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

At this time the best bites on the lake are for largemouth bass and white bass. Crappie, walleye and striped bass are improving each day and if we can get some stable weather, the bites for these species should take off.

There has been some good topwater action for largemouth, spotted and white bass over the last couple of weeks. You can find topwater action most mornings and an hour or so before sunset. The best areas have been back in larger coves and creeks, typically anywhere from 8 feet out to 25 feet of water. On occasion I have found fish blowing up in the deeper parts of the coves in 40+ feet of water. Of course, you need to the find the coves that have bait in them. These coves have typically been in the areas where the wind has been blowing into. As of late we have had a lot of wind to push the bait all the way to the backs of the coves. Various baits have been working; topwater lures, such as a Zara Spook, Kastmasters and smaller swimbaits with paddle tails. Even if you don’t see any topwater action in

the coves cast the banks with a suspending jerk bait and you will pick up some nice largemouth and a few crappie and walleye.

Striped bass has been one of the hardest fish for me to locate consistently. When you find them, they will be in the same coves as the other species feeding on shad. They have been scattered out due to the rise in the lake level a couple of weeks ago, compounded by the hard and fast draw down of the lake to evacuate the excess water. The lake is currently fairly stable at this time and with some consistent warmer weather the striped bass bite will

explode.

The crappie bite has been fairly good. This species can be found in brush in 15 to 25 feet of water. Jigging soft plastics has been working the best. The fish are typically suspended over the tops of the brush 8 to 15 feet down. Some of the crappie have started to move back into the coves, but not all. The frequent cold fronts keep pushing them away from the shallow water. Here again with some consistent warm weather the crappie will move to banks to start their spawn.

The surface water temperature this morning was 56 to 58 degrees. The water level is rising slowly due to the storm we are currently having. The current level is 554.69. The water is stained, but is a great fishing color.

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Happy Fishing and enjoy Norfork Lake.