Norfork Lake Crappie Fishing Report

Norfork Lake Crappie fishing has been fun the last couple of days. I had to check out my Tuesday morning success by fishing yesterday afternoon. I decided to just fish brush piles and coves close to my resort dock. I first graphed Hummingbird Hideaway's cove. I marked some bass on brush piles, but didn't find much bait in the area. I headed out to the bluff across from my cove to a brush pile. I spooned up one bass in about 30 feet of water. I switched to throwing a jointed Shad Rap that goes about 10 - 15 feet deep along the bluff line. I picked up another small bass. When I came to a point off a small cut along the bluff line, I hooked a nice blue gill, a small crappie and the above 15 inch crappie. Nice slab! I then headed to another brush pile in the Cranfield area. This was the brush that came alive. I ended up spooning 5 nice 12 - 14 inch crappie in about 20 minutes. WOW!! I moved to a cut along the bluff line I was fishing and picked up another crappie. I then tried a cove across from my cove. When I got back into the cove I could see bait fish on the surface. I started throwing my shad rap and landed a keeper size largemouth bass. I noticed the bait had moved to the bottom (32 feet of water) so I started to spoon. I hooked 3 more bass, but only got to land one of them. The other two shook off the hook. I wasn't keeping any bass anyway.

My short afternoon trip was a success and I did verify that the trip on Tuesday was not a fluke. Crappie on Norfork Lake have come alive and are very aggressive.

Today is a rain day, but the forecast is calling for nice fall weather throughout the weekend. I will be back on the lake more than likely tomorrow. It is really hard to keep me off the lake especially with these nice fall days. My wife just can not understand why I like to spend so much time on the water fishing! I think she would like me to start quilting with her. (Not going to happen) I just love to fish for all species especially striped bass. 

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

The Fall bite on Norfork Lake is getting better and better each day. Currently the best bite on the lake is for largemouth and smallmouth bass, crappie, bluegill and catfish. The lake is still on the warm side, but with upcoming cool fronts, the lake should dip into the low to mid 60's. Ideal fishing temperatures. It also appears that the lake is close to completing (if not finished) its annual turn-over. The fishing should really start to improve :-)

To all those that will be traveling to Mountain Home for the Mr. Bass of Arkansas Pro-Am fishing tournament on Norfork Lake, have a safe trip to the area. I predict it will be a great tournament with many fish being caught. Have a great time.

The black bass pattern is still very similar to my last report. You will find largemouth and smallmouth bass around brush piles in 20 - 30 feet of water. Also fish along deep bluff lines as the sun comes up, the fish are hanging on the ledges. The biggest change is that you will also find the fish back in the creeks and coves following the shad. I fished a jointed shad rap for a while yesterday late morning and had success on main lake points working the windy side. Most of the fish I caught were short, but I did catch one keeper. There has been some top water action as the sun rises and also as it sets. Most of the fish I have caught have been the small ones. I believe the big boys are staying deep waiting for cooler water. The baits of choice are still jigs worked slowly on the bottom. Cast to about 10 feet of water, let it sink to the bottom and work it though 30 feet of water before bringing it back to the boat. Spinner baits and crank baits are starting to produce some fish, but again mostly short ones.

Yesterday I found schooling crappie off of a rocky bank inside of a cove. I was spooning in about 30 feet of water and saw a lot of bait on the bottom. Each time I dropped my spoon (1 oz. green and white) a crappie would hammer the bait. I ended up catching 4 nice nice crappie before I lost the school. The two fish in the photo swallowed the treble hook so I ended up keeping them. The others were released. I also caught two fat walleye in the same area, but they were only 17 inches long. I have also caught a few crappie on brush piles in 25 - 35 feet of water. The crappie are getting very active so if you are targeting crappie it might be a good time to plan a trip.

Striped bass fishing is still up and down. Last Saturday Tom Reynolds of STR Outfitters had a good trip with Kari and Robert Bahus. They were fishing up north with live shad. Yesterday I fished the same area and only had one fish on that broke off and another pull down and release. I fished for about 3 hours with only the two bites then decided to do a little bass fishing. With the cooling of the water and the turn-over of the lake, I expect very soon the stripers to turn on with a vengeance. I hope!!!

The Norfork Lake level is fairly stable with intermittent generation and currently sits at 570.56. The lake has dropped about 1 feet in the last two weeks. The lake surface water temperature has fallen to the mid to upper 60's. The main lake is fairly clear with the creeks and coves starting to clear.

On a final note the weather forecast for tomorrow is for some rain and cooler temperatures. By the weekend it is forecast for sunny skies with highs in the 60's and lows in the 40's. Great weather for fishing or just viewing the surrounding scenery. Another great fall weekend is in store for us so call for reservations, you don't want to missed out on this beautiful fall weather at Hummingbird Hideaway Resort.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

I want to again congratulate all the qualifiers of the Mr. Bass of Arkansas Pro-Am fishing Tournaments. Good luck at your upcoming Classic on Norfork Lake, The black bass fishing has been outstanding. Read on for some helpful tips for bass fishing on Norfork Lake. If you are still looking for a place to stay call Hummingbird Hideaway Resort at 870-492-5113. I will be able to give you some up to date tips on your arrival. Our dock and concrete launch is located less than 2 miles from Henderson Marina (take - off) and only 4 miles from the Ramada Inn. One of the closest resorts on  the lake to your take-off and weigh-in location.

Largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass fishing on Norfork Lake has been outstanding over the last few weeks. The fishing should only improve as the lake water temperature drops into the 60's. The surface temperature is still around 70 degrees, but the cool rain and the cooler evening air temperatures should drop the lake water temp. We currently have several guests who are bass fishing and love to throw a jig & pig. Their color of choice is a brown skirt around the jig head with a white chunk. Larry makes all of his own jigs. Most of the fish are being caught in 15 - 30 feet of water toward the bottom. After dark the bluff lines are producing nice fish and during the day main lake points at the end of a bluff line are holding fish. Sunken brush nearby is a tremendous added plus. I also found a little different pattern for big black bass. I was working a long wide flat that has the deep channel next to it. I found feeding fish on the bottom in about 35 feet of water. The fish could be seen on the locator and were stacked and feeding. Large smallmouth bass, spotted bass and walleye were in this area. I was actually using live bait at this time, but vertical jigging a spoon, swimming minnows or other plastics worked on the bottom should also produce some nice fish. The smallmouth below was 3 pounds and was caught this morning on windy points using a Jig & Pig.

Bluegill fishing has also been fantastic lately. Crickets have been working the best, but cut nightcrawlers threaded on the hook will work equally as well. Some really large thumpers are being caught. I guess the worse part of gill fishing is the cleaning, but the non stop catching action and of course the eating part out-weighs the cleaning.

Stripers are showing up all over the lake, but the bite is still slow. I hooked into a nice one yesterday morning, but it spit the hook as I was setting it. It was pulling drag so I have no idea why the hook did not set. Next time! I hooked into this fish in the Robinson area. I am marking some big arcs in the 40 - 50 feet range suspended in 60 - 80 feet of water. I will keep you updated when the bite takes off. The water should cool a little over the next couple of days so this should help.

The Norfork Lake level is fairly stable and sits at 551.67. Intermittent power generation is going on lowering the lake only about 1 inch per day, if that. The surface water temperature is in the very low 70's. The main lake is clear with the creeks and coves cloudy. The short term weather forecast is for sunny and clear skies with the night time air temps in the upper 40's to low 50's and the day time temps are to be in the 70's to low 80's. The upcoming weekend looks gorgeous. The trees are definitely turning colors so all of you leaf peepers come on out and view our gorgeous scenery.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

I want to congratulate all the qualifiers of the Mr. Bass of Arkansas Pro-Am fishing Tournaments. Good luck at your upcoming Classic on Norfork Lake, The black bass fishing should be outstanding. Read on for some helpful tips. If you are still looking for a place to stay call Hummingbird Hideaway Resort at 870-492-5113. I will be able to give you some up to date tips on your arrival. Our dock and concrete launch is located less than 2 miles from Henderson Marina (take - off) and only 4 miles from the Ramada. One of the closest resorts on  the lake to your take-off and weigh-in location.

The best bite on Norfork Lake this early fall has been largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass, bluegill and crappie. Striped bass and white bass are both still a little slow, but with the cooling of the water watch out! The bite will explode.

The weather on Norfork Lake for the last couple of weeks has been gorgeous. The day time temps has been in the upper 70's to mid 80's with blue skies and the nights have been in the 50 and 60's. We have had no rain lately. The fall foliage colors are starting to appear so not only the fishing, but the view on the lake is going to be impressive.

I have never seen so many bluegill being cleaned at my dock as was this week. I have 3 different groups fishing for gills and they are bringing in basket loads daily. There have been some really nice slabs being caught. Crickets have been their bait of choice, those bluegill can not resist that little morsel. The best location to find massive numbers of gills have been in 10 - 15 feet of water that has sunken brush just outside of this location. I think the sunny skies have really turned these fish on!

Crappie are being caught in the same location, but suspended over the brush. They are about 15 - 25 feet down. Live minnows are doing the trick and on occasion they also hit the crickets. Grub fishing tipped with a minnow is also starting to produce a few nice slabs.

Largemouth, smallmouth and spotted (Kentucky) bass are all starting to feed heavily. I fished yesterday morning and concentrated on brush piles in 25 - 35 feet of water off of rocky, bluff line points. I was vertical jigging with a spoon right in the brush. I marked schools of fish suspended from 15 feet to the bottom. I mainly bounced the spoon off of the bottom. I ended up catching 10 black bass in three different locations. 6 were keeper size but all fish were released on sight. My biggest largemouth (had to be a 5 pounder) came up to the surface, very reluctantly and jump out of the water, shook its head and spit the hook out. I was disappointed because you would think that I would know by now, not to reach for the net until the fight is over!! Oh well, he will be there to catch another day. One of our guests is strictly bass fishing and is having a lot of luck throwing a jig and pig in the same locations. He is casting to about 15 feet of water and working the bait across the tops of the brush. He caught 5 nice size Kentucky's this morning. All smallies that I have been catching are in the 17 - 19 inch range and boy do they give a good fight.

Striped bass fishing is starting to pick up, but slowly. I have credible reports that fish have been caught in the point 2 marker area, back in the Bennett's area, 101 area and up north in the Calamity area. These fish have scattered and are located though-out the lake. It does not appear that they have started their winter feeding habits, but they should start feeding in earnest once the lake temperature gets into the 60's.

The Norfork Lake level is falling slowly about 1 - 2 inches per day and currently sits at 551.88. This is normal pool. The lake surface water temperature is in low 70's for most of the lake and in the upper 60's up north and in the far south. The main lake is fairly clear with the creeks and coves still cloudy.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.