Yes, these fish were heavy and I was happy.
I have confirmation, the Norfork Lake night bite is on. Last evening I headed out to the Cranfield area and caught 2 Striped Bass in the 8 pound range and 2 Hybrid Bass one well over 9 pounds. I was using my bone colored rogue and casting into very shallow water. My retrieval method was very, very slow with an occasional stop. Two of the fish hit the bait when it was stopped. Once I set the hook, there was no fight as the fish headed straight back to the boat. It was all I could do to keep the line tight. Once they reached the boat and realize they were hooked the fight began. All of them just ripped off line (you need a good drag system on your reel). I am sure I have mentioned before, but you only need lite tackle and line on Norfork Lake. I only use 8 pound test on a medium action rod. I use a green line, but clear will work just fine. No other color or braided line seems to work well on our lake.
The other exciting thing that I found last evening was that there was a fantastic top water bite right at sunset. The fish just started to erupt all around me and in the whole area. Most were small whites, but I could tell there were some stripers and large bass coming up along with them. Unfortunately I didn't have any top water baits with me. My Zara Spook box was still at the house. I threw a fluke at the swirls and only got short bites. This is the earliest that I have seen this amount of top water action. I won't forget my spooks next time. Hopefully I'll have some fun with them this evening.
The Norfork Lake water level is at 552.06, fluctuating up and down a couple of tenths of a foot depending on generation. Very little generation has been happening and by the Corps' forecast there won't be much the next day or so. The lake is clearing and starting to get back to normal. The Norfork Lake surface water temperature was in the low 50's.
Happy fishing and see you on the lake.
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