Norfork Lake Fishing Report

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.