Norfork Lake Fishing Report

 

Norfork Lake is bustling with fishing activity. The fishing and catching has been great and our guests are landing nice size fish. The Cystic Fibrosis fishing tournament was held yesterday and the winners weighed-in over 16 pounds. They had 224 boats participating for this great benefit and many of the fisher people brought in limits of fish. Bass fishing is good! Next Friday and Saturday the BassCat Owners Invitational is being held on Norfork Lake. We have many Basscat boat owners staying with us that are pre-fishing the lake in hopes of winning the grand prize. But I really think most are here to have a good time, relax and experience some great Arkansas hospitality from Mountain Home and all of its residents.

Largemouth, smallmouth and spotted Bass fishing is by far the best bite on the lake. Over the past week or so I have seen more 3 - 5 pound bass caught than ever before. I believe this shows that the previous high water years was a benefit to the Norfork Lake fishery with the increase in numbers of fish as well as the size. My guests and I have been bringing in limits of bass on a consistent basis. A lot of the fish are released after photos, but some find there way into the frying pan. Nothing better than eating fresh caught fish. The fish are hitting top water lures early in the mornings and late in the day. Cast a spook, fluke, rogue or your favorite top water bait into the sunken buck brush, let it sit for 10 seconds or so then walk-the-dog back to the boat.You may get hammered immediately in very shallow water or they may follow it back and hit part way back to the boat. It is really exciting to see any fish erupt on that spook and then take off running. Once the sun comes up the fish are falling back into 12 - 20 feet of water. You can then cast crank baits, swimming minnows, jig and pigs. If it is windy try a spinner bait. I have found that the closer to the bottom you are the more strikes you will get. For those live bait fisher-people cast your bait right up into the buck brush with no weights. Let the minnow do its job and attract the fish. I have been getting as many if not more bites on live bait as artificial. Once the sun comes up add some weight to the line and fish in 12 - 20 ft of water right on the bottom.










April has always been a great month for smallmouth bass fishing, but this year it seems even better. I have been catching limits of smallmouth on a daily basis with the  above mentioned methods. Each time you cast your artificial bait or live bait you are not really sure what you might catch. The stripers and hybrids are in the same areas and hitting the same baits. If you want to consistently catch smallmouth bass April is a great time to come to Norfork Lake.

The Striper and hybrid bite is starting to happen, but is still a little inconsistent. At least it has been for me. One day I find them and just have a field day and the next they are gone somewhere else and I can't seem to find them. They should be in the same locations as the bass, and you fish for them in the same way as you do for bass.

I forgot to mention that the walleye are feeding in the same areas as the bass and stripers, I haven't landed any yet, but I know of quite a few nice size walleye are being caught.

Catfish are coming up shallow to feed so if you like to run trotlines or jugs this is a good time to do it. I find that live bait works better than cut bait. Also night crawlers are working on pole fishing. Find some flowing water from a creek or spring and fish the bottom with your crawlers the cats should be in the area.

Crappie are starting to bite, but I haven't had the chance to do any crappie fishing. Not enough time in the day. I guess I should cut down on the sleep! I will try and get some info soon.

Norfork Lake level is falling about 7 inches per day and currently sits at 559.3. Two generators are being run with some partially opened flood gates. This will continue to mid month. The lake is forecast to be back to normal pool by May 1, 2012. The surface water temperature has fallen to the upper 60's. The lake is still very stained with some clearing starting to happen in parts of the lake.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

The Norfork Lake spring fishing bite is back better than ever. I have been out the last two mornings and the bite is fantastic for smallmouth bass, white bass, and hybrid bass. Ater the heavy rains last week that made the lake rise 11 feet the bite all but disappeared for a few days. That part of our life is over and the fishing is stronger than ever.

This morning I fished the Diamond Bay area and had a great day. I caught 12 fish and missed as many or more. I was using live bait as well as throwing a Zara spook (white with a chartreuse head). The bite started about 6:45AM and I quit fishing at 9 after having 3 fish on at the same time. I landed two smallmouth bass and lost the third. Literally I lost the third, if anyone catches a big fish with a Falcon rod and a Shimano reel attached, it is mine!! I was fighting a large smallmouth hearing the drag zinging out of this other rod. I looked back and it was gone.

My morning started out with the white bass erupting all around me. My live bait poles were dipping to the water and the fish were also attacking my spook. No way I could handle 5 rods by myself. Then the hybrids started breaking the surface. Again they were hitting both live bait as well as my spook. The the smallmouth started to bite. I caught a couple on my spook and the rest on live bait. I was sitting on the side of a point in 15 - 20 feet of water. I had two down poles set at about 12 feet and one pole that I was pitching into the buck brush. When I say into the buck brush that is what I mean. The fish are feeding inside of the brush and cruising in out. You will be retying hooks, but that is what it takes at this time. The stripers will be doing the same very shortly. I was using thread fin shad as my live bait, but shiners should work as well. Yesterday morning was very similar to this morning, but the eruptions yesterday were mainly smallmouth bass. I have had a limit of smallmouth each day, a limit of hybrids today and many white bass. It is time to fish Norfork Lake!!! The night bite for me is still slow, it should start to pick up though very soon.

My current fishing suggestion is to find the clearer water. Some of the major creeks I have been in are starting to clear and the water looks much better than the main lake. Over the last several days I have traveled most of the lake from Pigeon creek, up to Bennett's and down to the dam. Fish a point that has a lot of buck brush in the water.  Cast in live bait with no weight, or use artificial (flukes, spooks or rogues.) Of course there are many others to choose from. Continually watch out for top water action especially early in the morning. Even if you don't see top action the fish will come up for your bait.

I don't currently have any info on crappie, but will get the scoop soon.

The Norfork Lake level is falling about 2 inches per day and currently sits at 562.59.  The Corps is running one generator and is releasing the equivalent of a second generator to help bring the lake down. They are releasing water 24 hours per day. The Norfork Lake surface water temperature was in the upper 60's to low 70's this morning. The main lake is still very stained, but some of the major creeks are starting to clearing.

To all my fishing followers- if you have information that will be helpful to others, please feel free to comment on these blogs or on Hummingbird Hideaway Resort's facebook page.

Happy fishing, be safe and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

The weather at Hummingbird Hideaway Resort on Norfork Lake is finally back to normal. Sunny warm days and very pleasant evenings. The forecast is for great spring type weather for the next week and so far there is no rain in the forecast. We had about 6 inches of rain earlier in the week which has brought the lake up about 10 feet. This level works out just fine, all launch ramps on the lake and boat docks are in normal operating mode. You just don't need to walk down any stairs from our parking lot to the boat dock. We have a large parking lot next to our dock to make it easy-on and easy-off. Our concrete launching ramp next to our dock is in good shape.

"You should have been here last weekend", I guess you all have heard that before. But last Sunday and Monday were very good fishing days. The crappie were up in 10 or less feet of water along with the spotted and largemouth bass. One of our guests was trolling a crawdad colored #7 shad rap at about 1 to 1.5 mph speed. The photo above shows some of the fish they caught. Look at the size of thoses crappie! I caught several crappie on a 5 inch rogue, while I was night fishing for stripers. This was also in 10 or less feet of water. The nite bite for stripers was in full swing. The bass were attacking rogues, swim baits and spinner baits. The fish were starting to break the surface and feed on shad. The spring bite was here. The quick rise in the lake level Wednesday and Thursday changed things up a little. The lake is still slowly rising, but is beginning to stabilize. The spring bite will be put on hold for a few days until the lake settles and the fish find their new feeding grounds. The fish are going to love all the new cover generated by the rise in water. I finally got to fish this morning or I guess I should say I graphed a lot of new territory. I did get several good strikes but missed all of them. Currently my suggestions are to find where the clear (or green) water meets the muddy water. Fish the clear water, the fish seem to stay in this area. During a rise in water the fish also tend to migrate back in the creeks. The muddy water should start to fall out over the next couple of days. Here is what you should expect to happen over the next few days. (1) Crappie will go back on the banks so cast grubs, road runners or small crank baits. Tip the grubs and road runners with a crappie minnow to enhance your bait. A minnow on a slip float will also work, keep trying different depths, but stay in shallow water. A few of the crappie had started to spawn, but I don't think many. They will be shallow as the lake warms again. (2) Largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass will move in the brush to feed. Spinner baits seemed to be working really well today, from what I am being told by several of the bass fishermen and women staying with us. They are prefishing for a tournament being held tomorrow. Another thing to look for is flooded grass land. Over the next week or so the nightcrawlers will be crawling out of the ground and the bass with be in there feeding heavily. (3) White bass will move back into the creeks and top water action will start to erupt again. The water will need to warm up again (to the low 60's) for this to start up. (4)Stripers and hybrids will also start feeding in shallow water on mainlake and creek points that have a lot of sunken brush. Pitching live bait works great, but casting a fluke or a rogue has worked for me in the past. Find gaps in the brush and try to cast as close to the shoreline as possible. Work the artificial baits back to the boat as a jerk bait, but be erratic with your speeds, slow and fast. The night bite should take off again so get your rogues ready. (5) Catfish will start to move into shallow water to feed. If you like to jug or trotline this should be an excellent time to get out and catch some really good fish.

The Norfork Lake level currently sits at 562.12 and rising slowly. This is 10 feet above normal pool. Some generation, but minimal. The surface water temperature has fallen to 57 - 58 degrees. A drop of over 3 degrees. The mainlake is muddy from the Diamond Bay area up though the Cranfield area, I haven't heard about the dam area or farther up river. I did a lot of traveling this morning. The creeks and coves are also muddy, but the mud line is falling out of the coves and creeks. The muddy water has actually fallen out of our cove already. The whole lake should be a great green fishing color for a few weeks, then get back to the crystal clear water, which I am accustomed to.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

It is another great day for fishing on Norfork Lake. The sun is shining, it's in the 30's, but should get up into the 50's and maybe even 60's as it did yesterday. I should be out on the lake, but I have decided that I needed to do some work in the resort before I head out to my last sport show. I will be in Oklahoma City this Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Backwoods Hunting and Fishing Expo. It is being held at the fair grounds in the travel and transportation building. Come by to visit with me and talk a little about Norfork Lake fishing and Hummingbird Hideaway Resort. I will be more than happy to take your reservation for your spring fishing trip or summer vacation. We still have a few larger units available this summer, but they are going quick.

Since my last sport show in Tinley Park, IL I have fished every day except for yesterday and today. The best bite on the lake is for largemouth bass, spotted bass, crappie. walleye and bluegill. I have been catching  bass anywhere from 10 feet to 35 feet of water. Early in the morning I have found bass close to the banks feeding on small shad. As the sun comes up and the shad go deeper, so do the fish. I have started throwing the new Alabama rig with small 3 inch Berkley's swimbaits.



This new rig does work. There was a lot of top water action one morning and they would not hit anything I threw at them. I hooked up the Alabama rig and started casting and started to catch fish. This rig gives the illusion of a school of shad and the fish can't resist it. I will be honest and say that you do get tired of casting (at least I do). I switch back and forth from vertical jigging in deeper water to casting the swimbaits. I have been fishing back in the East Pigeon, Pigeon and Float Creek areas. We have had several fronts move through the area in the last couple of weeks, which does affect the fishing on a daily basis. One day I go out and find and catch big fish, but the next day they have moved and the fishing gets tougher. I end up catching fish every day, but somedays they are just the smaller ones. I guess that is why they call it fishing and not catching.

Crappie are still biting well. My fish are coming from brush that is in 30 - 40 feet of water and the fish that I have been catching are inside the brush. Hard to get out once you hook them. I talked with Jay Smith, of Crappies Only, the other day and last weekend he hammered the fish. His fish were caught over brush only 6 feet down. When we get a few sunny days the crappie start coming up to the warmer water. Jay has been using crappie minnows and I have been using small vertical jigging spoons.

Walleye have started their spring run up river from the Arkansas border up to the Udall, Mo area. They are being caught in 5 - 15 feet of water using live bait. River chubs are the bait of choice, but shiners are also catching fish. The small males have been the predominant fish caught, but a few large females are starting to show up. The spawn should be in full swing by beginning to mid March.

I have been catching quite a few gills in 25 - 30 feet of water jigging a spoon. The size of these fish are amazing. Striped bass are starting to show up in shallow water. I have not been targeting stripers, but have been getting reports from many bass fishermen that they are catching these fish on their Alabama rigs in 15 - 20 feet of water. The Stripers never did get to their normal deep winter pattern, but are moving in shallow water feeding on shad and crawdads.

The Norfork Lake water level is fairly stable, but has started to drop slowly due to power generation and currently sits at 552.02. Basically at normal pool. The water temperature is ranging from 46 - 48 degrees in areas that I have fished and is in the low 50's up river. The main lake is clear and the creeks and coves are stained.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

Crappie, largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass are currently the best bites on Norfork Lake. I fished this morning in strong northwest winds. Based on my experience between today and the last 4 days the fish have moved to slightly deeper water. In my last report I was catching fish in 20 - 34 feet of water. The same was the case for last Wednesday. This morning I could not find much in shallow water so I moved out to about 40 feet. I was fishing near brush and marked a big school of crappie from 30 - 40 feet down. I caught two fish immediately and then the wind started to blow harder. It is really hard for me to vertical jig a light weight bait in high winds. I kept drifting off of this small spot, my spoon was continually getting snagged in the limbs of the brush and my line drifted into my trolling motor, twice! It was very difficult fishing, but I kept at it. I hooked into two more fish, but both got tangle in the brush and got off. The next two also got tangled in a limb, but when I released pressure on the line the fish swam free of the branch and I landed both of them. I also caught spotted bass, largemouth bass and white bass at this same depth but on a point across the channel. Thursday and Friday I caught small fish in 20 - 30 feet of water. I fished Saturday, when I began to find fish in the deeper water, but again all were small.  I think that the weather front that rolled through here last Thursday and all the rain that we had over that last several days have driven them out into a little deeper water. I do feel that once the the lake stabilizes and assuming the air temps continues to be warm, they will start to move back to shallower water.

Last Wednesday was a really good day of fishing. I found crappie in the same spot as today and the wind was not so bad. I caught them in 20 ft of water inside of  brush. The school was on the move, and I lost them after catching 5 fish out of it. The bass bite was phenomenal as it was on Monday and Tuesday. I was fishing float creek and catching largmouth and spotted bass. Good size fish too. They were in tight to the bank. I drifted away from the brush and into about 34 feet of water and marked a few nice arcs on the bottom. I dropped my spoon to the bottom and hooked into a really nice fighting fish. It was a 17.5 inch smallmouth. I caught 3 more in the deeper water then lost the school. I moved back in tight to the bank and saw some hooks on a hump in 19 feet of water, dropped my spoon and hooked into another smallmouth. Caught 5 keeper size smallmouth in total, released 4 and kept one for a photo then released it.

I have been using 4 pound test monofilament line on a light action rod and reel. My main bait has been a 1/4 spoon and I have been vertical jigging the spoon very slowly. From the few crappie and spoted bass that I have cleaned I have found they are feeding on tiny tiny shad and crawdads.

I haven't fished for stripers lately, but have gotten the word that a few are being caught. (I have been having too much fun fishing for bass and crappie) I am planning to start looking for them in the morning. If I can't find them I will go after crappie and bass.

Norfork Lake level is on the rise and currently sits at 553.09. Sporadic power generation taking place. The level is only 1 ft above the normal pool of 552.. The lake surface temperature also has risen to 48 degrees with all the warm days we have had. The main lake is clear and the creeks and coves are muddy way to stained. The mud should clear out very soon.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

She said her arms were sore.

Big hybrid and walleye Day 2



Big Bass Day 2 - 5.28 pounds



Big hybrid Day 1

Finding the Big Bass in this limit of fish.

We would like to thank all the Bass Cat Owners who came to Norfork Lake this past week end. We know you were disappointed with the cancellation of your Owner's Invitational Tournament and appreciate those of you that still came to enjoy Norfork Lake. We look forward to your visit each year and are glad you came to participate in our first Norfork Lake Fishing Derby.

We had two great days for our 2011 Fishing Derby on Norfork Lake.  54 Bass Cat boats registered for the 2 day tournament and we mainly had good weather. The afternoon of day 1 brought in a few storms, but it ended during weigh-in. We weighed-in a total of 240 black bass at a total weight of 523.58 pounds. The stringers were somewhat light due the fish being spawned out in the last week or so. Big heads and skinny bodies. They are really starting to feed and will fatten up quickly. The overall winning team of Hannaford/Cooley weighed-in 10 fish at 24.14 pounds and were paid $2,015.00. Second place went to the team of Thorne/Mitchell with 9 fish at 23.61 pounds. Second place paid $1,140.00. Third place went to the team of Moser/Ziegler with a 10 fish limit weighing in at 23.56 pounds. Third place paid $685.00. The Fishing Derby paid a total of 11 places. Big Bass for day 1 went to the team of Stone/Stone at a weight of 4.72 pounds and paid $520.00. Big Bass day 2 went to the team of Drumright/Reihm which weighed 5.28 pounds and also paid $520.00. We also had a couple of fun pots for big walleye 2.52 and 3.33 pounds and big striper/hybrid 6.39 and 7.78 day 1 and day 2, respectively. Hugh Ethridge won for big striper/hybrid day 1 and the team of Hideyudi Manura/Todd McCoy won big walleye for both days and big striper/hybrid day 2. All fishermen and spectators seemed to have a great time and enjoyed watching  the fish being brought in to be weighed.

The fish were caught all over the lake in shallow to 25 feet of water depths. Spinner baits shallow and jigs worked deep seemed to be the baits of choice.

We want to thank the Norfork Lake Chamber of Commerce for sponsoring this event. Thanks also goes out to the Arkansas Game and Fish for helping us keep these fish alive and delivering them back to the lake. Thanks goes out to the Army Corps of Engineers for all the help in expediting our tournament application and with the clean up at the Panther Bay boat launch and at  Cranfield Park. In addition to the above many thanks goes out to Panther Bay Marina for the use of their facilities for take-off, the Lake Norfork Inn for the use of their restaurant for registration and dinner, The Norfork Lake Bass Club for the rental of their weigh-in equipment, Sean's restaurant for providing the yummy food at registration with such short notice.  Thanks also to  the Baxter County Sheriff's Department for providing a courtesy boat at take-off and lie detector equipment and personnel for the final weigh-in. Finally many, many, many thanks to all the Norfork Lake Chamber members that volunteered to helped make this event a great success and a fun fishing derby.

Keep watching for future details of fishing events that the Norfork Lake Chamber of Commerce and the Norfork Lake Resort Owners are starting to plan. They will be a lot of fun with great fishing.

Happy fishing and see you on the water.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

Fishing on Norfork Lake has been going strong the last several days. Striped bass, hybrid bass, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass and crappie have been hitting well. Due to the windy weather I haven't been on the lake the last two days and there were several postponed guided trips today so I have no report on how fishing was today. The low pressure and cool front might have affected the action today, but the weather forecast after today is back to normal. (Highs in the 70's lows in the 50's)- perfect spring weather is coming back soon.

I did fish Thursday evening and just slammed the bass. The photo shows a sampling of the bass caught. I landed 7 bass in the 3 - 5 pound range. All fish were released. I also had two striper hits and lost both. I was fishing with small gizzard shad in the strong wind. I have realized that fishing alone with live bait in strong wind is almost impossible. I fished Wednesday night with a couple of our guests and landed one nice striped bass, but it was a slow rogue fishing night. We did have several other hits. At sunset on Wednesday another of our guests fishing in the same area with live bait had a frenzy of top water action for about 45 minutes. He ended up landing 6 stripers in the 8 - 20 pound range. He released all fish that evening. We were fishing in the Bennett's area. Robert Lee of Lee's Lite Line had another successful trip with several of our guests. They caught plenty of hybrid bass, black bass and smallmouth bass. Last evening a couple of our guests battled the strong winds and landed a nice 28 pound striped bass. I commend their perseverance in the weather conditions we had yesterday evening.

Crappie fishing during the week was really good. The fish are moving to the banks and on shallow brush piles. It seems live bait is working the best, but artificial jigs are holding their own.

Walleye are in the same brush piles as the crappie and also can still be found on the rock bluff lines from 5 - 20 feet down.

The Norfork Lake level is rising due to 1.3 inches of rain the other day. We are currently at 551.63. The lake surface water temperature has dropped and is in the hight 50's to low 60's. Creeks and coves are stained due to the rain, but the lake is clearing quickly.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY to all of you wonderful and amazing Mothers. I hope you all had a nice day yesterday.

Welcome Basscat Owners. We have a great group of guys and gals staying with us that are fishing in the tournament. Several cabins are filled with guests we have gotten to know over the 8 years we've been here plus we get to welcome a few that are new to us. Good to see you all.

The weather on Norfork Lake has turned a little south the last couple of days. It has gotten slightly cooler and it started to rain last evening. We did need the rain, sorry Basscatters. But the good thing is that the weather hasn't seemed to affect the fishing much. Bass are still biting well on just about anything you throw at them. They are hanging at the edge of the buck brush, points and also on the bluff lines. Plastics Texas rigged and crank baits are working. There is still some top water at sun rise and also at sun set, so have your favorite top water bait tied on.

Walleye are being caught by the bass fishermen on crank baits. The walleye are hanging around the brush piles in 20 - 30 feet of water as well as on the bluff lines anywhere from 11 - 20 feet down. They are both suspended as well as on the bottom.

The crappie are starting to come alive. Live minnows on sunken brush are catching many nice slabs. The fish are being caught above the brush suspended close to the surface as well as buried in the brush pile. Find a good brush pile and throw out your marker. Leave this site for about 10 minutes to let things settle then return and cast in your minnow with a slip bobber. Try different depths until you find the feeding fish. A 15 1/2 inch crappie was caught off of my dock yesterday by one of our guests.

Catfish are starting to hit live shiners and crawfish on my trot line. Jugs are also working. It looks like the cats are starting to find their spawning grounds as they are full of eggs.

The striped bass are being caught all over the lake from the dam area to mid lake to the upper parts of the lake in Bennett's and before you get to the Missouri line. Live shad is working well, but artificial baits are also working early in the morning and right at sunset. Some top water action, but I am still hoping that the schooling top water is yet to occur and will happen soon. The stripers are feeding on shad as well as crawdads. Spooning may start to work when you find a school of stripers feeding at the bottom.

The Norfork Lake level is at 556.09, but will start to rise due to the rain. We have had close to an inch so far, with a 50% chance of more tonight. Right now there is no rain in the forecast for tomorrow. The lake surface water temperature last evening was in the mid 60's. The lake is clear, but might get a little stained with the rain.

Happy fishing and see you all on the lake.