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.