Norfork Lake Fishing Report

LINDA AND I WISH ALL A MERRY CHRISTMAS!

The weather warmed and the fishing heated up over the last several days on Norfork Lake. Striped bass fishing has been good, but the fish are moving. It appears that they are shallow (30 - 40 feet deep on the bottom)early in the morning, then they go deeper as the sun comes up. When they go deep you can find them on the bottom or suspended at 50 to 60 foot depths. You need to use your electronics to find the fish and the word is that they are hanging close to deep bluff lines. Fish are scattered and can be caught all over the lake. My guests have caught fish over the last several days in Float Creek, in the 101 and Bennetts area, the Henderson area and also in the Cranfield area. I caught and released fish in Panther Creek as well as Fall Creek on Monday. Live large shiners are working well fished straight down next to the boat.

Crappie are over the brush piles from 15 to 40 feet down. I fished for Crappie on Sunday afternoon and caught several in our cove and also over brush in the Cranfield area. I was using a small white grub tipped with a Crappie minnow. This method also caught 5 black bass. Bass are being caught in all depths of water, but I have been having the best luck in 30 - 35 feet of water. I have been releasing the bass and crappie under my dock. I hope they stick around.

The Norfork Lake level is falling slowing and currently sits at 545.65. The Corps is running a couple of generators sporadically during the day. The surface water temperature is close to 50 degrees or just a little lower. The lake is clear.

It appears Basscat Boats has elected to stay at Norfork Lake for their 2011 Owners Invitational. It will be held on May 20th and 21st. Plans for a week long list of events and activities are being put together to make the 25th anniversary OI a great success. They are gearing towards making the event even more family friendly. If you need a place to stay give us a call for reservations.

Have a safe and Merry Christmas and see you on the water.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

Yesterday morning was a perfect day for fishing on Norfork Lake, even with the light rain. Today, however, is a different story. Snow flurries, cold, and strong winds. This current weather pattern is to last a couple of days, but then get back to normal. I will get back to the business of fishing at that time.

I had a great day of fishing yesterday. I got back to Float Creek at around 7 AM. A few boats were already fishing. I spent the first half hour graphing different areas in Float, then I finally started to mark some big fish. I haven't used the large shiners since last winter so I decided to give them a try. I put out 4 down poles. Each pole had a 3/4 ounce egg sinker, a plastic bead and a number 7 barrel swivel. The bead helps protect the knot from the sinker. I then put on a 2 - 3 foot leader with a kahle hook. I was using a number 4 hook yesterday, small but effective with the size of the shiners. When using large gizzard shad as bait, tie on a much larger hook. I still use 8 pound test Ande green monofilament line. I started to drift down the deep bluff side on the edge of the channel. I tried to stay in 40 - 50 feet of water and the fish were at all depths. I had each pole at a different depths starting at 30 feet down to the bottom. I caught fish at all depths. The bite started around 8AM and lasted for about 2 hours in this location. I ended up landing 4 stripers and 1 hybrid in the 8 to 12 pound range and broke off 4 others. I don't know why I had all the break offs but they seemed to be close to my knots. I guess I retied my poles too late the night before and my eyes sight was just not good enough!!! When my boat drifted into 30 - 40 feet of water I started to get black bass. They were all the nice big ones. I landed 7 bass and the 4 in the photos would not go back down, so we had fish tacos for supper.

When the bite stopped close to the bank I headed out to the deeper water in the main channel. I ended up catching two other stripers. Both were caught when I was moving with my trolling motor. So this meant that my baits were much higher up in the water. The fish are continually moving so make sure you check out all areas. I have also received reports of stripers being caught in all the major creeks and also up in the Calamity area.

Crappie have moved over the brush in deep water. The brush in 40 feet of water is producing some nice fish. The Crappie are suspended over the brush from 15 - 40 feet down. Bass and walleye are also hanging close to the brush piles.

As you have noticed by my last couple of reports, I have been using live bait more than I usually do. I'm in a learning mode. My new boat gives me many more options. I have been testing out the shad tank and also learning how to throw a cast net and catch my own bait. I will be fishing the live bait method for a while until my comfort level is right with all aspects. Then I'll be back to artificial bait fishing, which I dearly enjoy.

The Norfork Lake water level is holding fairly steady and currently sits at 546.7. The surface water temperature was in the 54 to 55 degree range. The lake is clear and just gorgeous.

Stay warm, happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Have a great holiday season.