Norfork Lake Fishing Report by Lou of Hummingbird Hideaway Resort - 870-492-5113

Norfork Lake fishing is starting to get exciting. My guests and I have found topwater action for largemouth, white bass and striped/hybrid bass over the last couple of days. The lake temperature is rising and the fish are starting to get active and are starting to feed heavily. This is not say you can find the active fish everywhere, but you need to look around and when you find them, the fun begins!

I have been doing a lot of searching on Norfork Lake waters from the mid lake major creeks up to the Bennett's area and also up river to Missouri waters.  The best locations I have found are back in the bigger creeks and also in a few of the smaller creeks. I have also found the best bite is in the early morning until the sun gets above the tree line and then again in the late afternoon, starting around 4 PM until after dark. This is not to say you cannot catch fish during midday. The fish tend to move out of the shallow water into a little deeper water as the sun comes up.

Yesterday was a great day for me. I fished both early morning and late afternoon to see if the night bite for striped bass was happening. I found striped bass, hybrid bass and white bass in shallow water early in the morning, as well as, at sundown. My best baits for striped bass have been a 6 inch swimbait with a 3/8 ounce jig head, a 1/2 ounce silver Kastmaster (blade bait) and then after dark a suspending jerkbait. At around 7PM I saw swirls of big fish right on the surface. The stripers and hybrids were feeding. I landed the first hybrid on the swimbait. A lot of fish were farther from me so I switched to my Kastmaster since I can cast it farther. And the game was on after my bait switch. I would see a swirl, cast out my bait and after one little twitch of the rod tip, my rod would double over and the fight began. This action lasted until it became too dark to see. Once it was dark I switched to a suspending jerkbait. I found that a white or bone color jerkbait worked the best. I moved up closer to the shore line and slow rolled the bait back to the boat, occasionally letting it sit still. I ended up landing 9 stripers and hybrid bass with most coming from the topwater action, but the fish did move in tight to the shore after dark following the baitfish to continue feeding. I landed a nice fat 11 pound striper and a big hybrid after dark on a jerkbait. While I was into fish in one area, several of my guests got into topwater action along a deep bluff line about 2 miles away from where I was at. My guests were actually heading up to me when they found their topwater action. We all had a good time.

The largemouth bass bite continues to be good. There has been good topwater action for this species early in the morning just as the sun is rising. The best locations have been towards the back of smaller creeks in shallow water, 5 to 20 feet deep. Just about anything you cast out will catch a fish when they begin feeding like this. My guests have gotten into this action for the last 2 mornings and have had a blast. Crank baits, Alabama rigs, topwater lures, jerkbaits and rattle traps have all been catching fish in deeper water and on the banks. My 6 inch swimbait is starting to catch some nice largemouth in the deeper water. You need to work the swimbait close to the bottom. If you don't find topwater, the fish will be up tight on the shallow banks out to 20 feet deep. Last night when I moved from my first point after dark, I headed in towards a typical main lake point to see if striped bass were feeding along the bank. No stripers on these points, but I did find some really nice size largemouth right next to the sunken buckbrush. I was casting a suspending jerkbait working it very slowly.

Norfork Lake has become fairly stable over the last several days with the lake only dropping about an inch a day. The current depth is 554.5. I really do like stable water for fishing. The surface water temperature is rising slowing and has reached the mid 50's. The main lake is clearing nicely and some of the creeks and coves are stained a great fishing color.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report by Lou of Hummingbird Hideaway Resort - 870-492-5113

Spring has sprung on Norfork Lake. The weather has been absolutely gorgeous the last several days. The lake water temperature is on the rise and fish activity is increasing daily. It has been exciting to see the fish transition from the winter pattern to the early spring pattern.

Bass fishing has been awesome with largemouth and spots being the most abundant with an occasional smallmouth mixed in. Crank baits and jerk baits are working very well. This morning I got into an hours worth of great top water action using a Zara Spook. The fun has begun for the early spring bite. I found top water action part way back in a small creek on a shallow round point where the channel swings in. The fish were in 5 to 20 feet of water and chasing shad in a very large area. I landed a fish on about every other cast. The majority of the fish were short, but in an hour I landed 6 keepers with the largest well over 3 pounds. Yesterday, I was part way back in a major creek in a similar type of area, and found a lot of bass in 10 - 18 feet of water. My jointed tail, flicker shad, size 7 was working great. The fish were closer to the bottom with very little top water in this location. The other type of area producing fish is shallow main lake points, especially if the channel swings in close to the point. Same types of baits mentioned earlier are working in these areas as well. As the water level becomes more stable, more and more of the bass will move back into the creeks and will start staging for their spawn. That also means they really start to feed heavily.

The striped bass bite is also transitioning from its winter pattern to its early spring pattern. What this means is that the fish are moving out of the deeper water and are moving in close to the shoreline to feed. The striped bass move to the shallow water to feed, has just started over the last several days. They are following the bait fish to their new feeding grounds. This is also changing my fishing times. Over the last several days the best bite for striped bass has been about an hour before and after sunrise and similar times at sunset. This is also telling me that the stripers should be feeding after dark so, if you like throwing a suspending jerk bait, now is the time to be out there. I myself have not been out after dark yet, but I will be soon. I have two different baits that I enjoy using this time of year. The one I use the most is a 6 inch swimbait with a paddle tail. I use a 3/8 oz to 1/2 oz jig head. I cast it toward the shoreline and let it sink to the bottom, then use a steady retrieval back to the boat. The other bait I like is a suspending jerk bait. My retrieval method varies until I find out what the fish wants. I may retrieve it like a crank bait or work it as a jerk bait. I guess I have one more favorite bait in my arsenal, my trusty 1/4 - 1/2 oz. Kastmaster. I typically change hooks out to one size bigger and add a feather trailer. This morning I landed 2 stripers in about 6 feet of water on a swimbait, along with a handful of large white bass. There was a few bigger fish hitting the surface, but very sporadically. The top water for striped bass will pick up over the next several weeks if the weather continues its warming trend. The best areas that I have found for stripers are main lake points that are very shallow on one side and deep on the other.

Crappie fishing has been fair. My crappie fishing guests are catching quite a few crappie, but the bigger ones over 11 inches long are harder to come by. They have been landing around 8 to 12 nice fish a day, along with many short ones. Small 1/4 spoons in white and green or white and chartreuse have been working for them. Live crappie minnows are always a great bait for crappie fishing. The fish are on brush at all different depths. You can find fish on brush from 20 feet to 35 feet deep. Crappie will be buried inside of the brush or suspended above the brush. You will need to keep fishing different depths until you start catching fish. Lately the crappie have seemed a little more timid, so you may have to move often to catch your fish.

Norfork Lake level is currently falling about 3 inches per day with both generators at the dam running. The lake currently sits at 555.29 MSL. This equates to only 1.5 feet above normal seasonal pool. The lake surface water temperature this morning was 52 degrees. It warms during the warm day and then cools again during the cooler evenings. The lake is mostly clear with maybe a 5 - 6 foot visibility. Some creeks are similar to the main lake clarity and other are stained a greenish tint. Overall the lake is in great shape and the fishing is shaping up to be a fun spring bite.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report by Lou of Hummingbird Hideaway Resort - 870-492-5113

Norfork Lake fishing is starting to pick up for all species. It would even get better if Mother Nature would give us some consistently nice weather, but I guess we cannot control the weather. The water temperature is starting to rise again, but it is still 4 - 5 degrees colder than it was at this time last year, which was in the low 50's. Spring is on the way. The long range weather forecast looks great with warmer, dryer weather. Everything is looking up!

Crappie fishing is getting better. Some say the evening bite is the best, but the morning bite was fairly decent yesterday for me. I headed out to check some new water for striped bass. During my graphing exercise I would occasionally stop and fish nearby brush piles.  I checked out some 45 - 50 feet deep brush, but found no fish and also checked out some 20 feet brush with no fish. The 30 to 35 feet deep brush piles appeared to be the best for me. The crappie that I found were buried inside of the brush towards the bottom. I caught some nice fish in the 11 - 13.5 inch range, along with a few short fish. All were released. I was jigging with a 1/4 ounce white with chartreuse back spoon. The bite was super light. Live bait would work well with a slip float or used with a small curly or paddle tail grub. Crappie have also started to move under my dock. One of our guests, between rain showers today, fished our dock with a small Kastmaster. He landed 3 nice crappie along with many short bass. As the water continues to warm the crappie will gradually move towards shallower brush piles. I mainly found my fish on main lake brush or brush at the mouths of coves.

Largemouth bass fishing has also been good. This time of year I have typically found nice bass in deep 40 - 50 feet of water, but that's not the case this year. The bass have moved up in shallow water and are being caught on crank baits and jerk baits. I was talking with Paul, the owner of Gerry's Quick Shop, about the bass bite. He is definitely in the know, as a lot of his shoppers are bass fishermen. Gerry's is one of the largest tackle shops in Mountain Home and is definitely a go to bait shop for many. The current color is red and the old standby of peanut butter and jelly. The green to clearer water is holding more of the bigger fish than the stained brown tinted water. Main lake shallow points have been a great area to fish as of late, especially if the deep water channel swings in close to the point. Once the water level stabilizes the backs of creeks will become the go to spots. As with other species, when the water warms the bass will become more active and start gearing up for their spring time spawn.

Striped bass, Hybrid bass and White bass fishing has also been good, but not consistent. I am finding these species on large flats in 27 - 60 feet of water. When I find them on a main lake flat they have been in the deeper water of 40 - 60 feet. They are typically suspended at all depths. When I head back to a major creek flat I am finding them in 27 - 35 feet of water and again they are at all depths. The water has typically been several degrees warmer back in the major creeks so the fish are shallower. I have been using live bait, either thread fin shad, gizzard shad or shiners and they are all working well. With live bait, I have a couple of down lines set around 30 feet and then a couple of free swimming baits with a small split shot. Vertical jigging with a spoon, one of my favorite methods of fishing, is also catching some nice fish. Trollers are picking up some nice fish trolling large swim baits or umbrella rigs. There are scattered striped bass throughout the lake and they are typically suspended down to the 50 foot level.  The whites are in the process of spawning or have finished up the process. Once they complete the spawn they will move out into the main lake assuming the warming trend continues.

Norfork Lake level is falling fairly rapidly as the Corps has opened some of the spillway gates to evacuate the excess water. The lake level currently sits at 556.93, which is less than 4 feet above normal seasonal pool. The lake surface water temperature has been in the mid to upper 40's. Some of the creeks and coves are stained and the main lake is starting to clear. The lake is in great shape and fishing is a lot of fun.

Don't forget that Hummingbird Hideaway Resort's Facebook page has daily fishing updates on current catches by our guests and me.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.