Norfork Lake Fishing Report

The weather has been gorgeous for the past few days on Norfork Lake and the forecast is calling for much of the same with cooler temperatures. The cooler temps should help to improve the already good fishing. We have several guests bass fishing and catching their limits and more each day. Many of the fish being caught are slightly undersized, but this morning one of our guests brought in a nice stringer of small and largemouth bass (3 - 4 pound range) as well as four 15 - 16 inch Kentucky bass. Their bellies were full of crawdads. Dark colors (browns) were working the best for him this morning. He likes to use a jig and pig and is working it off the bluffs down to about 35 ft. He caught most of his fish this morning in about 20 feet of water. I have heard from a few divers that they are seeing many fish over brush piles in 30 - 35 feet of water, large fish. Crappie are hanging around in the same area and can be caught on live crappie minnows with a slip float or with a 1/16 oz. jig with a twister tail grub. I have found it beneficial to tip the jig with a crappie minnow.

A few of my fishing guide friends have been fairing well on striped bass and hybrid bass. They have been fishing near the bridge columns using live threadfin shad. They have also been catching many Kentucky bass right on the columns in about 20 feet of water. With the water temperature cooling slightly the striped bass seem to be dispersing a little. Hopefully with about another 10 degree drop in water temperature we will get into our fall top water bite.

I have been going through fishing withdrawal. My Yamaha four stroke engine threw the nut off the drive shaft that holds the fly wheel on and did a lot of damage. The motor is only a few months out of warranty and I have been working with Yamaha to hopefully cover the damage. I should know this week who gets to pay for it. I have asked around and so far no one has heard of this happening before. I guess I'm lucky to get to be the first!

The Norfork Lake level is holding fairly steady at about 557, which is 5 feet above normal pool. The Corps. is running two generators about 6 hours per day. The Norfork Lake surface water temperature is in the mid 70's and falling slowly. The main lake is clear with the creeks and coves cloudy.

Happy fishing and hope to see you on the lake soon.