Norfork Lake Fishing Report

Linda and I are back at our resort after a long overdue vacation. We both had a great time. We are hard at work around the resort and I have also started fishing again on Norfork Lake. So far we have had a relatively warm fall and the fish are starting to bite. Yesterday I took some of my visiting family out striper fishing and we did Ok. We landed 2 stripers, one 15+ pounds. We broke off another and missed four other strikes. We were fishing up the river past point 8 with live shad. They were not the big jumbos so we were doubling up the shad on one hook. A couple of my guide friends have also been fishing the same area and are doing well. Yesterday Tom Reynolds of STR Outfitters landed 10 stripers and hybrids and the day before landed 14. I guess my boat missed too many of the strikes.

Today I fished with my brother-in-law and we slayed the bass. We ended up landing over 20 largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass and lost over 5 fish at the boat. We limited out on spotted bass and released the largemouths and smallmouths. We started at sunrise and were throwing Zara Spooks around some docks. The fish were out in deep water (25feet) as well as right on the shore line. Next we headed over to the Big E area and switched from artificial baits to live bait. We used Carolina type rigs with a 1 ounce weight, then a couple of feet of leader with a number 4 kahle hook. I was fishing around some brush that is close to a point on the bluff line. The spotted bass were stacked. We landed 4 fish in this location then they seemed to turn-off. Next we headed to Panther Creek. I was graphing at different locations looking for striper without success. I stopped on a point and started to use live bait. We landed 3 spotted bass. Again the fish were in 20 - 25 feet of water. My third location was past Bidwell point. This was our most productive area. Again the bass were stacked and were very aggressive. We caught our first 3 fish in 8 - 10 feet of water and continued to catch fish after fish in 10 - 30 feet of water. I really think spinner baits and crankbaits would have worked great, but we were having so much fun with the live bait I could not get myself to switch. It was a great great day.

Two 17 inch smallmouth, a 16 inch spotted bass, and a white bass (all caught today) were given to an advertising firm that is photographing for 2011 fishing equipment catalogs for Northland and Frabril, both Minnesota companies. Arkansas is having over 19 nationally known reporters in the area fishing and exploring to see what Norfork Lake and Mountain Home have to offer. I am taking some of the writers out fishing on Friday and Saturday, My trip for today was cancelled.

From reports, crappie fishing is starting to get really hot. Small twister tail grubs tipped with a minnow and just minnows are working well. The fish are suspendied over brush piles anywhere from 10 feet to 20 feet down. Keep trying different depths until you find the one that works the best.

The Norfork Lake level is falling slowly and currently sits at 547.45. The surface water temperature was 62 - 63 degrees today. The main lake water is clear and the creeks are cloudy but clearing.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.