Norfork Lake Stripers

These two young men had a great time fishing Norfork Lake last evening. They are some of our guests from the St. Louis area. The bite started around 6PM and lasted until about 9PM. They ended up landing these 4 striped bass and lost 3 others. The largest was 10 pounds with the others around 8 pounds. They had a fantastic time. They were fishing with gizzard shad which was caught for them by one of the fishing guides. If you would like to fish with live shad I can arrange for someone to catch the shad for you and if you don't have a shad tank I may be able to find one for you to rent. The striped bass are deep, the fish in the photo, as well as, fish being caught by the guides are on the bottom at 45 - 80 foot depths. We are in our normal summer pattern.

My boat is out of commission since my trolling motor is at the trolling motor doctor's office waiting on parts. Hopefully I will get it back sometime this week. I'm itching to get back to walleye fishing and to start a little crappie fishing. My catfish trotline is still producing a couple of 5 - 10 pound catfish each time I bait it up. Bass fishing has been improving as long as you find the deep pockets where they hide. You will find them in 30 - 40 feet of water on main lake points just off the bluff lines. Also look for big rocks in this same depth as the rocks will be holding the walleye.

The Norfork Lake level is 552.7 and dropping slowly. The main lake is clear with coves and creeks off color. Water temperature is in the low to mid 80's early and rising during the warm days.

Fishing is a lot of fun in the summer months. You might have some difficulty finding the fish, but once you do you will have a blast. Just being on the lake is a pleasure in itself.

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

Norfork Lake Striped Bass Fishing

Here are some photos of recent catches on Norfork Lake. These vacationers fished with two different striper guides in the past week. Both guides use live bait and lite tackle. It is really a blast to catch one of these 15 to 30 pound fish on 8 pound test line and lite action rods and reels. If you are looking for a fishing experience of a lifetime come on down and visit us at Hummingbird Hideaway Resort on Norfork Lake. We are located in Mountain Home, Arkansas in the Arkansas Ozarks. The two guides are Robert Lee of Lee's Lite Line (www.leesliteline.com) and Tom Reynold of STR Outfitters (www.stroutfitters.com). Contact us and we will help you set up your guided trip or you can contact the guides directly. The big fish are really hitting well. I can attest to that because I caught a 20 pound striped bass this morning with Robert Lee.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

I enjoyed a beautiful morning on Norfork Lake. Not only was this 20 pound fish gorgeous and fun to reel in, but the sunrise with the fog lifting from the water was breathtaking. I fished with one of my guide friends, Robert Lee, of Lee's Lite Line and we had a good morning for big fish. I landed this 20 pounder, but we also broke off two others and missed 4 good hits. I think we must have been talking more than watching the poles to lose this many. That's how it goes sometime. We were fishing with 4 to 5 inch gizzard shad in 45 - 80 ft of water. The fish were on the bottom and occasionally suspended. I did notice a few fishermen spooning and saw them catch a few. I will post some additional photos later of guests to the area catching large striper on guided trips. The big fish seem to be keying in on the large gizzard shad over the smaller thread fin shad.

I haven't been out in a few days fishing on my own, so hopefully, if I get my work done today, I can get out this evening or tomorrow. I plan to walleye and bass fish using artificial baits. I will let you know how it goes.

The Norfork Lake level is at 552.73 and falling slowly. Two generators are being run for 6 - 9 hours per day. The Norfork Lake surface water temperature was at 82 degrees. The main lake is clear with the creeks and coves still cloudy.

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

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

I fished Norfork Lake this evening and had a lot of success. I was walleye fishing and ended up catching 3, but one got away before I could net it. I was vertical jigging with a spoon in 25 - 40 of water. I used several colors, white, white and chartreuse and white and green. I found the fish on main lake points that end on a bluff line, as well as along the bluff line. You will want to be fishing very close to shore as the water gets deep very quickly. Look for submerged boulders or ledges in the 25 - 40 foot range, the walleye will be hanging out in the creases and on the ledge. In the same areas are schooling Kentucky bass. I ended up catching 5 bass with 3 about 15 inches long. Nice size for a Kentucky.

The striped bass are being caught in deeper water. Early in the morning you might find fish in 35 - 40 feet of water, but as the sun rises they go down to 40 - 60 feet. I have marked some nice fish even deeper. The live bait guides are catching some really nice size fish (20 - 30 pound range)using gizzard shad. Thread fin shad are producing fish, but they seem to be much smaller. The bigger fish are also the ones found in the 60 foot depths.

Overall the thermocline in Norfork Lake seems to be 25 - 40 feet down depending where you are on the lake and who you are talking with. All types of fish seem to be hanging out at or near the thermocline.

The Norfork Lake level is 552.96 and falling very slowly. The water temperature this evening was in the mid to upper 80's, of course it's cooler in the morning. The main lake is clear with the creeks and coves still off color.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

Although we had a lot of rain this morning and early afternoon, it turned out to be a beautiful evening on Norfork Lake in the Arkansas Ozarks. Being inside all day left me totally bored so I decided to do a little afternoon fishing. I wanted to try to find some walleye, but instead I found Kentucky bass, white bass and that big one that got away. Yes, it is an old story, but true. I finally hooked into a nice walleye. I had it on the surface and started to reach for my net but I guess I let a little slack in the line. I heard the fish flip and saw it swim away. It was at least a 5 pounder. The walleye was caught on some brush that I have put in over the years next to a steep bluff line. I was vertical jigging in 30 ft of water. The white bass were caught using my Zara spook. I was heading toward the Highway 62 bridge and could see the water just boiling in the distance. There were hundreds of fish erupting. I ended up catching 4 whites and 2 Kentuckys. I was also told by one of our guests that he got into some topwater whites two days ago. He was fishing the flats by Cranfield Island. He ended up catching several with a spook and when they went down he spooned up a couple more. Striped bass are being caught from tick point to the dam area. Spooning is working well as well as is live shad. I have also been catching catfish on my trotline using crawdads and have seen fish on jugs. No news on crappies.

The Norfork Lake level is 553.21 and has risen slightly with the last two days worth of rain. The Corps is generating both generators 5 to 6 hours per day. The Norfork Lake surface temperature is in the mid to low 80's. The main lake is clear with the creeks and coves off color.

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

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

I finally made it out fishing on Norfork Lake. I had a fun day, but don't have stripers to brag about. I caught white bass, spotted bass and largemouth bass. At one point I had three fish on at the same time. It was kind of hectic for a while, but I enjoyed dealing with it. I was catching the whites on a white spoon vertical jigging in 38 - 45 ft of water. I caught all the black bass on live shiners. I haven't fished the dam area in a long time so I decided to head that way. I fished at point #1 for a while with no luck then headed back into Sally Ann and had a great time. The whites were schooling and moving quickly. I marked some big arcs on my fish finder so I know there were stripers and/or hybrids in with the whites. The whites are definitely the more active fish. There were several fishermen trolling Thumb point and Koso point. I saw two nice stripers brought in. On my way home I stopped and fished the bridge piers and caught several spotted bass on live shiners. Some really nice stripers 20 - 35 pounds are being caught by the guides. Most guides are fishing from Tick point on down to the dam. Gizzard shad are producing the larger fish with thread fin shad producing the bigger quantity. The fish seem to be on main lake points as well as back in creeks that have deep holes off of secondary points.

The attached photo is one of our guests from a few weeks back. He caught this nice largemouth vertical jigging at our dock. This has been a good year for catching bass, bluegills and sunfish at the dock.

The Norfork Lake level is holding steady at 553.3, only 1.3 feet above normal pole. The main lake is clear with the creeks and coves somewhat off color. The Norfork Lake surface water temperature is in the low to mid 80's, The Corps has been running both generators from 4 to 8 hours per day.

I plan to be fishing more often now, so until the next time happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

It was a great morning fishing Norfork Lake. I took two of our guests out fishing with me this morning and though it started out slow, the morning ended with a bang. We caught striped bass, hybrid bass, white bass, kentuckys and largemouth. We left the dock at 5AM and headed to Tick Point. I was marking several nice size schools of fish but we ended up catching just one white bass. At about 6:30AM I headed back into Diamond Bay and again was marking fish but just caught two undersize largemouth bass. We found the right place at about 7:30. We were sitting in about 30 - 40 feet of water and the fish were stacked up below us. A couple different times we had fish on 2 poles at the same time and were frantically trying to net fish so we could get back to catching! When the sun came up over the trees the fish left the shallow area, but we found them just a short distance away in 50 feet deep water suspended at about 30 - 35 feet. We caught a few more hybrids. One last stop at a bridge pier on the way home ended up giving us another Kentucky. I think we caught 14 fish in all, and kept the 6 in the photo. We were vertical jigging with spoons. I did try a crawfish on the bottom, but only had one bite on that the whole morning.

The stripers are shallower than normal at this time of year, but it does look like a small heat wave is on its way so they should start going deeper. Walleye are being caught in the same depth of water on live shad and crawler or leach harnesses. Vertical jigging with a spoon is picking up and will only improve over the next couple of weeks. I haven't been nor heard of any crappie fishing lately. They will be over deep brush again in the 30 - 40 foot range. Blue gill fishing is just fantastic. The kids are having a blast catching as many as they want. I have been catching 2 - 3 catfish a night on my trot line. I am using soft shell green crawfish and they are working well. Jugs with live bait are producing some nice catfish. Bass are still coming to the surface chasing shad early and late in the day, but most are in the 20 - 40 range. You will either need to vertical jig, or cast a pig and jig on main lake and secondary points. You mainly need to get your bait down to the fish.

The Norfork Lake water level is falling slowing and is at 554.47 just 2.47 feet above normal pool. The main lake is clear with coves and creeks stained to muddy. The Norfork Lake water temperature is in the low to upper 80's depending on the time of day. Two generators are being run about 10 hours per day.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

I was fishing with my nephew and Robert Lee of Lee's Lite Line yesterday morning on Norfork Lake in the Arkansas Ozarks. Robert was prefishing for upcoming trips and we tagged along. We headed south to the Diamond Bay area and found fish schooling in several areas. My nephew caught his first striped bass and hybrid bass for this year and had a great time with the fight both fish gave. I thought he was going to lose his pole several times when the fish made a run for the bottom, but he landed both and was really excited. In all we caught striped bass, hybrid bass, white bass, largemouth bass and spotted bass. The largemouth and spotted bass were caught on the bridge columns. We were using live shad which Robert netted early in the morning.

We have several guests fishing this week, as well as enjoying other water sport activities during the day. The little ones have been having a great time on the dock catching all the bluegill that they want. Many are cleaning size. Another group have been striper fishing and doing well. They fished with a guide the first day and caught many striped and hybrid bass. They have been fishing on their own since the guide trip and have caught several 13 pound fish. Over all, the stripers are hitting fairly well and are being caught in 30 - 40 feet of water. This time of year the fish are on the bottom. Vertical jigging and live bait fishing has been working well. For your live bait fishing use shiners or even better, shad, if you can get them. Once you find the schooling fish just hang on to your pole!

The Norfork Lake water temperature is in the low to mid 80's, but should be rising during the week with the warmer temps. The lake level is at 555.05 and falling slowly. Generators are being run for less than half of the day. The main lake is clear, but the creeks and coves are still stained.

Start planning your fall fishing trip, it's just around the corner.

Happy fishing and see you on the water.