Norfork Lake Fishing Report by Lou of Hummingbird Hideaway Resort

Norfork Lake's fall fishing pattern is under way. The lake is finally starting to cool down, but additional cooling is needed to bring on the full blown fall pattern.

Striped bass are biting well up in the coolest water at the Arkansas / Missouri border. Live shad (big ones) are working the best set at 12 - 18 feet, but trollers are starting to pick up a few fish on big swim baits. The stripers up north seem to be cruising in the shallow water and not necessarily in the old river channel. A few nice stripers and big hybrids are starting to show up on the big flats from the Cranfield area up to the Red bank area. Vertical jigging with a spoon is working the best as the fish are hugging the bottom in 30 - 40 feet of water. The fish are showing up all day long starting at sunrise up to sunset. This doesn't mean they are biting all day long. Over the last week I have caught stripers and hybrids at sunrise, at noon and tonight I found them around 4PM. I guess you need to fish all day long to be there when they are biting. Just take a cooler along with some water and sandwiches. :-) I try to vary the time I'm fishing so I can know what's going on different times of the day. It's a fun time of year when you never know when the bite is going to happen. I have a fishing prediction that over the next week the lake will cool to the upper 60's, the lake will finalize its turnover and the striped bass will start to show up on the large flats starting in the Robinson area up to Missouri and also up towards the Fouts area. Inaddition topwater action will increase.

One of the main reason I like to vertical jig with a spoon  this time of year is that all species will be found in the same areas and at the same depth. I also like flat fishing, but it can be a little tedious so patience and good electronics do help a lot. Over the last week except for one day up river fishing with gizzard shad, I have been vertical jigging flats in 28 - 40 feet of water. This evening, as well as, yesterday morning I landed walleye, white bass, largemouth bass, crappie, hybrids and stripers. What more can a fisherperson ask for. Big schools of fish are just starting to show up and this will be more commonplace as the water continues to cool.

The best places for crappie are on brush piles that have been sunk in 25 - 40 feet of water. The crappie will be anywhere from 10 - 30 feet down. The hardest part of crappie fishing at this time is finding the best depth to catch the fish. Live minnows are working great, but vertical jigging a small spoon or jigging small plastics tipped with a minnow is also working very well. If it is blue gills you are wanting, work the same brush piles as for crappie, but use crickets for the bait.

Largemouth bass are all over the place. You can find them suspended 15 - 20 feet down off of the deep bluff lines. They are also laying on the bottom early and late in the day on the shallow banks.  You will also find some nice fish hanging around the crappie brush piles. Crank baits are picking up some nice suspended fish and plastics of all kinds are working for the bottom feeders. The bass hanging around brush are hitting spoons or drop shot rigs.

Norfork Lake is falling slowly due to one generator being run for a good portion of the day and currently the level sits at 552.84. The surface water temperature has been on a roller coaster ride. With the very hot days we have recently had the temperature has risen slightly and this evening was around 75 with the morning temperature around 73 degrees which is a couple of degree rise over the last couple of days. The creeks and coves and main lake flats are stained with the rest of the main lake is clear.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

 

 

 

 

Norfork Lake Fishing Report by Lou of Hummingbird Hideaway Resort

Norfork Lake is providing some exciting fishing for all the anglers with all species. During the month of  March we had warm fronts followed by cold fronts on a continual basis. Very typical of March, but I prefer warm fronts. The lake temperature is in the mid to upper 50's and should cross the 60 degree mark very soon. The fish will get even more active and top water action should become more consistent. We did have some good top water action days in March, however, which is not typical. I will take it!


Striped and hybrid bass action has been improving daily. Live bait is working really well. A couple of my guests took Jim Nichols of Nichols Guide Service out Saturday morning and the big fish was 15+ pounds. Look for stripers on shallow flats and points early and late in the day as well as after dark. The best depth at these times are in 5 to 20 feet of water. They will be chasing shad so have a good top water bait handy or do what I have been doing and use a Kastmaster or blade type bait. The Kastmaster can be used as a top water bait or as a bait to sink to get to those deeper fish. I cast it, as well as, vertical jig it when I find fish on the bottom. The after dark bite is still going strong. Look for an elongated shallow point with deep water nearby and if you mark bait the stripers will be in the area. Throw out a suspending stick bait and work it slowly back to the boat. You can also try other methods of retrieval such as jerking and stopping, on occasion this will work, but the slow retrieval is typically the best. Last night a few twitches then stop method was working the best. We landed a hybrid and striper and missed several others. The fish were really tight on the bank last night. We had to get the bait within a foot of the shoreline, so to say the least we caught a lot of buck brush last evening. :-) During the middle of the day look out in deep water near the channel, and again, if you can find the bait the stripers will be close. They are being found 20 - 35 feet down and trolling is a great method of catching these fish. Fish are being caught all over the lake from Big Creek to the Fouts area and back towards the Red Bank area and a lot of places in between.

Largemouth bass fishing is still very active. The fish are feeding along the deep bluff lines during the day and are on the flats feeding on shad early and late in the day. I landed a nice 4 pound fish last evening vertical jigging with a spoon in 23 feet of water on a big sandy flat. Too bad that John didn't catch this bass as it would have been in the running for a Hummingbird Hideaway Resort Derby winning fish. The white bass and largemouth were schooled up in small pods and feeding heavily on shad. Wiggle warts are still working as well as spinners, jerk baits and soft plastics. Watch for top water action early and late in the day.

Walleye, white bass and crappie fishing are also heating up. From the fish that I have cleaned the majority of them have not spawned yet. This is getting late for the Walleye and whites, but they are ready. I have found the whites and walleye in the same type of areas as the stripers. Crappie are showing up back in creeks in shallow water around brush. I also ran into a huge school of crappie in the back of a small creek in 35 feet of water. The school was 15 - 30 feet thick. I did not have my crappie rod with me so I used my casting rod with a Kastmaster and vertical jigged up 5 fish before I lost the school. They were not on brush, but roaming and feeding on shad.

Norfork Lake level is falling slowly and currently sits at 554.11. The water temperature is slowly rising and was 58 degrees last evening. The creeks, coves and main lake are all stained, with a great fishing color. You can tell that the main lake trying to clear up.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

 

 

 

 

 

Norfork Lake Fishing Report by Hummingbird Hideaway Resort

Norfork Lake fishing at Hummingbird Hideaway Resort has been outstanding the last couple of weeks. All species are biting and biting well. With the weather changes and the slow rise of the lake the fish are constantly on the move. In my last report fishing was good back in the major creeks, but here recently the fish are moving out to the main lake area. Of course this may change if we receive more rain and the lake starts to rise more quickly. Oh, by the way the lake is at a great level for fishing and boating sports and our dock is easily accessible with easy parking and launching facilities. You will find stripers on top as well as down 20 - 40 feet. Top water baits and swim baits are working the best for me. If you can get live shad you will catch a lot of fish. Stripers are all over the lake. Trolling a swim bait is still working, but recently I have switched to a 1 ounce jig head instead of the quarter ounce. Soon the bait will need to get deeper. When you are searching for stripers look at main lake points with deep water nearby and as always find the bait and you will find the fish.

The largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass bite is at its best. Live bait and artificial baits are both working well. Top water action happens most mornings and evenings, but sometimes not for a long period of time. Once they go down try throwing a 3 - 4 inch swim bait, it worked for me this morning. My 5 - 6 inch bait was getting a lot of hits, but no one would take it until I down sized. You can also work the bottom with plastics from 10 - 25 feet down. The bigger smallies are in 15 - 25 feet depths. Look for the bass in the same areas as the stripers, but they will also be back on secondary points in the creeks and off of deep bluff lines.

The white bass bite has been sporadic. One day many are caught and the next day they are gone or not feeding. Yesterday a couple of my guests were slamming the whites on a spook, but today I found them on the bottom in 50 feet of water, but could only get 1 taker. Main lake points is where they are currently being found, but they should start to move back in the creeks soon.

Panfishing is improving. Bluegills can be found up on the banks, but the bigger ones are still about 20 feet deep off of bluff lines. Find a small cut in the bluff and get up close and fish straight down. Use crickets, worms or niblets. Crappies have moved out to the brush in 15 - 30 feet of water, main lake and creeks. They will be at all depths depending on time of day and sunny conditions. Live crappies minnows are working the best. Crappie at my dock have been going nuts over the last week. Many 13 - 16 inch fish have been pulled up.

Catfishing is also good in the coves and creeks. Night crawlers and small bluegills are a great bait. Jugs, trotlines and rod and reel are all working.

The current Norfork Lake level is at 560.52 and rising slowly with intermittent power generation. The lake has risen 3.22 feet since my last report which isn't bad considering all the rain that we have had. The surface lake temperature is about 72 degrees in the main lake and slight warmer in the creeks. The creeks and coves are stained and the main lake is clear.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.