are still murky.

Happy fishing and see you on the water.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2010-09-08T10:08:00.008-05:00

The striped bass, hybrid bass, white bass and black bass are still schooling on Norfork Lake. Fishing has been good once you find the fish. They are moving constantly and you will find them in one spot and they stick around for 30 minutes to an hour then move off. You will need to move to different locations until you find them again. There is a good morning bite as well as a late afternoon bite. Early morning and late afternoon the fish that I have found are in 40 - 55 ft of water feeding heavily on shad and crawdads. Mid day they head out to deeper water and suspend in 40 - 60 ft of water still feeding on shad. Find the shad and you should find the fish. I have been fishing the dam area and find them back in coves as well as on main lake points. There hasn't been a consistent place to fish so use your electronics to find the schools. Example, I took out a couple of our guests on Labor Day and fished Point 1, Koso Bay, Sally Hand and a couple other points with little success. We ended up with one keeper walleye. I finally found some white bass and smaller hybrids in the Diamond Bay area. Yesterday I fished the same areas and found large schools of stripers and hybrids. I caught 2 nice hybrids and a 9 pound striper. I was able to release the hybids, but the striper just wouldn't go back down. The fish are constantly on the move! I guess that is why they call it fishing!!

I have found good schools of white bass back in coves and creeks in 30 - 45 ft of water. I've fished the Diamond Bay area with success later in the morning. I have also found whites and small hybrids in Panther creek and Float creek.

Kentucky and large mouth bass are chasing shad on the surface at sunrise and also sunset. Have your favorite top water bait tied on so you are ready. The top water action only lasts a half hour or until the sun gets over the trees. I have noticed that on cloudy mornings it will last longer. I have also spooned up some nice blacks in 30 - 40 ft of water feeding on the bottom. Again they are located on main lake points, bluff lines and also back in creeks on the secondary points.

No word on Crappie, but with the cooling water they should start moving back to my brush piles. I will keep you posted.

Catfish are being caught on trot lines and jugs with a lot of success. Use live bait for a better bite.

The Norfork Lake level is at 550.49 ft, a few feet below normal pools. The lake surface water temperature has fallen to 79 - 82 degrees. The main lake is clear and the creeks and coves are cloudy. Rain is in the forecast for the next few days, but the forecast shows clearing by Friday. Should be a great weekend.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2010-08-24T19:51:00.007-05:00

Norfork Lake fishing is still in full swing in the heat of the summer. Live bait as well as vertical jigging is working really well. Most of the fish that are being caught are in the Diamond Bay area to the dam. Both early morning and the late afternoon bite is strong. The Stripers, hybrids and whites are schooling and once you find the school hold on for a lot of fun. I fished this morning with two of my guests. We fished the dam area in 45 - 70 feet of water off of main lake points. Today I found a huge school at around 6:45AM and it was nonstop action for about 45 minutes. Then I lost the school and couldn't find it again. I fished a few other areas and caught several small whites. We ended up catching white bass, hybrid bass and stripers. These were the first stripers/hybrids these guests have caught on Norfork Lake. I also fished Sunday morning in the same area as today and ended up catching 2 nice 9 pound hybrids. Cody is much more photogenic than me.

Nothing new on other species. I will have better info later.

The Norfork Lake level is still falling slowly and sits at 550.96. The Corps is running one to two generators sporadically during the day. The surface water temperature was in the high 80's to low 90's. The main lake is clear and the coves and creeks are slightly stained.

Happy fishing and hope to see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2010-08-19T10:37:00.009-05:00

Norfork Lake fishing has been pretty good over the last week. It does seem that I have a great day then the next day is mediocre. I guess that is why they call it fishing. Today was one of those mediocre days. I ran all over the lake this morning and ended up catching 7 white bass at the last stop closest to the resort. Yesterday was much better, I landed this 10 pound striper and missed three others and was only out for a couple of hours. I had to be back at the resort to check out one of our pontoon boats. Tuesday was an OK day. I had one of our guests with me and we caught white bass, hybrids and this nice 12 pound striper. We caught it at the same location where I caught all the whites this morning. I am finding fish from the Robinson area to the dam. Most fish are being caught on main lake points anywhere from 45 feet to 80 feet of water. The fish are at 40 - 55 feet depths. There is still is a little top water action just as the sun is rising so have your favorite top water bait ready to go. I like the Zara Spook jr. I am still vertical jigging with a spoon and will continue this method of fishing into the fall. I will start fishing closer to brush piles once the water temperature gets back in the low 80's.

Catfish are being caught on trot lines and jugs using live bait. Cut bait will work, but the turtles and gar seem to get there before the catfish. Blue gill are biting good on crickets and nightcrawlers. Crappie are still slow but will pick up once the water temperature gets in the low 80's. Black bass are feeding shallow early and late in the day then they go deep in the heat of the day. I have been catching a few walleye when I get into 30 - 40 feet of water and they hit the same spoon I am using for striper fishing.

The Norfork Lake water level is falling slowly and currently sits at 551.6. The lake is clear. The surface water temperature is in the low 90's.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2010-08-11T11:41:00.008-05:00

Fishing on Norfork Lake at this time is outstanding. If you like to fish for striped bass, black bass and white bass then now is the time to come to Norfork Lake. I have been vertical jigging in 65 feet of water and am finding the fish stacked, suspended at 35 - 45 feet depths. The schools are so large that I can feel my spoon bounce off a fish as it is falling. Then all of a sudden the pole starts to bend. It has been amazing. After I limited out on stripers and hybrids I went to a nearby point and started jigging in approximately 30 feet of water. The whites, blacks and walleye are feeding on the bottom. I worked the same spoon I used for the stripers. I have been trying to release all fish that can swim back down, but some of the stripers are too stressed after coming up from 40 feet. The photo is of yesterday's catch. This morning I brought home 2 - 10 pound stripers and a 3 pound white bass. Linda couldn't get away for a photo op this morning. I have released over 10 fish each morning consisting of hybrids, whites, black bass and a couple undersized walleye. The spoon is working well. The live bait fishermen are also doing very well in similar type areas if not the same area.

The lake conditions are the same as last report with a slight fall in the water level.

See you all soon and happy fishing on Norfork Lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2010-08-08T11:41:00.010-05:00

Fishing on Norfork Lake for striped bass couldn't get much better. The morning bite, as well as the afternoon bite, is in full swing. The attached photos are from the last two days. I limited out this morning and ran across school after school of striped bass, hybrid bass and white bass. I was vertical jigging in 50 - 60 feet of water. The fish were suspended in 35 - 45 feet of water. Will, with his limit of striped bass, fished last evening with Tom Reynold's of STR Outfitters. Tom was using live shad and fished similar depths and occasionally in deeper water. Dustin, with the two stripers, fished yesterday morning and was vertical jigging in the same area that I fished this morning. The fish are really active at this time. If I had taken a spook along with me, I could have caught many black bass. When the sun was just starting to come up the bass were chasing shad to the surface and erupting all around me.

Stripers and hybrids are being caught from the Robinson area and surrounding creeks down to the dam area. Early morning and late evening should be the best time to fish and then you can take advantage of the afternoon sun to play in the pool or lake.

The Norfork Lake level is holding steady and is at 552.47. The surface water temperature is still in the upper 80's to low 90's. The lake is clear and in great condition to fish, ski or swim.

See you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2010-08-06T12:33:00.009-05:00

Stripers are schooling on Norfork Lake. Striped bass fishing has been pretty good over the last couple of weeks. Large schools of stripers and hybrids are being found from the Robinson area to the dam. Once you find the school drop a spoon and vertical jig, you will get a fish. I have had guests over the last week vertical jigging and catching some nice stripers, hybrids and white bass. Walleye have also been caught at the 101 bridge suspended in 25 feet of water. The photos are two different families/friends. One had three generations of family members on board with all catching fish. The little one had the job of the netting the big catch. One of the families was fishing out of a 20 foot ski boat and the other out of a bass boat. It shows that you don't always need a trolling motor to catch fish, but a sonar does help. These fish were caught in 50 feet of water feeding on the bottom. They were back in a cove that we have dubbed Hummingbird Hideaway Cove, since fishing in this particular cove at this time of year has been productive for me over the last 3 years. The bite is occurring anywhere between 6:00 and 9:00 in the morning. Live shad fishing has also been really good for the guides on the lake. It is a early morning and late afternoon bite. Take a break mid day to go swimming or just relax out on the water.

Black bass fishing has also been good. There is a little top water action early in the morning back in coves and creeks. Plastics are working well in 5 - 20 feet of water. Vertical jigging will pick up a few in 30 feet of water.

Catfish are being caught with live bait on trot lines and jugs. Crappie fishing is still very slow but will start to pick up when the temperature starts to fall. Pan fishing has been fantastic with nightcrawlers and crickets. My dock has produced many large slabs for our guests. White bass are still schooling in the backs of creeks and coves. Walleye are in similar areas to the white bass usually on the bottom in around 30 feet of water and close to brush piles.

The Norfork Lake level is holding fairly steady and is currently at 552.6. The water temperature is in the high 80's to low 90's. The water is clear in the main lake and slightly cloudy in the coves and creeks. One or two generators are being run sporadically.

I will see you on the water next week, my boats are currently rented.

Happy fishing.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2010-07-26T18:59:00.008-05:00

Vertical jigging with a spoon is in full swing on Norfork Lake. For those artificial bait fishermen and women who like to fish for all species of fish, try vertical jigging. I have fished for the last couple of days back in a creek and have spooned up white bass, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, Kentucky bass, walleye, hybrid bass, catfish and sunfish. The only fish I have not caught in the last couple days are striped bass and crappie. I have spooned up both in the past in the same location. I have been fishing in 30 - 60 feet of water and am finding the fish either on the bottom or suspended in 30 - 40 feet of water. Drop the spoon next to the boat and let it fall to the bottom. Be prepared to set the hook at any time. The fish will pick up the spoon before it hits the bottom and your line will go slack, set the hook quickly. If you don't get fish on the drop start jigging the spoon up and down, sometimes high jigs and sometimes just twitch it. You will feel the fish on as you are raising the spoon off of the bottom. If still no fish after 5 or 6 jigs reel up quickly and you might get a fish to hit the spoon on the rise. Be patient and watch your electronics for schools of fish or large balls of shad. The fish will be hanging around the bait usually under them, but I have also found them on the top side. As always the live bait guides are doing well using live shad. Black bass and walleye are being caught back in creeks and off of main lake points in 25 - 30 feet of water all over the lake. Striped bass are being caught from Robinson area to the dam. They are back in creeks and coves and also in the main lake. You can find them in 40 - 55 feet of water on the bottom feeding on crawfish and they can also be found out in deep water suspended at the 40 foot level feeding on shad. Use your electronics and look for the schools. JFor catfish jugs and trotlines are working well baited with shiners or small bluegill.

The Norfork Lake level is falling slowing and currently sits at 554.09 feet above sea level. Two generators are currently being run. The lake surface water temperature is in the upper 80's to low 90's. The lake is generally clear.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2010-07-23T10:52:00.003-05:00

It was another beautiful morning on Norfork Lake. I started out from our dock with one of our guests at 5AM and started fishing before 5:30. We started out in the Diamond Bay area, but were not marking much to vertical jig. Robert Lee of Lee's Lite Line was fishing close by and was catching his fair share using live shad. I moved to a different area around 6AM and immediately marked a huge school of feeding fish. We both hooked into white bass, we dropped again and hooked into more fish. We lost over 10 fish and landed 6. We kept a couple of the whites and a nice 6 pound hybrid. The fishing remained pretty steady for about an hour, then it slowed so I kept moving around trying to find the schooling fish without much luck. I ended the trip in Float Creek and fished an area I did well in yesterday morning, today I marked a ton of bait, but no feeding fish. Reports from various guides and fishing friends are that they are catching striped bass and hybrids near the Robinson area and surrounding creeks to the Diamond area and around the dam. The fish are definitely schooling. When you find a school of feeding fish drop a spoon and vertical jig, you will catch a fish. The schools keep moving under the shad.

The Norfork Lake water level has fallen to 554.62 with one generator currently being run. The surface water temperature of the lake was in the low 90's this morning. The main lake is clear with the creeks and coves somewhat hazy.

Have a great day and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2010-07-17T14:46:00.012-05:00

I'm back fishing Norfork Lake after a week of being home bound. All of our boats were rented last week so I got to sleep in. The striped bass are schooling and in their summer pattern. I had a huge school go under me this morning. I missed hooking the first one. I finally landed the second striper and the third broke off. I also caught 3 big white bass and two black bass on a spook. I have had reports of stripers being caught in Float Creek, Panther Creek, Fall Creek and in the Robinson Island area. The fish are suspended at levels of 30 - 40 feet and can be found in all depths, 50 feet to 120 feet of water. I have also had reports of stripers being caught in the dam area. Live bait is working the best (gizzard and thread fin shad) but spooning works once you find the fish. I spoon all summer long. The stripers were hitting my spoon on the drop this morning. Be ready to set the hook as soon as you feel or see the line go slack, you only get one chance. I have also had positive reports on the afternoon bite for stripers.

The top photo is of one of our guests that fished with Tom Reynolds of STR Outfitters. Bill landed this nice 20 pound striper and it is currently at the taxidermist. His fish dwarfed my little 10 pounder of today. His group had over 20 bites and end up landing 7 stripers and a nice 4 pound smallmouth bass.

Crappie fishing has been a little difficult with the summer heat. They have gone deep and if you get lucky you may find them on a deep ledge. They should start to move back into the deep brush piles soon. Catfishing has been good on trotlines and jugs. The guides are catching catfish on most of their trips with their shad. Big slab blue gills are being caught under docks and I have spooned up several in 30 feet of water. Walleye are being spooned up in 30 - 40 feet of water along rock bluffs as well as main lake points.

The Norfork Lake level is 555.8 and rising very slowly. Currently no generators are being run. The main lake is clear and the creeks are still a little cloudy due to the rise in water. The Norfork Lake surface water temperature is in the upper 80's.

Happy fishing and hope to see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2010-07-11T09:19:00.006-05:00

Happy belated July 4th to all. It has been pretty busy around the resort and my fishing boat has been rented for skiing and tubing. I did finally get out fishing the last two days and did OK but not great. The black bass are still coming up somewhat early in the morning, by 8AM they have gone down deep. Today I caught 6 largemouth all 15 inches and all caught on a spook. I was also vertical jigging with a spoon. A large school of striper went under me and I hooked one momentarily while reeling up quickly though the school.It buried my rod tip in the water and when I set the hook the fish came unhooked! I immediately dropped the spoon and when it hit about 35 feet I felt my line go slack. I set the hook and the fish just took off. It ran across the bow of my boat and the line snapped. I think the line must have been cut by the fish's gill plate. I had another rod rigged with a spoon and dropped it and again the line went slack, I set the hook and the fish dove and as quickly as it dove the lure came unhooked. I did notice one of the hooks was bent out. I guess I have forgotten how to land a fish. I will get them the next time, which may not be until next week. I am finding white bass and black bass on the bottom in 30 - 40 feet of water. The stripers are suspended in 30 - 40 feet of water. I have been fishing back in the major creeks and fishing the secondary points especially where there is a channel swing.

The Norfork Lake level is at 554.16 and holding steady. The main lake is clear and the creeks are clearing. The surface water temperature was at 87 degrees this morning a few degrees lower than last week.

Happy fishing and see you on the water.

PS: The top photo's are some black bass spooned up by my brother-in-law John over the 4th and the second photo is of Chuck Pate and his client. Chuck is a very dedicated striper guide on Norfork Lake. His client hooked into this 33 pound striper on the 101 bridge columns. The fish took off between the columns and under the support brace. Chuck grabbed the rod and dove into the water and took the pole under the support bracing so the line would not be cut by the concrete. Once on the other side Chuck handed the rod back to his 13 year old client who continued to land this monster.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2010-06-20T11:06:00.004-05:00

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY. It is another gorgeous morning on Norfork Lake in the Arkansas Ozarks. It has been a great father's day for me so far. I went out fishing this morning (first time in over a week) and caught all the white bass and Kentucky bass that I wanted and also limited out on Striped Bass. I was releasing all that I caught this morning, but had to keep the striper and the white in the photo. I tried to release them, but they would not go down. I guess we have supper planned for today or tomorrow. The other two stripers were in the 10 pound range and all the white's were in the 1.5 - 2.5 pounds range. It was a fun, fun morning!!! I started out throwing a Zara Spook and was catching white bass, but when I saw huge schools of fish down in 35 - 50 feet of water I switched over to vertical jigging with a spoon and caught over 15 white bass and the 3 stripers. I was fishing back in a major creek off of a channel swing. It was hard not to throw my spook since there was sooo much top water action, but the bigger fish were deeper. I did end my trip by throwing the spook at a school of Kentucky's that just kept coming up. They were all 12 - 14 inches long and very fat and sassy.

I caught several channel catfish last week on my trot line, but it seemed to be slow. Not much news on crappie fishing, but I would think the hot weather is going to make it tough going.

The Norfork Lake water temperature is in the mid to upper 80's. The lake level is dropping and currently at 557.42. The main lake is clear and the creeks and coves are somewhat stained due to the drop in water pulling the silt off of the shore line. Once the drop stops the water will clear.

Happy fishing and see on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2010-06-15T22:00:00.008-05:00

The sun has been shining on Norfork Lake for the last week. Our guests are having a great time fishing in the morning, playing in the water in the afternoon, then fishing again in the evening. Can't ask for a better vacation than that.

Fishing has been great for the past week and seems to just keep improving. The white and black bass as well as stripers and hybrids are chasing the shad to the surface. It is Zara Spook time! One of my guests just came into the office really excited stating that he was in the Cranfield area and all of a sudden the water just started to boil. They had spooks tied on and had a field day catching white bass. He did say he saw some really big fish busting the surface farther out in the channel. Other guests have been fishing Float, Panther, and Fall Creeks with the same results. The top water action is currently in full swing in both early mornings and late evenings. Once the fish go down, vertical jigging is working. Fish are being caught on a spoon in 30 - 40 feet of water. Fish creek channel swings as well as main lake points.

Walleye are being caught with crank baits. The fish are back in coves in 15 - 25 feet of water. Try using a crawdad colored crank bait. Troll it slowly. I have also spooned up some walleye in 30 - 40 feet of water off of rock bluffs. It should be time for the walleye to be on the flats. Start checking out the Cranfield flats, Robinson Island flats, Koso Point flats. The fish should be in 25 - 40 feet of water.

Crappie are being caught on main lake and creek brush piles in 30 - 40 feet of water. Live minnows are still working the best, but twister tail jigs are also catching some nice fish.

The Norfork Lake level is falling slowly and is at 558.58. Only 6 1/2 feet above normal pool. The surface water temperature is in the mid 80's. The lake is clearer than I have ever seen. I can see fish swimming in 20 feet of water. It's amazing.

Have a great day fishing tomorrow and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2010-06-10T11:41:00.006-05:00

I am back on the lake after a weeks worth of wedding celebrations. Our daughter was married last Saturday at our resort and we had close to 150 family and friends visit with us. It was a great time and we are very happy with our new son-in-law. The Friday night fish fry went off very good and all loved the Norfork Lake fish. We ended up deep frying catfish, white bass, crappie and striper. It was tasty and there were no left overs. I am sure you saw photos of what we ended up eating. We bread it before we freeze it and it goes into the fryer frozen. Just about as close to fresh caught as we can do with so many to serve.

I have been out fishing the last two mornings and the top water bite is fantastic. From 5AM until around 7AM you can see the whites, black bass and stripers breaking the surface. I have been throwing a zara spook and almost every cast I get a fish or at least had a fish slapping at my bait. I took a couple of our guests along this morning and they had a good time. I am finding the fish back in the creeks. Check out the Bennett's area, Float Creek and Panther Creek. I have also gotten reports of top water action in the dam area. Yesterday I was spooning after 7AM and caught 2 keeper walleye. One flipped off the hook as I was trying to reach for the net. I also caught a nice 20 pound Blue cat. The Cat also got it's freedom at the dock. I was taking it out of the live well and it flipped and bounced right back in the water. I guess they will be able to grow bigger and I will catch them later!! Guides are still doing well catching stripers with live shad. They are fishing my end of the lake and also at the dam area. The stripers are scattered all over the lake. The guides are catching stripers on both free swimming shad as well as down poles from 30 - 50 feet down. Some of them are suspended in deep water as well as hugging the bottom.

Crappie are being caught around docks that have brush on them as well as over brush piles submerged in the lake. The fish are anywhere from 10 - 30 feet down. Live minnows are working the best.

The Catfish are spawning, but should be close to complete. Jugs and trot lines are still doing well with live bait as well as cut bait.

The Norfork Lake level is falling and currently sits at 559.41. All generators are currently being run. The lake surface water temperature is in the low to mid 80's. The lake is gin clear all over. It is the clearest I have seen in quite some time.

Happy fishing and see you on the water.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2010-05-26T10:21:00.007-05:00

The weather has been gorgeous the past week on Norfork Lake. The forecast is calling for warm sunny days with light winds for the upcoming Memorial Holiday Weekend. (We still have a few openings for those last minute plans.)

I have fished the last 5 mornings and have done well. I've caught largemouth bass, Kentucky bass, white bass, walleye, crappie and striped bass. The striped bass are are both deep and also pushing the shad to the surface. The past several days I have been using a spoon and vertical jigging, but today I got into some nice top water action. I caught these two stripers (one 14 pounds and one 10 pounds)on a Zara Spook. I caught these fish on 8 pound test monofilament line. I used my favorite spook, a junior sized one with a white body and chartreuse head. Stripers are being caught in the Fouts area, Float Creek, Panther Creek, Fall Creek, Cranfield area and the Robinson area. As you can see they are throughout our end of the lake.

On Sunday, a father and daughter team (Kevin and Abbie) took a guided trip with Tom Reynolds of STR Outfitters and landed 4 nice stripers and lost 8 others. Tom was using live gizzard shad and caught the fish in 25 - 40 feet of water. He was fishing the Fouts / 6A area. The second photo is of Mary Ann, one of our Collinsville, IL guests. She spooned up this nice 10 pound striped bass suspended in 40 feet of water in the White Rock area. Doug and Mary Ann also caught white bass and black bass both on top water and vertical jigging and also trolled up a nice 6 pound hybrid in the Cranfield area. Another one of our fishing guests (not in a photo) has been catching nice sized largemouth and Kentucky bass. He has also caught several walleye, one 18 inches. Larry loves to use a jig and pig and last winter he made up over a hundred jigs in various colors. He also uses real pork rind instead of the plastic ones.

As you can see fishing has been pretty active lately. For the top water bite you need to be out on the lake before sunrise as the fish start to go deep as the sun gets above the tree line. Even though this morning the striper top water bite lasted until 9AM and was still going on slowly as I left. The top water action is spotty and the fish come up quickly and go back down. If you are in the right place at the right time your spook will catch these fish.

The Norfork Lake surface water temperature this morning was in the low to mid 70's, The lake level is rising slowing and currently sits at 560.18, 8 feet above normal pool. The main lake is clear and the creeks and coves are slightly stained.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2010-05-23T11:28:00.006-05:00

Summer has made its way to Norfork Lake in the Arkansas, Ozarks. The high temperature for yesterday was in the low 90's and today is looking to be about the same. It was 70 degrees this morning at 5AM when I was getting ready to go fishing. I had a successful morning of fishing. I caught 3 walleye, several white bass, several Kentucky bass and two largemouth bass. I headed to the Cranfield area to see if any top water action was occurring on the flats or in the various coves in the area. But to my dismay very little top action except for the carp and gar. I did get a few bass to come up for my spook, but it was relatively quiet in this area. At around 7:30 I decided to start spooning on the deep rock bluff lines. I am glad I did. I ended up spooning up 3 walleye, a white bass and two Kentucky bass. The big walleye was 6 pounds (26 inches long), I also had a 3 pounder but the third one was short. I was spooning in 30 - 40 feet of water at a location that has a lot of underwater boulders.

The backs of creeks are holding many white bass. I sent a guest to a location in Float Creek and they have had a blast the last two mornings. The bite is early and stops once the sun gets over the trees. They caught most on a Zara Spook and once they went down they started to catch the whites on a spoon vertical jigging. They also caught a few small hybrids.

The striped bass are still being caught on free swimming live baits as well as with baits set at depths of 30 - 40 feet. A report from another guest fishing back in the Fouts area reported some big fish surfacing, but all were too far away for him to cast into. They ended up catching bass and a few whites on a spook and ended up spooning in deeper water, catching white bass and Kentucky bass.

All the fish that were cleaned today showed that they have been feeding on crawdads. I'm sure this is one reason for the spoon starting to work. In addition the lake temperature is rising, giving the fish another reason to go begin going deep.

Make sure you still have a top water bait tied on, but be ready to start spooning as the fish are starting to go deep.

The Norfork Lake water depth is at 559.57 with the rise starting to slow. Generators are being run intermittently during the day. The surface water temperature was mainly in the low 70's this morning. With the upcoming hot days and warm nights the water temp should continue to climb. The water in the creeks are somewhat stained. The main lake channels are clear.

Happy fishing and see you on Norfork Lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2010-05-20T10:55:00.008-05:00

The rain has finally stopped and a warming trend with clear skies is forecast to start tomorrow on Norfork Lake. It should be a great weekend to be on the lake fishing or just enjoying the scenery.
I haven't had a chance to get out fishing in almost two weeks. I am starting to get restless, but the resort work must come first. I will be out fishing tomorrow morning. I have been getting great reports on striper fishing from my guide friends. They are catching their limits and one guide last Sunday landed three 30+ pound stripers on one trip. That is a great catch. The stripers are schooling and feeding heavily. They are still coming up early in the morning and late in the day. If you are not using live bait, try throwing a Zara Spook or a fluke with a weighted hook. Other top water baits will work as well. As the day wears on the stripers are going deeper, feeding on shad and crawdads. Have a spoon ready and when you find a school feeding on the bottom drop the spoon and vertical jig. Try the backs of creeks. Typically when we have rising water the stripers go back to the mud line. This typically holds true for the black bass as well.

The largemouth, smallmouth and Kentucky bass bite is still good. These fish are surfacing early in the morning and late in the day. During the heat of the day they are on the bluff lines in 11 - 20 feet as well as on the sides of points. Top water baits are working for the surfacing fish. Once they go down use a jig and pig or a plastic worm Texas rigged. Work the baits slowly along the bottom. The fish are hitting very lightly so watch your line.

The walleye are in the brush piles 20 - 30 feet down and are coming up in the shallows at night and early in the morning to feed. Crank baits and walleye assassins are catching a few when they are shallow. Live minnows are working well when they are in the brush. They are also suspended on the bluff lines with the bass during the day.

The crappie bite has been pretty good, but they have gone deeper. They are on brush that is in 30 - 40 feet of water and the fish are suspended over the brush at different depths. Live minnows with a slip bobber is working the best. Set your stoppers at different depths until you find where they are suspended.

I have had a chance to set my trot line a few times. The flatheads are coming in to feed. Jugs are also working very well. I have caught my flatheads on live shiners as well as crawdads. We'll be having fish tacos for lunch and will bread and freeze the rest for a big fish fry we have planned for June 4th.

The Norfork Lake level is rising and is currently at 558.06 feet. above sea level. (6 feet above normal pool) The lake water temperature is in the upper 60's to low 70's. The temperature should start to rise with the warm weather being forecast. The lake has gotten a little stained with all the rain we have had. We had almost 2 inches last evening.

Have a great day, happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2010-05-10T06:40:00.004-05:00

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY to all of you wonderful and amazing Mothers. I hope you all had a nice day yesterday.

Welcome Basscat Owners. We have a great group of guys and gals staying with us that are fishing in the tournament. Several cabins are filled with guests we have gotten to know over the 8 years we've been here plus we get to welcome a few that are new to us. Good to see you all.

The weather on Norfork Lake has turned a little south the last couple of days. It has gotten slightly cooler and it started to rain last evening. We did need the rain, sorry Basscatters. But the good thing is that the weather hasn't seemed to affect the fishing much. Bass are still biting well on just about anything you throw at them. They are hanging at the edge of the buck brush, points and also on the bluff lines. Plastics Texas rigged and crank baits are working. There is still some top water at sun rise and also at sun set, so have your favorite top water bait tied on.

Walleye are being caught by the bass fishermen on crank baits. The walleye are hanging around the brush piles in 20 - 30 feet of water as well as on the bluff lines anywhere from 11 - 20 feet down. They are both suspended as well as on the bottom.

The crappie are starting to come alive. Live minnows on sunken brush are catching many nice slabs. The fish are being caught above the brush suspended close to the surface as well as buried in the brush pile. Find a good brush pile and throw out your marker. Leave this site for about 10 minutes to let things settle then return and cast in your minnow with a slip bobber. Try different depths until you find the feeding fish. A 15 1/2 inch crappie was caught off of my dock yesterday by one of our guests.

Catfish are starting to hit live shiners and crawfish on my trot line. Jugs are also working. It looks like the cats are starting to find their spawning grounds as they are full of eggs.

The striped bass are being caught all over the lake from the dam area to mid lake to the upper parts of the lake in Bennett's and before you get to the Missouri line. Live shad is working well, but artificial baits are also working early in the morning and right at sunset. Some top water action, but I am still hoping that the schooling top water is yet to occur and will happen soon. The stripers are feeding on shad as well as crawdads. Spooning may start to work when you find a school of stripers feeding at the bottom.

The Norfork Lake level is at 556.09, but will start to rise due to the rain. We have had close to an inch so far, with a 50% chance of more tonight. Right now there is no rain in the forecast for tomorrow. The lake surface water temperature last evening was in the mid 60's. The lake is clear, but might get a little stained with the rain.

Happy fishing and see you all on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2010-05-05T10:10:00.006-05:00

Fishing on Norfork Lake keeps getting better and better. Last Sunday two of our guests, Steve and Jeff, took a guided striper trip with Robert Lee of Lee's Lite Line and caught several nice stripers and plenty of bass. The largest striper was 14 pounds. They used live shad were casting the bait without weight to a point in the dam area. The bite is still an early morning bite. In the afternoon look for the fish in deeper water. The fish are coming shallow again at sunset.

I have been fishing for the last 3 mornings and have been slamming the white bass, spotted bass and largemouth bass. We have also caught a few smallmouth and a nice 6 pound hybrid yesterday. This morning we caught eight 2+ pound white bass and at least 6 largemouth bass with the biggest weighing about 3.5 pounds. We missed more fish than we caught. All fish were caught on a Zara Spook and we worked it at different speeds. The fish were erupting all around us until the sun got over the trees. Then as stated before the fish switch was turned off. I have reports that fish are being caught in various locations, 6B, 6A, Panther, Float and also up the river from Cranfield. The top water bite is starting to take off and I hope it continues to improve. You will need to be out on the water before the sun rises. An additional report from one of my scuba diving guests is that he is marking fish from 11 - 17 feet down suspended on the deep bluff lines. Nothing is below 17 and nothing above 11. He is marking a lot of walleye and large bass.

I have been catching a catfish or two each day on my trot line. I caught my first blue for this year yesterday morning and it weighed 12 pounds. The rest of the cats have been flatheads. I have been using large live shiners.

Crappie are starting to bite again. Guests have been catching on brush piles that are in 20 - 30 ft of water and the fish are anywhere from 4 - 12 feet down. Live minnows have been working the best. The hottest spot has been under my dock. Two days ago a guest limited out and yesterday he caught 8 with the monster being 15 inches long. These fish are being caught in the middle of the day.

The Norfork Lake level is rising slowly with no generation and currently sits at 555.92. The surface water temperature was 64 - 66 degrees this morning. The lake is very clear.

Have a great fishing day and see you on the water.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2010-05-02T14:42:00.006-05:00

It is a beautiful day on Norfork Lake in the Arkansas Ozarks. The lake is calm, the sky is blue and the air temperature in in the upper 70's. Definitely shorts and t-shirt weather if not your bathing suit. (Our pool is OPEN) I have fished the last two mornings and today did very well, yesterday was so so. We caught 15 fish with a mixed bag of white bass and Kentucky bass all in less than 2 hours. I arrived at my fishing spot at day break and immediately Jason caught a nice Kentucky. We were throwing Zara Spooks. A clear one and a white and chartreuse. The fish were surfacing and hammering the spooks until the sun moved over the trees, then it was like a light switch. The bite turned-off. That was fine as I had to get Jason back to the house so he, my daughter and granddaughter could head to Silver Dollar City in Branson. The white bass are also hitting spinner baits very well. You can find the whites in the backs of creeks in the Bennett's area, Float Creek and Panther Creek. Bass are also hitting crank baits and plastics worked close to the buck brush. Black bass, spotted Bass and smallmouth bass are being caught all over the lake. The bite slowed a little the latter part of this week due to a cold front that moved through, but it looks like the bite is back on.

Our guest's guided crappie trips with both guides (Jay of Crappies Only and Harvey of Hard times) had to be cancelled due to weather last Friday. The wind was blowing 20 -30 mph with higher gusts. Since they couldn't get on the lake they decided to head to the river and had a great time catching rainbow trout. The crappie are biting at least today under our dock. One of our guests has caught 12 crappie so far in the last 2 hours. He is using live minnows and the fish are only about 4 - 5 feet down. He should have his limit by now. The best part is that while he is entertaining himself with fishing, his wife is laying in the sun in her bathing suit on our swim platform. A vacation made in heaven!

The Norfork Lake level is rising slowly and currently is at 555.75 with no generation. The surface water temperature was 65 degrees this morning. The lake is clean and clear. It is so much fun and a pleasure living and vacationing on such a beautiful lake.

Have a great day filled with lots of fun and of course fishing. See you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2010-04-27T11:15:00.010-05:00

The weather is finally changing for the better on Norfork Lake in the Arkansas Ozarks. We have had wind, wind and more wind the last 3 days with a couple of inches of rain. The rain is over for now and the wind is supposed to diminish this evening and get back to normal. The windy weather has actually been good for fishing for those that can take it and hold their spots, but it has definitely been a real challenge for our fishing guests as well as the guides. Robert Lee of Lee's Lite Line took a couple of our guests out on a striper trip Sunday morning and had a good day. They landed these five stripers/hybrids and numerous other smallmouth and Kentucky bass. They also had 4 other stripers break off before they could be netted. They were fishing with live shad in the dam area. Due to the wind they were long lining the shad as it was too windy to pitch the points.

The last time that I fished was last Friday evening. I headed to the Bennett's area at 7PM to hopefully find some top water action. As the sun set I saw 3 separate striped bass surface so I started to fan cast my spook. I was casting to the shallow water as well as to the deep water. I ended up landing two stripers and missed three others. They were not chasing the shad to the surface, but they still came up after my Zara Spook. The fish were all on the small size 6 - 8 pounds. As it got really dark I switched to a rogue and immediately got a good strike, but missed it. I fished this area for another 45 minutes without a hit, I moved to a point across from Bidwell and caught a bluegill, then I had a massive hit and it was pulling drag then just disappeared. (I have been getting a lot of that lately?) No more hits so I headed for home around 10:30PM.

We have had guests bass fishing since Saturday and doing very well. They have been throwing plastics with and without weights and are catching smallmouth, largemouth and Kentucky bass. Their big fish so far has been an 18.5 inch smallmouth. This fish was caught in our cove. All colors have been working for them. They have been fishing next to the buck brush, letting their bait fall to the bottom then slowly retrieving with a twitching motion. Most times the fish hit the bait as it is fell next to the buck brush. Last evening a few of them stayed out until after the sun set. The hybrids, black bass and whites started to erupt in the back of our cove in only one foot of water. They started throwing poppers and spooks and got the thrill of their life. They never landed a fish, but lost several nice ones in the brush. They told me that they have never gotten into top water action like this before, grinning ear to ear. One said his heart was still pounding.

The blue and channel catfish are starting to come into the shallow water and are hitting my shiners on a trot line. This morning I caught a nice size blue, but lost it as I was bringing it into the boat. (I forgot my net!!!)

No current reports on crappies, but I have several guests taking two crappie guides out on Friday. More to come later.

Watch for the top water action as the sun is starting to rise and after the sun has set. I am getting reports that the top action is just starting to take off. The full moon should really help, and of course the light winds.

The Norfork Lake level is rising slowly and currently sits at 555.31 with no generation. The lake is gin clear even with the rain several days ago. I would assume that back in the flowing creeks you should find some stained water. Our cove is clear. The surface water temperature is in the mid 60's.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2010-04-19T22:47:00.005-05:00

Just got back in from fishing on Norfork Lake. The night bite for striped bass is still happening. The bite had slowed for a few days with the cold front that rolled through, but I think things have stabilized again. I caught two after dark and lost another big one that straightened two of my hooks. I guess I'm going to need to change the hooks on all of my rogues before I use them. What was exciting for me is that I caught my first two stripers before dark on a Zara Spook. I was sitting on a point in the Cranfield area and the fish started to erupt around me. My first catch was the 14 pound striped bass in the photo. The fish moved out to deep water then cruised back into the shallow water. My second catch was a 10 pound striper. They were not coming up at this time, but the fish attacked my spook three times before I finally hooked it. He came clear out of the water, then the fight was on. I missed two other hits that had the fish popping the spook about a foot into the air. I hope tonight is an indication that the top water bite is ready to start, both morning and evening. I also caught two Kentucky bass on the Zara Spook and a nice largemouth on a rogue. All fish were released. The stripers that I released were in the 10 pound range.

The Norfork Lake level is at 555.21 and falling slowly. Two generators are currently being run. The surface water temperature is still at 67 degrees. The water is gin clear, the clearest I have seen for some time.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2010-04-17T08:13:00.015-05:00

Weather for the last week has been gorgeous on Norfork Lake in the Arkansas Ozarks. Air temperatures have been in the 80's during the day and the 50's and 60's at night. We had a small front move through last evening that is going to cool things off a bit for a few days.

Catfish are hitting on my trot line. I'm using large shiners and crawfish. I have been catching 2 a day. This morning I only caught one small channel catfish which I am giving the opportunity to grow a little bigger. The flatheads have began to cruise the shoreline looking for spawning beds. The small channel cats are just starting to come in. The blues will be next. They are typically the larger of the species.

Last evening around 6PM I headed to a cove close to us to see if I could find any crappie. I started to work the banks of a finger in the cove with a chartreuse colored roadrunner. I immediately started catching large bluegill. They are a lot of fun on very light tackle. Every cast I had a hit or a fish. I caught two 10 inch crappie and 4 bluegill in about 20 minutes. The water was calm and the bait fish where starting to surface then all of a sudden the wind went from calm to 20 MPH. The cove I was in was acting like a wind tunnel. I tried to fish a little longer but was having a hard time moving against the wind even on high power. I ended up going back to the dock to wait out the weather.

I spoke with both crappie fishing guides yesterday to see what they have been doing on crappie. Both guides (Jay Smith of Crappies Only and Harvey Hall of Hard Times Crappie) stated that the spawn is in full swing. They have been catching many crappie in very shallow water, 4 ft or less. Harvey likes to go back in creeks and find the stained water and then find some wood along the banks. He is casting a small crappie jig tipped with a minnow, but a live minnow on a small slip bobber will also work. Jay was on the lake when I talked with him and was having one of those days. He was catching fish, but was having to move from spot to spot. He also has been catching crappie along the banks pitching a crappie jig. The spawn should continue for the next few weeks so get out on the lake and have some fun.

The night bite is still going strong for striped bass. One group of our guests had a good night even with the wind causing issues. Right as the sun was setting one was casting a bass assassin on a point. On one cast just as he was getting ready to lift the bait out of the water an 11 pound striper came up and just hammered it. He was lucky to land this fish, I usually lose them when they hit so close to the boat. GOOD JOB Terry! They also caught several nice stripers & hybrids after dark slow rolling a rogue. This morning they had another great trip catching smallmouth, largmouth, white bass and one nice striped bass. They were using live shad this morning pitching various points.

Another of our guests landed a 5 pound brown trout yesterday morning. This is the first brown I have seen in the lake. He was in the Bidwell area fishing for bass with a silver rattletrap. Last evening he caught a nice 5 pound walleye on the same rattletrap after dark. He release the fish to be caught another day.

Isn't fishing just great! I love it.

The Norfork Lake level is falling slowing and currently sits at 555.47 ft above sea level. Normal pool is 552 so we are 3 1/2 ft above normal. The lake surface temp is still in the mid 60's, but should fall a little with the cooler temps the next few days. The lake is gin clear as well as the coves and creeks. To get to the stained water you need to go deep into the creeks.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Striper Fishing

2010-04-15T23:12:00.005-05:00

The night bite for striped bass is still going strong on Norfork Lake. I just got back from a successful fishing trip. I "had" to make sure that the new hooks I put on my rogues would hold up. They did! This was a 8 pound fish, but fought more like a 15 pound fish. I caught another 8 - 9 pound fish and released it. The fish in the photo will be supper tomorrow. I fished the Cranfield area. Tried the same point as last evening not as many bites, but I finally started boating stripers again.

The lake conditions are still the same as my earlier report.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2010-04-15T14:27:00.006-05:00

I spent a nice evening last night on Norfork Lake. I landed this nice 5 pound largemouth and several smaller Kentucky bass before dark. All bass were released. Once the sun set I headed to a point in the Cranfield area that I have not fished before. I was happy that I did. It was a great night for hooking fish, but unfortunately, the fisherman performed poorly on landing fish. Between 8:30 and 9:30 PM I had 6 striper or hybid bites, two that were pulling drag and one that dove to deep water. All three came unhooked. Each time I looked at my knot and bait to see if I needed to retie, but I guess I didn't pay enough attention to the hooks. When the last fish got away, I became frustrated and got out my flash light to check out the rogue really well and found that the treble hooks were mangled. I have replaced the hooks today with a little larger and stronger hook. I will try it again this evening to see if it helps. But it is possible that the problem may be the fisherman too! I was throwing two different suspending rogues, one a green with orange belly (looks like a sun fish/blue gill) and the other, a black top, silver on the sides and a white belly. The second lure was the one with the hook problems. I was casting as close to the shoreline as possible, then started to reel very, very slowly. I stopped occasionally and I have had many strikes when the lure is sitting still. Remember don't work the bait as a jerk bait, the striper are looking for this slow wobbling bait. The black bass were caught on a Zara spook (white with a chartreuse head). I was working the spook next to the shore line in very shallow water.

I set my trot line a couple nights ago and have caught 4 flat head catfish. If I remember correctly the flat heads came into the shallow water before the blues and channel catfish did. I have my line set crossing a small cut in a cove with the deepest part being about 15 feet deep. I have caught fish on hooks on the shoreline as well as in the deepest part. It looks like catfishing is ready to take off. I have been using large shiners and crawdads as the bait on my line. We're glad to be getting catfish again as we need to get enough for a very large fish fry.

Hope to get out crappie fishing soon, but I have become addicted to striper fishing after dark. I usually get back to the dock around 10PM, sometimes later.

Currently the Norfork Lake level is at 555.55 and holding steady. One generator is being run, but it goes from 0 to 2 generators throughout the day. The lake is becoming gin clear as are the creeks and coves. Deep into the creeks you may find some stained water. The water temperature last evening was 67 degrees. I have been told that the water temperature at the dam is about 4 - 5 degrees cooler.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake. When you do see me on the lake stop by and say hi.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2010-04-12T13:16:00.006-05:00

Whether you want to fish artificial bait or live bait, in the morning, afternoon or after dark the Norfork Lake spring bite is on and will only continue to improve throughout April and May. Striped bass, hybrid bass, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, white bass and crappie are all hungry and frisky. The family of 5, my cousins from Wisconsin, went on a live bait guided fishing trip with Robert Lee of Lee's Lite Line. They had a fantastic time catching close to all of the species in Norfork Lake. They missed out on only walleye, crappie and catfish. They fished with live threadfin shad pitching various points in the dam area and long lined a shad. This was the first striped bass any of the family had caught and also their first time on Norfork Lake. They had a fabulous time and Linda and I hope to see them often.

The upper right photo was Randy's (future father-in-law for my daughter) first striped bass. I took him and my future son-in-law out for the night bite. We fished the Bennett's area and had a fair evening. We started out catching several Kentucky bass and a hybrid bass all on a Zara spook. The top water bite in the evening before dark is just starting. The fish are coming up, but still spotty. Have a spook tied on and be ready to go. We also broke off a nice fish and two others that were hooked and miraculously came unhooked during the fight. We had several other bumps, and we had a great time. Randy's comment after he caught his fish was that he can't believe we only use 6 - 8 pound test line to catch these stripers.

I also fished yesterday morning and last evening. Yesterday Jason and I caught 5 bass, (smallmouth, largemouth and Kentucky's) all on a Zara Spook. The fish were not surfacing, but they definitely will come up for the spook. We caught all fish in very shallow water either inside the buck brush or right next to it. A quick walk-the-dog retrieval was working the best for me. Last evening I went out for the night bite and right before dark the fish started breaking the surface. I ended up catching several white bass and several Kentucky bass. One of the white bass caught weighed in at 3.5 pounds, my largest yet. After dark I hooked into one striper and the fight was on. It darted back and forth and made several dives. I thought I had him whipped and got it close to the boat, but he or she gave one more dive straight under the boat and my drag just couldn't keep up. I broke off another fish. This was my only bite after dark. I was throwing suspending rogues in various colors.

I hope to have some good info on crappie and catfishing over the next serval days.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2010-04-06T19:42:00.006-05:00

The Spring bite is in full swing on Norfork Lake and it is only going to get better. These Nebraska brothers had a great day on the lake with Tom Reynolds of STR Outfitters yesterday morning. The best part is that their fishing time has only just begun. They still have the rest of the week to test their skills against the Norfork Lake fish. The evening before their guided trip they caught this nice 5 pound walleye and have already caught many black bass. STR Outfitters was fishing the dam area with gizzard shad and the fish hammered the baits.

I had a busy day yesterday. I fished in the morning. I was on the lake at 6AM. I was hoping to find some top water striped bass action, but instead I found largemouth and Kentucky bass breaking the surface. I ended up catching 6 bass with the largest one weighing 3.5 pounds. I used a Zara Spook that was white with a chartreuse colored head. I fished in the Bennett's area and worked my way up to the main lake. I was back to the resort by 9AM to lay another pallet of sod in front of Cabin 3 and complete numerous other honey due jobs. At about 8PM I headed out again for the night bite in the Bidwell area. The wind was blowing pretty hard which made fishing in the dark even more difficult. I think I was on the shore retrieving my rogue from the buck brush more than I was fishing. I did have two fish on that were pulling drag. With the first one I found my drag was way too loose and I never got a good hook set. I lost that one pretty quickly. I was fighting the second fish for a good 5 minutes and on one of its dives it just disappeared. I still can't figure out how 3 treble hooks can come out of a fish that was hooked??? It's definitely not the fisherman's fault!!! Both of the fish came pretty early, I fished for another hour with nothing, but I could hear the fish breaking the surface. I headed home about 10PM. Needless to say I have been pretty tired today, but still got a lot of work accomplished. The wind is still blowing heavily so I think I will call it an early night tonight and get some sleep.

The Norfork Lake level is still rising slowly and currently is at 556.21. One to two generators are being run throughout the day. The lake surface temperature was 57 - 59 degrees. The lake is clear and the coves are becoming clear.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2010-04-04T08:22:00.005-05:00

Happy Easter to all.

Here is another happy couple that had a successful fishing trip on Norfork Lake. Jim & Joann fished with Robert Lee of Lee's Lite Line a striper guide on Norfork Lake. They ended up landing these 3 nice striped bass and over 8 Largemouth and Kentucky bass. The black bass were all given their freedom to be caught another day. Two of the stripers are headed to the frying pan. The third (largest) striper, caught by Joann, (figures the wife get the biggest one) is going to become a wall mount. The fish were caught on live shad back in the Bennett's area yesterday morning.

I fished last evening. I didn't get on the lake until about 8PM and arrived back at the dock around midnight. I had a fantastic evening. I was pitching a bone colored rogue and a rogue with purple on top, chartreuse on the sides and a white belly. I caught and lost equal amounts of fish with each. I ended up landing 5 stripers, 2 hybrids and a white bass. I fished the Cranfield area first then headed to the Bidwell area around 10PM. I caught and lost more fish in the Cranfield area, but they were smaller than the fish in the Bidwell area. My largest fish was 11.5 pounds the rest were all under 9 pounds. All fish were released after being weighed.

That is all the new news that I have for you today. There is just not enough hours in the day to fish all that I want to and also do all the work around the resort. I want (NEED) to start fishing the morning bite. I have heard there is some top water action starting early. It is just a little difficult for me to work during the day, fish til midnight and get up early enough for the morning fishing! I'm just not as young as I used to be.

The Norfork Lake level is rising slowly with the rain we had the other day and currently sits at 555.64 above sea level. The is 3.64 ft above normal pool. One to two generators are being run throughout the day. The lake surface water temperature was at 56 degrees last evening. The main lake is clear and coves are clearing.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2010-04-02T10:08:00.006-05:00

The Striped Bass bite is improving for both morning and night fishing on Norfork Lake. These are a couple of our Chicago area guests Guy & Jerry and yes, they were happy. They were one fish shy of their limit. The limit could have included a 25 + pound fish that was up along the side of the boat, but decided to take one more dive. Their line was cut immediately. Several other fish hit their baits but escaped. They fished with Tom Reynolds of STR Outfitters using gizzard shad in the dam area. They had six lines out, two long lines, two on balloons and two outside poles on planer boards. All baits were free swimming with no weights.

I fished last evening in the Bidwell area. I started on a point back by 101 boat dock, had two light bumps and lost a nice fish that was pulling drag. I guess I didn't set the hook. At about 10PM I started to head home, but once I got across from Bidwell I was tempted to try fishing near the docks with lights on. I casted several times and had one light bump. I heard fish breaking the surface and headed out to the main lake points to find them. I ended up landing two 11 pound fish and a third got away after straightening three hooks on two of my treble hooks. I saw the fish and know it had to be over 20 pounds. That's my story anyway and I'm sticking to it!! I lost 3 other nice bites, but just didn't get a good hook set. I was using a suspending rogue and slow rolling it back to the boat. I headed home around midnight. For last night at least, the bite was much later than what I have found in the past. For morning fishing try using a fluke or bass assassin with or without a weighted hook. Cast main lake points and secondary points back in the creek channels.

I haven't had a chance to get out fishing for other species, crappie, bass, catfish and so on, but what I am being told that the crappie bite is starting to take off and the bass bite is still as good as ever. No news on the catfish. I am going to try and set a trot line this evening.

I am starting to see bluegill, crappie and bass under my dock for those dock fishing guests.

If any of my followers have any good updates on fishing Norfork Lake please feel free to add your comments. This will help all to have a successful fishing trip on the lake.

The Norfork Lake level is 554. 92 and falling ever so slightly with one generator being run. This level is only about 3 feet above normal pool. The lake is holding steady, but if we get the forecasted rain this evening it will rise again. The lake surface temperature last evening was between 54 and 55 degrees. The main lake is gin clear and coves and creeks are clearing very nicely.

Have a great day and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2010-03-30T08:19:00.006-05:00

The night bite for Striped Bass is still happening on Norfork Lake. I believe the full moon has increased the bite. I was fishing the Bidwell area last evening and ended up catching 3 nice Striped Bass between 12 - 15 pounds. The fish seemed to be short for their size. It looks like they have all been over eating. My first hit was around 9:30PM and the last was before 10:30PM. I had several other bumps. All fish were released. I was throwing my bone colored rogue and slow rolling back to the boat.

Some of my guests had a successful Striper trip. Sunday morning he caught 2 and lost numerous others all in the 20 pound range. One that he lost, as he was netting the fish, was in the 30 pound range. Monday morning he landed two, but the bite had slowed. He was free lining live shiners. He was fishing the Bidwell area.

The stripers seem to be all over the lake. I am getting reports that the night bite is happening in the Cranfield area, Bennett's area, Float Creek and down by the dam. The morning bite is also taking off. If you want a great experience try out the Norfork Lake Striper fishing.

The Norfork Lake level is rising slowly and currently sits at 554.86. One generator is being run. The main lake is clear with the creeks and coves cloudy due to last weekends rain. Last evening the lake surface water temperature was 54 degrees.

Have a great fishing day and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2010-03-27T13:08:00.009-05:00

Yesterday morning was a success for one of our guests at Hummingbird Hideaway Resort on Norfork Lake. He caught this 20+ pound Striped bass using live Gizzard Shad on a planner board. He was free swimming the shad. He fished the Bidwell area close to shore. The fish are moving up in shallower water feeding on shad. Robert Lee of Lee's Lite Line was fishing at the same time on the opposite bank and landed 4 stripers in the 10 pound range on Thread Fin shad and also one on a fluke (artificial). He to was fishing close to shore.

I fished last evening and started before sunset on a deep bluff line before the 6A marker. I caught a largemouth or Kentucky Bass on every other cast. I was throwing a bone colored rogue and they couldn't leave it alone. On my very first cast I caught a nice 4.5 pound largemouth. In a hours time I caught 7 bass and 4 were keeper size. At sunset I headed to a point up closer to Bidwell hoping for stripers. Finally at around 9PM I landed a small striper and quickly unhooked and release the fish. On my very next cast I hooked into a nice size fish. It ran for deep water into the wind. I was having a hard time keeping up with the fish with the windy conditions and finally my line snapped. I guess I had my drag to tight with the wind compounding the stress on my line. (Here we go, excuses again) I tried to retie a rogue, but with the wind and my old age eyes I couldn't do it. It was late so I decided to head home.

This morning another of our guests from the Collinsville, IL area fished the same area that I had fished the night before and caught a dozen nice bass all on flukes. The bass are hanging out on the deep bluff lines close to the bank.

Fishing conditions today is on the poor side as the wind is just howling. Hopefully it lays down a bit as my fishing guests are itching to get back out on the lake, not to mention I am too.

The water where I was fishing last evening was gin clear. The lake level has risen to 554.16 and rising very slowly. The Corp is running one generator around the clock. The Norfork Lake surface water temperature last evening was 52 - 53 degrees.

If your out on the lake today be safe. The white caps are rolling. See you all on the lake.

PS: Forgive all my grammatical errors as my wife is out of town and she is my editor.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

2010-03-25T15:07:00.008-05:00

We ended up having a nice & warm evening yesterday on Norfork Lake. After the sun set the lake calmed to a quiet ripple. Today, however is a different story, windy, cooler and rainy. We have had about three quarters of an inch of rain since midnight, but it does look like the end of the rain is in sight. It is still suppose to be windy this evening, but it should be dry.

I started fishing yesterday evening around 6:30PM hoping for a little top water action, but found nothing. The bass were still hitting OK, but not great. I ended up catching 4 undersized largemouth bass during the time up until sunset, then I caught two nice Kentucky (Spotted) Bass (18 inches) after dark. I usually don't catch a lot of black bass after dark. No bites other than the black bass. I was fishing in the Cranfield area, but from reports that I heard today I was definitely in the wrong place. I got two other night bite reports from people that said they just slammed the striped bass. One report was from the Float Creek area and the other was in the Bidwell area. I, as well as my other friends, were using suspending stick baits and were slow rolling them back to the boat. If the weather calms a little I hope to get out this evening.

I just love being on the lake after dark. It is so quiet and peaceful. I did say quiet, but last night in the Cranfield area there had to be a hundred Canada Geese surrounding my boat. They were making such a racket that I think this might be why I didn't catch any stripers. The geese spooked them. (At least I have an excuse!!)

Nothing new on crappie fishing, people are still catching over brush that is 20 - 30 feet down and the fish are suspended 10 - 15 feet down. They seemed to have moved a little deeper with the cooler water, after our recent rains.

The catfish should be far coming into the shallows before long to spawn. I plan to start setting a trot line next week to see what's willing to bite.

The white bass are still in the backs of creeks in shallow water. Throw a spinner bait, small crank bait or a small twister tail. Once you find them you will have a blast.

The striped bass are also starting to hit very well early in the morning. Most of my contacts have been using live bait and ballooning a free swimming minnow close to the bank. Rogues as well as flukes (either weighted or not) have been catching a few stripers on the banks, but also catching a lot of bass. The key to a fluke is to cast it out and let it sink then retrieve slowly with slight twitches stop then let it sink then repeat. Once the water warms and the fish become more and more aggressive a faster retrieval will work and at times skipping the fluke along the top of the water works well.

The Norfork Lake level is rising and currently at 553. 5. The Corps has been running one generator constantly. The lake will more than likely rise another 6 inches or so by the morning. The surface water temperature was 52 degrees last evening. The water was getting very clear last night, but with the rain today this should change especially back in the creeks and coves.

Have a great fishing day and see you on the lake.