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

Norfork Lake has had some fishing ups and downs due to the ever-changing weather patterns. But overall, the bite continues to be good for most species. Yes, you do have to look for bait to find the species that follow the bait fish, but typically once you find the bait the fish will not be far away. The bait moves from very shallow water out to deep water then the cycle begins again.

Striped and hybrid bass are being found all over the lake. Today I found them in the back of a medium size cove where the strong south/west wind was blowing straight in. There were big schools of bait

at the mouth of the cove, but once I passed the points of the cove, I found that the bait was scattered out. The fish were in 15 to 25 feet of water feeding on shad. The fun part of this area was that the largemouth, spotted and white bass were all feeding heavily on the surface. I also located a few scattered out striped/hybrid bass in 60 feet of water just outside of the main river channel. The bait was scattered out so, of course the fish were scattered out as well. I am catching the shallower stripers either by casting out a small 3.5-inch paddle tail swimbait or a Kastmaster with a feather trailer. I have been catching all species on these two baits when I find them in relatively shallow water. The deeper stripers I have been vertical jigging a 3-inch plastic jig, but you can vertical jig a spoon.

As stated above the bass are getting very energetic. Topwater action is starting and will only get better as the water temperature continues to warm. This will happen when the cool fronts stop and we start getting some stable weather. Crankbaits, swimbaits, spinners, A-rigs, and topwater baits are all working at this time. After a rain

head back into creeks that have some flowing water, you will find some nice bass.

Crappie have started to school on tops of brush and are starting to roam back into their spawning areas. This is the time when I start trolling Berkley Flicker Minnows in size #7 and #9. Find a cove that has a lot of brush piles and start trolling thoughout the cove. You will pick up some really nice fish. There will still be some crappie in the brush, typically on the tops of the brush. Use a small plastic jig. Live bait drifted over the brush is also working great.This is a great time of year to catch most species in Norfork Lake.

The surface water temperature this morning was close to 53 degrees. The water level is rising slowly due the rain last weekend. The current level is 553.38. The water is stained due to the rain, but is a great fishing color.

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

The bite continues to be good for most species in the lake, especially striped bass, largemouth bass and crappie. It really surprised me that after the lake temperature dropped about 3 degrees it didn’t affect the feeding habits of the fish. What the drop in water temperature did was to make the bait move to other areas of the lake, but not necessarily far away from where they were. The fish will follow the bait.

Striped bass fishing continues to be strong. Yes, you will need to do some searching, but if you find some bait, I just about guarantee you will find striped bass nearby. The best areas to find these fish have been back in major creeks, deep flats and today I found them in the old river channel in the main lake area. In the creeks they have been on or very close to the banks first thing in the morning. After the sun gets over the tree line, they seem to concentrate more in the creek channel. Their depth will depend on the depth of the bait. The deeper flats have

started to hold more bait in the 40 to 50 foot range. The fish again relate to the depth of the bait. I have found that the stripers seem to be on the flats late morning. The bait that I found today was in the old river channel which, in this area, was roughly 70 feet deep. The bait was 20 to 40 deep and varied. The fish were at the same depths. The striped bass that I found today were in large schools that appeared to be feeding. My bait of choice for the shallower fish, say from the shoreline out to 30 feet down, has been casting a Kastmaster blade style bait. I do replace the hook with a feathered treble hook. I think that gives it a closer resemblance to a injured live shad especially if you work it in a twitching motion. I reel back to the boat very slowly letting it sink more as it is being retrieved. For deeper fish, I have been vertical jigging with a spoon or a small 3-inch plastic jig with a 3/8 ounce jig head.

Crappie fishing has also continued to be very good. Of course,

crappie as most species go through a feeding cycle. If you find them and they are not feeding, you will need to wait them out until they get energetic again or move to the next brush pile. Small spoons or small crappie jigs and of course live minnows are all working very well. The best brush has been in 20 to 25 feet of water and the fish will be on the tops to buried within the brush. You will just need to keep working different depth until you find that magic area.

I have not done a lot of bass fish lately, but they do appear to be going shallow.  Crank bait, wiggle warts, soft plastics, and a-rigs have all produced some nice fish. As the water temperature continues to rise back in the creeks the fish head back to the warmer water. Today I fished a brush pile to see if crappie were there. No crappie, but the brush pile was inhabited by some nice size largemouth bass. They loved my Tater Baits Electric Monkey crappie jig. The bass were buried inside of the brush

towards the bottom. I can’t believe I could pull these beasts out of the brush with 4-pound test.

Norfork Lake surface water temperature is rising very slowly after the 3 degree drop from last weekends storms. The lake temperature was 48 - 52 degree this morning. The lake level has been stable with a slight drop with intermittent power generation and currently sits at 554.05 feet msl. The lake is clear to stained depending on where you are at in the lake. If our current forecast holds true, we have another deep freeze arriving Friday afternoon. I guess I will be out seeing where the bait moved to next Sunday.

I post almost daily on Facebook. If you want more frequent information please visit and like Hummingbird Hideaway Resort’s Facebook page.

Happy Fishing and enjoy Norfork Lake.

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

Striped bass, largemouth and spotted bass, and crappie continue to be the best bites on the lake.

Striped Bass Fishing: Over the last week there has been a definite change in where to find the bait and then the fish. The bait had been concentrated out on the main lake in the deep-water channels, but they have recently made the move back into the major creeks and some of the smaller coves. With this movement of the bait the striped bass has been following. Some of the bait is also starting to move close to the shoreline. The bait movement has currently created 2 totally different areas to fish. I have found bait near the creek channel in 40 – 60 feet of water. The stripers have been very close to the bait, either above it or below it. Several methods of fishing have worked for me, so far. I have had luck vertical jigging a 1-ounce spoon or vertical jigging a 3-inch soft plastic jig. I’ve been using a mini version of a fluke called a Tater Shad, which is made locally,

with a 3/8-ounce jig head. Both the spoon and the Tater Shad need to be worked slowly with just slight twitches for the deeper water fish. The most important tip is to get your bait at the same depth as the fish to get the most bites. Another method is trolling A-rigs, crank baits or 5-inch swimbaits. Here again get your bait very close to where you are seeing the fish. Fish have also been found tight on the banks, especially at sunrise and at sunset. Some of the bait has moved very close to the shoreline or the fish have started to push the bait tight to the bank. Yesterday (3/1) I found feeding striper right on the bank. I casted out a Kastmaster (blade bait) and worked it back to the boat very slowly with a jerking motion. I replace the treble hook with a feathered treble hook which seems to attract more fish. You should also be able to use long minnow type crankbaits and swimbaits. 

Bass Fishing: The largemouth, spotted and smallmouth bass have moved up tight to the bank especially early in the morning and late afternoon. Other times they move off a little and will be 10 to 20 down. Various lures are

working such as swimbaits, crankbaits (rock crawlers and wiggle warts). On windy days don’t hesitate to cast a spinner or chatter bait. You will find them in both the clear water as well as the stained water. I found some nice ones the other day that had corralled some bait on the bank and I was getting hits on my Kastmaster 3 to 5 feet from the shore.  We have some rain coming up this weekend, so after the rain head toward the running water coming into the creeks.

Crappie Fishing: This species is starting to school up and roam out in deeper water. They are still 10 to 25 deep. I have found this to be true with the white crappie. The black crappie still appear to be holding a little tighter to the brush. Trolling crank baits have started to work and will get better as the water warms a little more. Plastic jigs, spoons, and live bait are producing some nice fish.

Norfork Lake surface water temperature is rising very slowly

and is the 45 to 48 degree range. The lake level has been stable with a slight drop with intermittent power generation and currently sits at 554.19 feet msl. The lake is clear to stained depending on where you are at in the lake.

I post almost daily on Facebook. If you want more frequent information, please visit and like Hummingbird Hideaway Resort’s Facebook page.

Happy Fishing and enjoy Norfork Lake.