Norfork Lake Fishing Report

Another great day on Lake Norfork in the Arkansas, Ozarks. It was sunny with a south wind and the high today was in the upper 70's. Can't ask for anything better than that, especially with the outstanding fishing this morning. I left our dock at sunrise and headed to Float Creek. I decided to do a little bass fishing and boy did I catch the bass. I caught smallmouth , largemouth and Kentucky bass. I ended up fishing entirely in one cove off of the main creek, a place where I have had good luck in the past. I had two poles down with live shiners and was also vertical jigging with a spoon. I started in the mouth of the cove in about 60 feet of water and was marking plenty of bait fish. I didn't get into the fish until I reached the back of the cover in 35 - 42 feet of water. The action on the live bait was just non-stop. I only took 8 baits with me and I went though them in less than an hour. I ended up catching 3 smallies, 2 largemouth and one Kentucky all on live bait. The best part was that all the fish were keeper size fish. I released them all as I landed them. I also caught 4 white bass on my spoon. They were caught in 50 feet of water. All fish were on the bottom and were very aggressive. Stripers are also being caught in the main creek channel, most are suspended in 75 feet of water about 40 feet down. I fished this area Thursday evening for about an hour and caught an 8 pound striper and lost another one. The striper bite has not been fast and furious, but the fish are there. One of my guide friends caught a 30 pound striper in the same general area Thursday evening. All of my stripers as well as those the guides are getting are hitting on live bait. Still no top water action except for a few black bass, but I still have my eyes open and hopes up.

If all goes well I plan on fishing in the morning again.

The lake level is at 570.4 and still slowly rising 1 - 2 inches per day. The corps is generating on and off during the day. The main lake is clear and the creeks are starting to clear, but still stained. The surface water temperature is still around 63 degrees.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.