Norfork Lake Fishing Report

Another fantastic day on Norfork Lake in the Arkansas, Ozarks. It's currently 71 degrees and and sun is shining. I went striper fishing this morning. It started out slow but finished with a bang. I ended up with this nice 15 pound striper and lost 2 others. One of the fish that I lost, hit my other pole while I was fighting the pictured fish. I tried to set the hook, but just couldn't get enough pull with my left arm. All of my bites came between 9:00 and 10:00 AM. I was fishing back in Panther Creek in 95 feet of water. These fish were suspended in 40 - 50 feet. I was using large live shiners and also vertical jigging with a spoon. All fish and bites were on the live shiners. I first fished the Robinson area, then went back into Diamond Bay, but found nothing in these areas. Yesterday one of my guide friends caught three in the Robinson area. He caught one on a free line, one on a down pole and the other was on a balloon. His fish were mainly deep, but he has gotten a few on free swimmers so the fish are starting to come up. The stripers are scattered and moving in the deep channels. No top action that I saw today.

We plan on smoking one filet of the striper. We'll let you know how it turns out.

The Norfork Lake level is falling slowly and is currently at 570.4. The Corps is running two generators for most of the day. The surface water temperature is still 62 - 63 degrees. The lake is clear in the deep water and slightly stained back in the creeks. The water is really starting to clear.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.