After a week long low pressure system covered the area and dropped 3 - 4 inches of rain, I can now say that the fishing is picking up. The bite was really slow last weekend but started to pick up around Wednesday or Thursday. The rain has slowed or stopped for awhile and the sun came out today. We had guests catching crappie, bass, catfish and blue gill. They were fishing with live crappie minnows and nightcrawlers. They were mainly fishing brush piles that I have placed in over the years and the crappie bite really started to improve throughout the week. The fish are in 15 - 25 feet of water and are hitting well on live bait or a small tube jig hooked with live bait. Other guests have been fishing for bass. They started to catch fish along banks near deep water using crank baits and spinners. I guess the cooler water is letting the fish come in close to the shore line to feed. Guests were also catching nice large and smallmouth bass using shaky head worms and lizards in 20 - 25 feet of water. Dark colors were working the best. We had other guests strictly catfishing. They started catching nice blue catfish and flatheads on trot lines using live blue gills. Their biggest was 12 pounds, but most ranged in the 4 - 5 pound range. Earlier in the week catching bait fish was even a challenge. Thank goodness the low has moved on ane the fishing has picked up.
The live bait striper guides are still doing well. The best bite is still from point 2 to point 1. The fish are in deep water so either use live bait or vertical jig with a spoon in 40 to 80 feet of water. The fish are typically on the bottom, but you may find them suspended especially when you find them feeding on a school of shad.
The lake level is on the rise and is currently at 555 feet above sea level which is up 1.5 feet over last week. The level is about 3 feet above normal pool. The rain really came down in our area. The main lake is clear, but not gin clear and the creeks and coves are cloudy to muddy due to all the rain and rising water. The Norfork Lake surface water temperature has dropped to the mid to upper 70's.
Keep watching my posts. If the water temperature continues to drop at the current rate the fall striped bass top water bite and night bite may start earlier than normal. Last year from about mid-October through mid-November the early morning and evening top water bite was just fantastic.
Start planning you fall fishing trip. The lake will be gorgeous with the leaf color change and fishing is a lot of fun.
See you on the lake.
No comments:
Post a Comment