Norfork Lake Fishing Report

Last Friday I took a couple of our guests out striper fishing on Norfork Lake. We landed two nice stripers and missed 4 others. I was fishing in the dam area in 80 feet of water and the stripers were lying right on the bottom. The bite was tough, but we waited them out and they finally bit. I was using thread fin shad. I have had reports that trollers are catching a few using down riggers and lead core line. Vertical jigging with a spoon is also producing a few nice fish. The stripers will more than likely stay at this depth until the water starts to cool in September and October. Norfork Lake typically turns over sometime between late September and mid October. When this happens the stripers will be at all depths, from deep water to shallow water. Fall and winter fishing is typically a very fun time to fish for striped bass. Sometimes we get a good striped bass top water bite in the early fall.

This week I have started to target largemouth and spotted bass, walleye and crappie. Monday I did a lot of moving around to locate fish and check out the various brush piles near my resort. I did get into some nice top water action with the black bass, but if you luck onto this you need to be ready. They only come up momentarily and if you can get your Zara spook close to them they just erupt on the bait. Yesterday I tried several bluff lines and caught a few nice bass, but couldn't find walleye. I ended up moving to a main lake point that has some nice brush in 25 - 35 feet of water and marked a ton of fish. I had two down lines out with live shad and was also spooning at times, as well as throwing a green grub with an 1/8 jig head. I caught black bass on the spoon and grub and a couple on the live bait. I moved to the inside of the point and started to get walleye bites. I landed two walleye, but both were 1/4 inch under size. I also picked up a nice crappie on the spoon. I had one great bite on the shad and the fish spooled out over 1/2 of my line. I thought for sure it was a hybrid or striper from the way it bit and the way it was running. I finally got it to the boat and found a nice 15 pound blue catfish. This was one of the best fights I have had in a while:-)

Today I left my dock around 5AM and first went to catch a few shad. I then headed to the same point as I ended my trip on Tuesday. I put two down lines at about 26 feet of water and it wasn't 5 minutes before one of the rods bent to the water. This was the nice 4 pound largemouth in the photo. I continued to catch bass on the live bait and missed many more than I caught because I was also trying to spoon at the same time. I was vertical jigging a 1/4 spoon for a while and picked up one of the crappi,e then switched to a 3/4 spoon and picked up the other crappie and a few bass. Overall I think I landed 12 bass and two crappie, but no walleye today. The best part of the last three days is that I have found that crappie have finally moved back to the brush from 20 - 30 feet, the black bass are in the same area from 15 feet to 30 feet down and I think the walleye are in around 25 - 30 feet sitting on the bottom. If you start fishing the brush piles be prepared to do a lot of re-tieing as you will get plenty of snags. I lost several nice fish and tackle after they headed straight into the brush.

I am having a day off of fishing tomorrow (boat rental check-out's), but should be out fishing Friday morning.

The Norfork Lake level is falling around 3 inches per day and currently sits at 560.35 ft above sea level. This is only 8 feet above normal pool of 552. The surface water temperature this morning was 84.5 degrees. The main lake is clear, but the creeks and coves are still cloudy.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

Norfork Lake is the place to enjoy the remaining summer days, before the fall water sports time begins. I have been striper fishing several times in the last couple of weeks and have been catching fish, even though it has been a tough bite. I have been fishing the dam area and finding fishing in 60 - 80 feet of water sitting on the bottom. It can become very frustrating when you know you are on fish and they will not bite. What I have found is that if you wait them out you will eventually get nice fish. I have caught several in the 20 - 25 pound range and some in the upper teens since my last report. I have been using live thread fin shad. Spooning is working somewhat. Some are telling me that vertical jigging has not been working, but instead you need to drop the spoon to the bottom and reel up 3/4's of the way, then drop it back down. They seem to be more aggressive on the reel up and are chasing the spoon. Trollers are catching fish,  you have to get your bait down to the 60 - 80 foot level.

Bass, walleye, crappie and bluegill seem to be down 20 - 30 feet on the bottom. I have been finding lots of bait fish hovering in the 20 - 30 foot range and when I find the bait usually I mark a lot of fish. This is also telling me that the thermocline is dropping. Several weeks back the bait was all 20 feet or above. I am still noticing increased numbers of black bass breaking the surface at sunrise. Yesterday I actually saw (in the distance) a huge area of water just start to boil. There were big fish coming totally out of the water. They had to be hybrids due to the size of the fish or some really big white bass. I was a good 1/2 mile away and  could still see the fish coming out of the water. This lasted about 15 minutes as they moved up a shore line. I also heard from Robert Lee that he also saw some nice top water action in a different area, but it didn't last as long. Normally you don't see this type of top water action this time of year, but the fishing this year has been a little different than past years.

Catfish are being caugth on trotlines using live bait and also on rod and reels using chicken livers.

The Norfork Lake surface water temperature was 84 - 85 degrees yesterday morning. The lake is sitll falling 2 - 3 inches per day and currently sits at 562.8.. The main lake is clear with the creeks and coves off color.

Hummingbird Hideaway Resort's dock parking area and launch is back to normal operation. We're glad to again have the convenience of launching right beside the dock.
Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

Fishing on Norfork Lake is a blast!! Had a great morning of striped bass fishing even though we were just able to fish  less than an hour. A thunder storm with lots of lightning chased us off the lake around 7AM. If we could have fished longer no telling how many stripers we would have boated. I found the fish laying on the bottom in 52 - 60 feet of water. We were fishing with live shad in the dam area. My guests had a great time and were thrilled with the fight these fish give. Each of them caught a fish, then the lightning started right over our heads. It didn't take us long to reel in and take off! Since my last report many stripers have been caught from the Robinson area to the dam. I did have several slow days where I marked many fish, but they would not bite. This has been a common occurrence for many over the last several weeks. (Hopefully today's bite is a good sign for the future :-)) Each day brings a different scenario. Today they were on the bottom, tomorrow you may find them suspended in 150 feet of water. The only consistent thing is the depth the stripers are at. You will find them in 50- 65 feet of water. Live bait has been working well, but spooning (especially this morning) should work great. Trolling with a down rigger or lead core line has been working very well for many of the trollers out on the lake. Jeff  is holding two big stripers weighing in the mid 20 pound range. He caught his limit in the Robinson area using live shad.

Largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass are hitting top water plugs early and late in the day. We saw several bass this morning erupt off the point we were fishing. Nathan holding this nice 16 inch largemouth caught this fish next to our dock when he was leaving to go out water skiing. Nathan has taken me at my word of "never leave home without your Zara Spook tied on". Plastics are also working very well in the 15 - 25 feet range. Work your bait back to the boat along the bottom.

Walleye, white bass, crappie and black bass all can be found in 15 - 25 feet of water depth. The lakes thermocline is in the 20 - 25 feet range. All these fish are hanging around main lake points and sunken brush piles at the thermocline.

The Norfork Lake surface water temperature is in the low 90's to upper 80's. The lake is still falling about 2 - 3 inches per day and currently sits at 565.3 feet about sea level. The main lake is clear and the coves and creeks are a little stained. The water is not as clear as normal due to the fall, but it is still clearer than most lakes that I have seen.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.