Norfork Lake Fishing Report

Spring fishing on Norfork Lake has been good for the last week and the weather has been even better. The best bite, in my opinion, on Norfork Lake is largemouth and spotted (kentucky) bass. Second is striped bass fishing. Bluegills, crappie, walleye, white bass and catfish are coming in on a regular basis.

 

I have seen many 2.5 - 5 pound largemouth bass and very large k
Kentuckies coming into the dock. Kentuckies are a very good eating fish and makes a great fish taco. Live bait, either large shiners or shad, are the best baits to use to get numbers of fish, but artificial baits are also working. I have been finding the black bass in  2- 27 feet of water on main lake points. At sunrise and sunset you will see some top water action so keep your favorite topwater bait ready for action at all times. My favorite color lure is a white body and a chartreuse head in the Zara Spook Jr. size. Clear and bone colors also work very well. I am sure other colors will also work, but I just haven't tried them. Other baits that have been working are jig & pigs, plastic worms and crawdads, spinner baits on windier days and some crank baits. Bass are feeding heavily on crawdads so this should help on you color selection.

Things have not changed much on the striped bass fishing. Fish are being found on main lake points in 25 - 40 feet of water. In the very early part of the mornings you may find them right on the bank. The problem is that one day the fish are on a point but the next day they are gone. You do have to do a lot of moving around until you locate the fish. I have mainly been using live shad, but several of my guests have caught stripers on big shiners. The umbrella rig or Alabama rigs are also working very well. Most of my guests that are fishing with these rigs are trolling them at a slow speed. You need to stay in 20 - 40 feet of water and make sure they are getting down to about 10 - 15feet. The stripers are still scattered all over the main lake. I am fishing main lake points and large flats in about 25 feet of water. Very soon the stripers should start to move back in the creeks, so keep checking.

Catfishing with jugs and trotlines are producing many nice fish. Every morning I see jugs bobbing up and down all over the lake.

Crappie are being caught over brush piles that are in 20 - 30 feet of water. The fish will be suspended so keep changing your depths until you find the level they are feeding at. Live minnows and jigs tipped with a minnow are working well.  If you can find some timber that is sticking up out of the water, check it out for crappie.

I don't have a lot of information on walleye, but I have caught several in the same locations as the bass and stripers. They should also be on the shallow flats so start dragging a crawler harness to pick up a few tasty meals.

Norfork Lake level is at normal pool of 552.01. Sporadic power generation is occurring to maintain this level. The surface water temperature is in the mid to upper 70's. The main lake is starting to look a little clearer, but the creeks and coves are still stained.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.