Norfork Lake Fishing Report

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.