Norfork Lake Fishing Report

It rained the last two evenings on Norfork Lake, but currently the rain has slowed and the lake is calm. The air temperature is in the 50's at night and 60's to 70's during the day. It looks like there is another cold front on the way, but that doesn't stop the fishing. I fished for about an hour last evening in our cove. I caught a 15" largemouth and a 16" inch walleye. Both were caught on a rogue jerk bait. I have used this bait for the last few days and have caught several nice bass along with some undersized ones. The bass are hitting the rogue in about 10-15 feet of water and the walleye I caught hit next to the boat which was in 25feet of water. It appears that the lake is turning over that the turn may be almost complete since I am catching these fish on a rogue which only goes down 1 - 3 feet. Once the lake complets its turn, the water temperature is the same down deep and the oxygen levels go back up. The fish should really start feeding heavily for the winter months. Crappie have stayed in the same depths 20 - 30 feet over brush and the black bass and white bass are coming up at sunrise and sunset. To be ready for the topwater bite, have your favorite top water bait tied on and be ready to go at a moments notice. Striped bass should start coming up soon, early morning and late in the evening. During the day they will be in 40 - 70 feet of water close to deep water or suspended in deep water channels. I marked a nice school of stripers in the the Robinson Point area on Friday, but it was so windy I couldn't get my spoon down to them.

The lake level is rising and is currently at 563.08. The Corps is generating one generator a portion of the day. The Norfork Lake water temperature is between 64 - 65 and falling slowly. The main lake is clear with the creeks and coves stained.

Have a great fishing day and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

Own lawn maintenance crew has been working hard cleaning up persimmons at Hummingbird Hideaway Resort on Norfork Lake. I guess these bucks know about hunting season so they are coming to a safe haven. We have seen 4 bucks at one time and a herd of 8 does and fawns. We also have a group of 8 turkeys feeding on the resort grounds on a frequent basis. It's a lot of fun watching the wildlife from the porch of your cabin.

I finally have my boat back and fished for a about an hour this morning, mainly breaking in the new motor. I did catch several white bass and two undersized largemouth bass. I was spooning in 30 feet of water off main lake points close to the 101 bridge. The whites are schooling and move quickly when you find them in the open water. There were a few bass coming up after shad. I tried throwing a spook, but had no luck with top water bait.

Fishing heats up and then the weather changes to slow it down. I hope Mother Nature starts giving us more constantly normal fall temperatures and weather conditions. Last week was cool with a strong north wind. With the north wind our cove was stocked full of white bass and hybrids, with a few stripers mixed in. Spooning was pulling in some nice 3 - 3.5 pound whites. This week the wind has changed to the south and conditions have changed. My fishing guests are finding large and small mouth bass off of main lake points typically on the bluff side. A few bass are being caught in the submerged buck brush in shallow water. A few are being caught on top water, but they're having the most luck in deep water 20 - 30 feet down. Jig and pigs with a 3/8 ounce jig head are working well, dressed in dark colors.

Reports from my guide friends are that the striped bass are moving up the lake. They are finding some nice fish in the mid lake area close to deep water. The fish are suspended 40 - 60 feet down in anywhere from 60 - 120 feet of water. The main lake points are producing fish, as well as, spots back in the channels of the major creeks. I hope to get out this afternoon to do a little serious fishing.

Crappie are being caught over brush in 25 - 35 feet of water. White grubs are working the best tipped with a crappie minnow. Drift slowly over the brush dragging your bait or cast out, let it sink, retrieve slowly, stop and let sink again. Repeat this action until you get back to the boat. The crappie are hitting the bait on the fall.

The Norfork Lake level is rising slowing at 560.26. The corps is generating with one generator for over 12 hours per day. The main lake is clear and the creeks and coves are starting to clear but are still stained. The Norfork Lake surface temperature is around 66 degrees and falling slowly. I am looking for about 60 degree water temperature to help trigger the striper fall top water bite. Hopefully by the end of this month or the beginning of November.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

It is a rainy morning on Norfork Lake in the Arkansas Ozarks. We have had our share of rain in the last week as has the rest of the country. The lake is rising slowly, which is a good thing. The buck brush and the shore line foliage is going under water which give the bass a great place to feed. My current guests are throwing crank baits that dive about 8 ft and catching many large and smallmouth bass. The water temperature is slowly dropping which is also a very good thing. With the 65 - 68 degree temperatures the bass, crappie and walleye are becoming much more active and are really starting to feed aggressively. Sunday afternoon one of my guests caught his limit of walleye using a 2 ounce bottom bouncing weight attached to a night crawler harness. He was fishing along bluff lines in 25 - 30 feet of water. Last evening another guest got into some top water white bass. They had a blast throwing top water baits and then spooning when the fish would go down. They were fishing at the mouth of our cove and said they could see the fish erupt all the way towards the 101 bridge. Another guest has been crappie fishing and the large slabs are being caught in 20 - 30 feet of water over sunken trees/brush. Live crappie minnows are the bait of choice. Roadrunners and curly tail grubs are also producing some nice fish.

I should have my boat back this week, I can't wait.

The Norfork Lake water level is currently at 558.7 and slowly rising. The corps is running one generator about 6 hours per day. The current water temperature is in the mid to upper 60's. The main lake is clear, but the creeks and coves are dingy greenish brown with all the rain and runoff that we have had.

Have a great day and see you all on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

The fishing and weather has been really good the last couple of days on Norfork Lake, in the Arkansas Ozarks. My boat is still in dry dock, but I did get some fantastic news last week, Yamaha has approved replacing my motor with a new one. They don't have the main drive shaft in stock so they are just going to replace all of it. Hopefully I get it back within the next week. I am really going crazy not being able to be out on the lake fishing. My wife is somewhat happy, I am getting a lot of honey do's completed.

Largemouth and Kentucky bass are surfacing at sunrise and sunset and are also up on the banks feeding. Any top water bait is working well for the surfacing fish or you can throw your favorite plastic bait and work it back to boat slowly along the bottom for those feeding on the shoreline. My preference is the Zara Spook for top water and a 10" motor oil colored worm Texas rigged. During the middle of the day the bass are going deeper on main lake points and rock bluffs. They are in 25 - 35 feet of water. Work a brown or dark green jig & pig slowly back to the boat. These fish are feeding on crawdads. You will pick up as many smallmouth on your jig & pig as you do black bass.

Crappie fishing is starting to pick up. I have seen quite of few nice size slabs coming into the dock. The fish are in 25-30 feet of water over sunken brush. Live crappie minnows are working the best.

White bass are schooling. They are being found in two different places, midway back in the large creek beds and also on the the main lake flats. Small spinners are working well as well as vertical jigging with a spoon.

Striped bass are on the move. They can be found from the two main bridges down to the dam. They are still deep, any where from 40 - 80 feet down. Vertical jigging with a spoon is producing some, but live shad is still the bait of choice. Large shiners are starting to get a few fish. The changing weather patterns that we have been having are keeping the fish on the move. You may find them in one area today, but they more than likely will not be there tomorrow. Once the weather settles a little and the lake drops another few degrees, the fall top water bite for stipers will be happening! Should be soon. One of my guides friends spotted a few striper breaking surface last weekend.

The Norfork Lake level is dropping and currently is sitting at 554.86. The Corps is running one generator about 24 hours per day. The lake is clearing nicely even in the creeks and coves.I have had reports of the lake water temps between the upper sixties and low seventies.

Hopefully I will see you on the lake soon!!!