The fish in Norfork Lake are still in their summer pattern, but changes should start to occur over the next several weeks. (In my opinion). Norfork Lake fishing continues to be very good for striped and hybrid bass. The stripers are still 70 - 90 feet deep typically on the bottom. You may be able to find them suspended in deeper water, but still at this 70 - 90 foot level. The best location is in the dam area, but look the fish to move to the mid-lake area as the lake cools. Live bait is working the best, but trollers and spooners are catching a few good sized fish. If you're trolling you will have most luck with a down rigger in order to get your bait down to the 80 foot level. Using in-line snap-on weights are very difficult to use to get your bait down to the proper depth. Walleye are being found in the same location and water depth as the striped bass. Yes, walleye are being caught in 85 ft of water, on the bottom, either with live bait or vertical jigging with a spoon. Look at the size of those deep water walleye in the 3rd and 4th photos. I have started to look for walleye in shallower water around brush with no success, but it won't be long.
I went looking for bass this morning. I first started vertical jigging a spoon around brush part way back in major creeks not far from Hummingbird Hideaway Resort. I caught a few 14.5 inch largemouth, but nothing much exciting. I finally moved away from brush to a hump that is surrounded by deep water. I found schooling bass in 32 feet of water chasing bait. I ended up spooning up 4 nice size largemouth in the 17 - 18 inch range and released all. They were nice size fish, but very skinny. I look for them to start feeding more and getting much more active as the lake water cools. There was also some top water action with nice size bass, but of course always a little too far away for me to cast into them. I always have my spook rod handy every time I go out fishing just in case I'm in the right spot at the right time.
Crappie fishing has been good most of the summer. Unusual, but the lake water was cooler than normal. Look for crappie in brush that is in 30 feet of water. The fish will be inside of the brush or at the top. You will need to keep working different depths until you find the feeding zone. I did catch 2 crappie this AM, but both were undersized. Use a 2 inch swimming minnow or grub with a curly tail or a paddle tail attached to a 1/16 - 1/8 ounce jig head. Tip the artificial minnow with a live crappie minnow for best results.
Catfish are also holding up in the same locations as the bass and crappie. They will be on the bottom so drop a nightcrawler or vertical jig with a spoon. I hooked into a really nice size fish this AM. I fought this fish for about 5 minutes and could see it on the graph about half way up when it came unhooked. It was not running like a striper so my bet was that it was a good sized cat. Jugs and trotlines are also catching some nice cats.
The Norfork Lake level is dropping very very slowly and currently sits at 554.9. This is basically normal pool. The Corps is generating a few hours each day causing this slight drop, but generally the lake is very stable. The surface water temperature this morning was 78.5 degrees, it will warm up slightly during the sunny afternoons. Assuming the forecast holds as it currently is look for the surface water temperatures to continue to fall. The main lake is generally clear with the creeks and coves stained.
Happy fishing and see you on the lake.
