Norfork Lake Fishing Report

What a great day on Norfork Lake in the Arkansas Ozarks! The temperature this morning was just fantastic. It was in the mid 60's and with the lake being warmer there was light fog lifting up from the lake, a gorgeous morning.

It was also a fun morning fishing. I caught white bass, smallmouth, largemouth, Kentuckys and walleye. I was in a slight predicament though, the fish were breaking the surface all around me plus I was marking fish on the bottom. I didn't know what to do first! (What a terrible situation to have!) I ended up starting to fish top water. I caught several largemouth and Kentuckys, but most were 1.5 pounds or less. I switched to a spoon and immediately landed a nice 3 pound largemouth, then another, all the while other fish were breaking the surface around me. I hooked a nice 3 pound walleye. I actually had another walleye, but while I was trying to get my net, the fish flopped on the surface and came off the spoon. I was fishing a main lake point in the Five Fingers area. The top water fish were being caught anywhere from the shore out to 100 feet of water. My spooning fish were caught in 30 - 35 feet of water. The fish are starting to go deeper, last week I was spooning fish out of 20 - 25 feet of water. If the weather stays warm we should be in our normal summer pattern of most fish being around the 40 foot mark. Vertical jigging with a spoon is the way I typically fish during the summer months.

I did try to find some deep striped bass at sun -up without luck. I fished Tick Point, then at the number 2 marker, and then the bluffs a little farther south-east of number 2. I caught several smallmouth, but did not mark any striper. White Bass are still coming up early in the morning and later in the afternoon. You can throw a small spinner or use your favorite top water bait. The whites are coming up in the Cranfield area as well as at Bennetts area. Crappie are still being caught in about 15 - 25 feet of water over brush. Live crappie minnows are working best. Blue gill are still hitting very well all over the lake. Nightcrawlers and crickets work the best, just be prepared for a lot of action. Catfish are still being caught on jug lines as well as trot lines. Live shiners and cut bait are working well.

The Norfork Lake level is falling about 2 - 3 inches per day and is currently at 561.6 feet, one foot below last week. The Corps. has estimated that the lake will be back to normal pool towards the end of July. The Norfork Lake surface water temperature is in the mid 80s. The lake is clear all over.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake fishing report

Another beautiful morning on Norfork Lake in the Arkansas Ozarks. Slight to no ripple on the water. The surface temp was in the low 80's and will climb steadily during the day. The Norfork Lake level is at 562.7 and holding steady. Water is getting back to gin clear.

I spent the first hour of fishing just boating around trying to find some striped bass in deep water. No luck today with the stripers. The guides are catching a few stripers and hybrids from the Bennetts to dam area. The fish are still scattered and just starting to school up, at least that's what I am hoping. I headed back to the Bennetts area around 6:30AM and found a huge school of white bass busting the surface. There were two of us in the boat and we started throwing Zara spooks and had a blast. We were catching a fish almost every cast for about 45 minutes. None of the whites were huge, but they were a lot of fun to catch. My friend had a nice 2.5 - 3 pound largemouth on but decided to release it before he got it into the boat. It was a nice fish, I saw it swim away.

Until next time have a great time fishing and boating.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

For those heat and sun worshippers, summer has arrived to Hummingbird Hideaway Resort on Norfork Lake, Arkansas. The weather has been just gorgeous, evenings in the 70's and daytime temps in the 90's with little to no wind and bluebird skies. We have a great group of guests this week, many are with a large family reunion and others are repeat guests that visit often. Tonight will be our first "dive-in" movie of the season. Spiderwich Chronicles will be playing poolside on a large screen.

This young lady out fished me. In a few weeks she and her family will be back for another visit. I think she will be able to show her grandpa a thing or two about fishing. I had a tough day yesterday morning and just caught a few white bass and several largemouth bass. The top water bite early and late seems to be slowing quickly, but it is still there if you're in the right spot at the right time. I'm not sure what level the thermocline is at, but with this heat it won't be long until it settles at 40 ft. When this happens spooning becomes my choice of fishing techniques. The striped bass, white bass, walleye and crappie will all be close to the thermocline level. The bluegill still can be caught at all depths.

My fishing excursions will slow some in the summer months since I have more day to day work at the resort, but hopefully I will still be able to get out several times a week.

The Norfork Lake level is holding steady at 562.7. The lake water temp is from the low 80's early to upper 80's late. The lake is getting back to gin clear with a green tint in the coves and creeks, but still good visibility.

Until next time happy fishing and boating.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

Top water action is still active on Norfork Lake. Last evening I went out and bottom bounced a crawler harness. I caught all the blue gill that I wanted, but the walleye eluded me. When the sun started to set I moved to a main lake point near our resort. The whites, Kentucky's and stripers started to erupt as soon as the sun was low enough to be hidden by the trees. I kept this 8 pound striped bass and released a 10 pound striper.Both were caught on a Zara spook junior. (white/chartreuse) I also caught 6 medium size white bass. The stripers didn't stick around long, but the white bass kept coming up until dark. I headed out this morning before sunrise and sat on the same point as last evening. As the sun came up the white bass started coming up all over from shallow water to 80 ft of water. I caught my fair share, but decided to leave and see if I could find some striped bass. I went back into Bennett's and this time the Kentuckys were coming up near one point. I caught 6 bass with 4 that were 15 inches long. They do give a good fight. Again no striper. I headed home about 8AM since Linda wanted to go shopping. I guess this is only fair.

The lake level is rising slowly with the rain that we have had the last couple of days and is currently at 562.6. The Corps is running 1 generator about 12 hours per day. The water temp this morning was in the upper 70's and last evening it was in the low to mid 80's. The water is clear in the main lake and still stained in the creeks and coves.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Walleye Fishing

It was rainy and windy this morning on Norfork Lake, so I elected to sleep-in. It felt really good to get up at 7AM instead of 4:30, but I am itching to get out on Norfork Lake. I have been out the last couple of days and have started walleye fishing. Sunday evening I dragged a crawler harness with a bottom bouncing weight. I caught two slightly undersized walleye and several blue gill. I think that the walleye fishing would be great if it wasn't for the blue gill stealing the worms. I am going to try the Gulp worms and leaches next time. They are suppose to last longer and blue gill will have a harder time pulling them off. I have a friend that has been using shiners Carolina rigged and has been picking up a few walleye. The fish I caught were in 17 - 25 ft of water. I was dragging nightcrawlers next to the buck brush. I tried the points without luck. I also picked up a few 15 inch smallmouth on the crawler harnesses. The smallmouth are on the points at about 20 feet deep.

Largemouth and spotted bass are still coming up early in the morning and late in the afternoon. I caught 5 keeper size Kentucky bass yesterday morning on a spook back in the Bennetts area. I cleaned the Kentucky's and last night Linda made a fabulous fish cake appetizer with spicy tomatilla sauce. The striped bass are coming up early and late in the day. I have seen them in deep water, usually in the channel. When I get close enough to cast into them they go down and come up a different area. It looks like the striper top water action is coming to a close until the fall. The striped bass will start coming back up in September and/or October, when the water temp gets back in the mid 70's to mid 60's. I am still hopeful that I will be out and have them erupt around me. Spooning for stripers or trolling will start to work in 30 - 40 ft of water. Watch for a large school and drop the spoon on top of them and start jigging up and down. Be erratic with your jigging technique until you find the speed and action they are looking for.

The Norfork Lake level is at 562.44 and rising slowing. The Corps has forecast that the lake will stabilize at this level for a few days. (Of course if we get more rain it will rise.) The Norfork Lake water temperature is in the upper 70's to low 80's. The water is clear in the main channel and stained in the creeks and coves. Fish should start to hold at the edge between the stained and clear water.

Have a great day and happy fishing.

Norfork Lake crappie catch

Here's a happy couple just back from crappie fishing on Norfork Lake. They have had just a fantastic week of fishing. This stringer and the smiles on their faces testifies to that. They ended up fishing the same hole as yesterday and caught twenty fish with 10 keepers. Check out that 14 inch slab! They were using crappie minnows with a small weight and also used twister tail grubs. They started fishing this morning before the sun came up, but found that the fish did not start to bite until the sun had warmed up things a little. There bite started around 8AM. In addition to the crappie they played with a Zara spook and caught many largemouth and Kentucky bass.

I fished awhile this morning and got into some top water action. I caught several Kentucky bass as well as white bass. It was non-stop action for about 1 1/2 hours. The whites were in the 1.5 - 2 pound range and many of the bass were keeper size. I put them back so they're here if you want to come and catch them!

The Norfork Lake conditions are the same as I wrote yesterday, except for the clarity in creeks and coves. We had a quick 1/2 inch rain today which made the creeks flow quickly. It should take a couple of days for the creeks and coves to clear.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

Two guests from Hummingbird Hideaway Resort had a great morning crappie fishing on Norfork Lake. They headed to one of my favorite holes at about 9AM and ended up catching almost twenty fish with 8keepers. One was 14 inches and two others were 13 1/2 inches long. This is going to be some good eating. Yesterday evening they had a fish fry with their prior catch. I truly enjoyed the plate they brought over. Most of the fish were caught on a crappie minnow with a 1/16 oz split shot. They are using 4 pound test line, casting to the edge of the brush and letting their bait sink. The fish hit the minnow while it's free falling. They were sitting in 40 ft of water casting to brush that was 20 - 30 feet deep. They also used a twister tail grub with some success.

I went out this morning. The striped bass were coming up sporadically. White bass, largemouth and spotted bass were also pushing the shad to the surface. The stripers were coming up in deep water toward the center of the channel while the white and black bass were coming up closer to shore. I had better luck with the white and black bass than I did with the stripers. I caught a couple of nice size largemouth bass and several nice whites. I caught all fish on my white and chartreuse head Zara spook. The guides are catching their limits of stripers using live shad. The fish are being caught both on a free swimming shad as well as on a down pole in 20 - 40 feet of water. Thread Fin and Gizzard shad are being used with great success. The white bass are schooling big time in the back of creeks and coves. Use a Rooster tail spinner or a Road Runner. You can either cast and retrieve or slow troll with your trolling motor. Once you find them, stop trolling and start casting.

Walleye fishing has been picking up. Walleye are being caught in 15 - 20 ft of water outside of the buck brush and on flats. Slow troll a crawler harness with a bottom bouncing weight or drift with live shiners Carolina rigged. Some fish are being caught suspended at 10 ft as well as on the bottom.

Norfork Lake level is falling slowly and is currently sitting at 562.15. The Corp. has been generating at least one generator for the last 30 hours. Norfork Lake water temp is ranging from the mid to up 70's. The water is still gin clear even after the rain showers from last evening.

We have a lot of families vacationing with us at this time. During the heat of the day they are playing in the water (skiing, tubing, swimming, ect..) and in the morning and evening they are fishing. What a great way to spend time as a family and have a great vacation.

See you on the lake and happy fishing.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

Fishing was pretty good this morning on Norfork Lake in the Arkansas, Ozarks. I took my daughter's friend fishing and he caught his first striped bass. In fact, he stated it was his first bass of any kind. It was an exciting day. I wanted to show him the lake so we headed to the dam at 5AM. It was a gorgeous morning with not even a ripple on the water. We arrived and on my second cast I caught a striper. Both of us were using Zara Spooks. The fish started to surface all around us, but as usual they were surfacing out of casting range. Finally one came close enough and Jason hooked his first fish. We ended up catching striped bass, spotted bass and largemouth bass. We missed 5 other stripers which hit our lures, but did not hook-up. I think these fish need glasses. They erupt on the lure, take the lure under water, but when you try setting the hook, no fish. I think they miss their intended target! Of course it couldn't be the fishermen!

Crappie fishing has been picking up this week. Guests that are crappie and bass fishing are catching their fair share of both and have had some crappie in the 13 to 14 inch range. Nice fish. Crappie minnows for live bait and twister tail grubs for artificial have been the bait of choice for crappie. The black bass are still hitting top water in the mornings and evenings, then are going a little deeper during the day. My Chompers are still working very well. Catfish are still hitting live bait on my trotline. I caught a nice 12 pounder last evening.

The Norfork Lake level is at 562.3 and falling slowly. The Corp is generating a little more, but still not all day long. The higher water level this year and last year have really aided the spawn. There are a ton of short bass in Norfork Lake from the record high water last spring. The fish had plenty of places to hide and grow. The water level this year will also benefit the spawn, but it is definitely nothing like last year. The lake temperature has risen slightly to the mid to upper 70's. The water is gin clear all over.

Until next time happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

Well, I ended up missing out on a good time this morning. I was just too tired (work interfering again) to go out fishing on Norfork Lake, so I slept in. Boy was that a mistake. My phone has been ringing non-stop with guides asking me how fishing was at my end of the lake. Of course I had to tell them that I slept in. The responses from all were "you messed-up". I guess the stripers erupted all over this morning. The live bait guides gave up on using shad and changed their rods over to Zara spooks and their clients had a blast. All whom I talked with limited out in an hour with big fish. I'm going to have to go without sleep, I guess! I did go out Sunday morning with no luck. I went to a location where I got into top water action on Saturday morning, but on Sunday nothing was happening. I left that area as the sun was coming up and headed across the channel and saw the fish coming up all over. The sun was starting to get over the trees, and as I got closer they all went down and did not come up again. What's that saying? Something about a dollar short! The fish are there, but they are moving constantly. If the fish aren't surfacing by six you better move to another location because by seven the sun's too high and the fish go down.

We have a couple of guests crappie fishing and they caught several nice crappies using minnows yesterday over brush in about 20' of water. They also caught a nice walleye in the same area on a twister tail grub. I haven't heard how their fishing was today.

The Norfork Lake level is holding steady at 562.4. Water temp is in the mid 70's. Water clarity is gin clear with creeks and coves clearing steadily. Two generators are being run about 6 hours per day.

I am definitely going out in the morning, hopefully I will have a success story to tell later.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

A Norfork Lake Wedding Celebration

Five generations joined Garland and Melony as they celebrated their marriage at Hummingbird Hideaway Resort on Norfork Lake. The wedding was an ideal opportunity for their family reunion. Family members arrived from Colorado, Alabama, Ohio, Missouri and Arkansas to witness their vows on a beautiful sunny afternoon. Congratulations Melony and Garland, may you have many happy years together!

Work day?

He says this new addition is for work but it sure looked like fun yesterday when he was zipping around the resort! Those of you who race lawnmowers (you know who you are) need to think about making the switch from a tractor to a zero turn model. The entire resort was mowed in just over 2 hours, a50% time savings. Wonder what Lou will do with all that free time?

Norfork Lake for smallmouth bass

Good morning from Hummingbird Hideaway Resort, your Arkansas Ozark vacation destination on Norfork Lake. Long time resort guest, Larry from Muncie, IN, caught this nice 18 inch small mouth bass in our cove. I believe he was pitching a pig & jig off of a point. He and his wife are here with their two granddaughters and are having a great time swimming in our pool and fishing Norfork Lake. In addition to this small mouth, Larry has caught many keeper size largemouth and Kentucky bass. I have given him a couple of potentially good walleye spots to try out so hopefully he will have success with them as well.

I caught a nice 17 inch smallmouth on a live crawdad in our cove. Since the smallmouth are coming into our cove the walleye should be right behind them if this year is consistent with past years. I went out for a short time this morning and caught two nice 2 1/5 pound largemouth bass on a Zara spook. I also threw a twin tail chomper for a little while and caught several short Kentucky bass.

The Norfork Lake level is 562.42 and holding steady. The Corp. is running two generators about 6 hours per day. The lake is clear in the main lake and clearing up in the creeks and coves. The water temp this morning was in the low 70's to mid 70's.

Have a great day and happy fishing.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

We have had fabulous weather here in Arkansas at Hummingbird Hideaway Resort. The watersports people are out in force; fishing, waterskiing, tubing, swimming, and jetskiiing. There is a place for everyone and all are having a great time on Norfork Lake. Our swimming pool is also getting a lot of use. The air temperature has been in the 80's during the day and 60's at night. I can't ask for anything better.

Fishing has been a lot of fun for me. I have been out every morning but one for the last week. I have been catching Kentucky bass (spotted), largemouth bass and today a couple of nice stripers. Yesterday morning I started in the Cranfield area and caught several Kentucky bass, but the top water action was not there. I left and headed to the Bennett's area and found some bass chasing shad on the surface. I started throwing my spook and caught about 6 bass with 3 keeper size. I headed back in and stopped at a point close to our resort and found the gar rolling on the surface. I threw my spook several times and caught several more Kentucky bass. I think you can find Kentucky and largemouth bass almost anywhere in the lake.

Today I headed to a totally different area for me. I found some stripers hitting the surface out in the middle of the lake in about 150 ft. of water. I ended up catching two stripers and missing two others. The striper on top water is a very early bite. You need to be at your site before daybreak and if it happens, it usually ends as the sun gets over the tree tops about 7AM. If you get lucky and get cloud cover, the topwater bite could last longer. When you check into our resort ask me about striper locations. I'll be happy to mark your map. After I left my striper spot I headed to do a little bass fishing. One of our guests gave me some Chomper skirted twin tail grubs to try out. It's a great bait. On my first cast I caught a 2.5 pound largemouth. After that I caught 3 Kentucky bass, one keeper size.

The white bass are starting to school back in the coves and creeks. You can find some top water action early in the morning and also late in the evenings as the sun is setting. I caught the above white crappie on a live shiner. To be honest, I actually caught the two pound plus fish on my trot line. It was one of the largest white crappie that I have seen. Catfish are still hitting the trot line. I get about 3 or 4 every morning. Many of our guests have been sent home with a bag of fish. Our lake catfish is a very good eating fish. Blue gill are hitting worms and crickets and you will get some nice sized fish.

The Norfork Lake level is 562.4 (10.4 ft above normal pool) and seems to be holding fairly steady. The Corps. has forecast that the lake has crested and they will start to generate more especially with the warm weather we have been having. The Norfork Lake water temp is in the low to mid 70's in the morning and rising to the upper 70's durinh the day. The water is clear with a slight stain in the coves and creeks, but that too is clearing.

By the way, the young lady in the photo above is my gorgeous granddaughter.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.