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.