Norfork Lake Fishing Report

It has been windy on Norfork Lake for the last 4 days. Even with the wind I have been able to get out this morning and a few evenings over the last week. The bass bite is still good. I am catching bass in 30 - 37 feet of water on the main lake points as well as over sunken brush piles. I have been using a 3/4 ounce spoon for vertical jigging. This morning I caught several bass. One was a 6 pound lunker. I caught a double header on a Zara Spook top water bait. Both were Kentucky bass. One was 14 inches long and the other was 12 inches. I thought I had a really big fish when I was bringing them in. The double headed was caught casting close to docks. All bass were released immediately so I have no pictures today.

The crappie bite is improving. They are on sunken brush and suspended anywhere from 15 feet down to the bottom of the brush. Minnows are working the best at this time. Once the water cools the crappie should become more aggressive.

Still have not caught any striper lately and haven't heard of many being caught. I did see some really nice top water stripers about 4 evenings ago. I was fishing the Cranfield to Point 8 area. Along the bluff line the stripers started to blow up. By the time I got close enough they went down. I started to spoon in the same area and saw them come up again right behind my boat. I got so excited I almost threw my spooning rod in the water reaching for my top water rod. To say the least I was too late and they went down not to be seen again that evening. I am soooo happy I didn't lose my rod and reel! I hope this early top water action is a sign of what's to come in November.

The Norfork Lake level is falling and currently sits at 550.12. One to two generators are being run sporadically during the day. The surface water temperature this morning fell to 69 degrees. (This is a good thing) The main lake is clear with the creeks and coves stained.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

Early fall has been a great fishing time for the bass fishermen and fisherwomen. Largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass are being found all over the lake. I have had the best luck on bluff line points for spotted bass, deep bluff lines and brush piles for the largemouth and deep bluff lines for the smallmouth. All of my fish have been caught in 30 - 40 feet of water either vertical jigging with a spoon or with live shiners. Live crawdads will work great this time of year for the spotted bass. One guest last week fished a few hours in the morning and a few hours at sunset and after dark. He was pitching a dark colored jig and pig along the bluff lines and caught close to his limit each time he went out. His fish were caught in 15 - 25 feet of water.

I fished with a couple of my guests yesterday morning and we started looking for stripers with no luck so I started to move closer to the points and bluffs. We hooked up with some nice bass, catfish and walleye. We were fishing with live shiners as well as spoons. One of the guests started throwing a small popper at the banks. He picked up a few nice largemouth and a whole bunch of hand sized blue gill. I fished the Fall Creek area, Diamond Bay area and along the Robinson bluffs. We caught fish at all locations. It wasn't non-stop action, but we caught some quality fish.

Last week we also had a couple of pan fisherpeople. They loaded up on large hand size red eared blue gill and had a blast. They took home a freezer full. Crickets were the bait of choice. This was non stop action!

Striper fishing has still been slow. I have had reports of one or two being caught, but nothing to say they are in the fall feeding pattern. This time of year we should be finding them schooled in the mid lake area, but we're not at this time. The lake is still a little warmer than normal so this may be affecting the bite. I have marked stripers, but I can not get them to bite. This is what I'm hearing from everyone I've asked. Once the lake temperature gets into the 60's I think we will see a major change. Of course this is not going to stop me from trying to locate and catch them. If all else fails I will go catch some nice bass and walleye.

Crappie fishing has picked up. You can find them over brush piles that is in 30 - 40 feet of water. The crappie should be suspended about 15 - 30 feet down. Use live minnows, a small spoon or a twister tail grub tipped with a minnow. Keep checking the various brush piles in the lake, you will find them.

The lake level is falling slowing and sits at 551.2. The Corps is running 1 - 2 generators sporadically during the day. The surface lake water temperature has been around 72 degrees. The main lake is clear with the creeks and coves cloudy.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

I have been having fun fishing Norfork Lake the last 3 days. I fished in the evening Monday and Tuesday, then today switched to find the early morning bite. The bite has been equally good each day that I have fished. Monday afternoon I had planned on just traveling to several areas to check for bait and fish, but when I was graphing my cove I noticed a lot of fish in 22 - 24 feet of water. I started to spoon and caught white bass after white bass. I went back to my dock and talked one of my guests into coming out with me. In minutes we were on the whites again and had a great time. We ended up catching a dozen or so whites and a nice largemouth. Greg is picutered holding the largemouth and a white. On Tuesday afternoon I headed out around 4PM and decided not to graph my cove so I would be able to check out other areas. :) I headed across from Bidewell Point and marked a few fish, but nothing exciting. I then headed back to the 6A area and marked a few big arcs but no schools of stripers. Once I got into 30 - 38 feet of water I started marking huge schools of bait and fish. I started spooning and ended up catching 5 largemouth bass and 2 crappie. I was fishing rocky points on the bluff side. The black bass and crappie were just stacked. I was hoping for a little top water action, but didn't find any. This morning was equally good. It was a very foggy morning so I couldn't travel fast. I planned on checking out Float Creek and Diamond Bay, but decided to stay closer to home. I fished across from Bidwell and went to the back of the cove. Largemouth bass and Kentucky bass were stacked in 35 - 40 feet of water. I had one of my guide friends, Robert Lee of Lee's Lite Line, with me. We end up landing 6 bass, 3 that were keeper size. We kept one Kentucky for fish tacos. Then we headed to the 101 area and fished a rocky point where I usually catch bass. We didn't find bass this time, but instead we started catching crappie on 1 ounce spoons. The crappie were stack in 30 - 38 feet of water. All fish caught were on the bottom, but I was marking many, many fish all the way from 20 feet, down to the bottom. If I only had my crappie gear with me, we would most likely have had a field day with them. I then headed back to the 6A area and fished rocky points. Again we found crappie just stacked in 30 - 38 feet of water. I found the most fish on drop offs. What a fun morning. Robert got to clean the fish since he is going to have the fish tacos for dinner this evening.

In a nutshell, I found crappie in 30 - 38 feet of water off of main lake rocky points. They were hanging on the ledges or drop offs. I had been finding bass in the same locations. White bass seem to be back in creeks or coves in 22 - 30 feet of water. For all the fish make sure you find the bait fish and the other fish will be there feeding.

Stripers have been tough to find the last 5 days. I think the cold front that rolled through our area put them on the move. Just one week ago I got into a large school of top water feeding striper and had a field day. I found the fish in 20 feet of water. Hope this happens again soon. The forecast is back to normal temperatures so hopefully the stripers will get back to their normal seasonal routine. We should start finding them in the mid lake area soon.

From all reports and my observations the lake conditions are great. Oxygen levels are up and the water is cooling. With all the fish coming up into shallow water it appears we may not have much of a turnover if any this year. If we have a lake turnover it typically happens in October some time, dependant on the water and air temperatures. Of course anything can happen at any time.

The Norfork Lake level is falling slowing and currently is at 551.75. One generator is currently being run. The surface water temperature had fallen to the low to mid 70s. The main lake is clear and the coves and creeks are still a little stained.

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Happy fishing and see you on the lake.