Norfork Lake fishing has been good for the last couple of weeks. The stripers and hybrids are doing what they should be doing this time of year. Big schools of stripers and hybrids can be found right before daybreak in 30 - 50 feet of water. They will be on the bottom or suspended 25 - 40 feet down. Main lake points and secondary points back in the creeks are good places to look especially where the old river channel swings in close to the shoreline. My guests and I have found stripers in the Robinson area and down towards the dam. Thread fin and gizzard shad for live bait and spoons and swim baits for artificial baits are great choices to use at the moment. Most of the stripers being caught in the shallow water early in the morning are in the 5 - 10 pound range with the bigger hybrids just starting to show up. The bigger stripers are being caught out in deeper water 70 - 80 feet down on the bottom. When the sun gets high in the sky is the best time to find the deep stripers. Look at main lake points for these deep fish. Live bait and spoons are your best choices for deep fish. I expect to see these fish go a little deeper very soon.Walleye, smallmouth, largemouth, spots, catfish and white bass will be found in the same general areas as the stripers. 25 - 35 feet of water is the best place to start. The fish will also be suspended at this same depth following the bait fish into deeper water.
Norfork Lake is dropping about 1 - 2 inches per day with power generation lasting about half a day. The water in the creeks and coves is some what stained as the draw-down is pulling silt off of the shore line. The main lake is mainly clear. The surface water temperature is also falling a little and is currently in the 82 - 85 degree range.
Happy fishing and see you on the lake!
