Norfork Lake Fishing Report

I have had a couple of fun days of fishing Norfork Lake. Yesterday one of our guests and I (both in our own boats) headed to the dam at about 5AM. At about 6:00 the stripers just erupted. It lasted about 40 minutes, by the time we reached the fish we only had about 20 minutes of fun. I only landed one with plenty of other slaps at my bait. As you can see our guest had a great fishing trip. Today we both decided to head to the same location, but this was a new day. I only saw one fish break and our guest coaxed up one striped bass on his Zara Spooks. We were fishing near the Jordan Marina area. At about 8AM I headed back to the Cranfield area. As I was passing Mallard Point I notice several pockets of fish breaking the surface. They looked like white bass. Once I got near the fish they went down. I made a few casts with my spook and on one cast as I started to lift the spook out of the water there was a huge eruption right next to the boat. That fish actual splashed water into the boat. Of course (not to my surprise) I missed the fish. I guess the breaking fish were not all white bass! The top water bite has started, but it is a very early bite and very inconsistent day to day. One thing that I am sure of is that the stripers are pushing the shad to the surface somewhere and also that there are stripers to be caught all over the lake. Hard to cover 550 miles of shore line!! (But I will try) We are also getting some nice evening top water action in our cove. The white bass have made their way in and you can see them feed from our dock.

Large and smallmouth bass are still hitting spinner baits, crank baits and soft plastics. I have had the best luck at sunrise and sunset. I have thrown a bone colored rogue with good success, but it needs to get into the buck brush.

The catfish are hitting jugs and trot lines on live bait (crawdads are my favorite). Bluegill are still plentiful and big. Worms and crickets are working well with them. Crappie have slowed, but you can still get them over the brush piles. They will be suspended over the brush anywhere from 5 - 20ft. You just need to test the depths until you find the right one.

The Norfork Lake level is still rising and currently is sitting at 558.73 (6 3/4 ft above normal pool of 552). The water temp goes from the low 60's in the morning and rises to the upper 60's in the afternoon. The water is getting back to gin clear all over the lake, but the creeks may get stained as we are currently getting a heavy rain.

We still have openings for the upcoming holiday period (Memorial Day weekend). Should be a great time to fish.

See you all soon and happy fishing.