Norfork Lake Fishing Report

The weather in the Arkansas Ozarks and on Norfork Lake is starting to settle back to normal. Our daytime temperatures are in the mid 40's and the nighttime temperatures are in the upper twenties. Makes for a cool morning of fishing but the bite has been better earlier rather than late for striped bass. Last week a couple of our guests had a really good morning striper fishing. They were fishing in the Henderson area using live shiners. Over the last week the best locations have been in the deep channels. They had their bait 50 - 60 feet down where they were seeing a lot of bait fish. The bait fish are suspended in 80 - 120 feet of water. They ended up landing 4 and missed netting a fifth. They also at least 6 other bites that were missed. The stripers ranged from 10 - 16 pounds. The trick is finding the bait fish. I have been out a couple of times in the afternoon over the last week and really have had a hard time finding the bait. Usually around 5PM I find the bait but it is getting late and starting to get too cold for me. The mornings have been chilly, but I guess I am going to have to suck it up and go out at sunrise. The stripers are hanging in and around the bait so set your shiners just above the bait or if you are spooning drop the spoon to the top and start jigging or let it fall all the way through the bait then reel up through through the bait and start jigging over the top. With the cold water a slower presentation works the best for all species.

I haven't been out bass or crappie fishing lately so no news from me. I have heard that crappie are still on the brush, but are going a little deeper. They may start to come back up with the warmer days we are having. You should be able to find them 10 - 25 feet down, over and in the brush.

The Norfork Lake water level has dropped to 542.6 and falling about 1 - 3 inches per day. The lake is getting really clear. The surface water temperature was 42 - 44 degrees yesterday afternoon.

Remember that in this cold water slow down your presentation and also downsize your artificial baits. The lake is clear so using light and clear line will get more bites.

Have a great day and see you on the lake.