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.