Norfork Lake Fishing Report

I want to congratulate all the qualifiers of the Mr. Bass of Arkansas Pro-Am fishing Tournaments. Good luck at your upcoming Classic on Norfork Lake, The black bass fishing should be outstanding. Read on for some helpful tips. If you are still looking for a place to stay call Hummingbird Hideaway Resort at 870-492-5113. I will be able to give you some up to date tips on your arrival. Our dock and concrete launch is located less than 2 miles from Henderson Marina (take - off) and only 4 miles from the Ramada. One of the closest resorts on  the lake to your take-off and weigh-in location.

The best bite on Norfork Lake this early fall has been largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass, bluegill and crappie. Striped bass and white bass are both still a little slow, but with the cooling of the water watch out! The bite will explode.

The weather on Norfork Lake for the last couple of weeks has been gorgeous. The day time temps has been in the upper 70's to mid 80's with blue skies and the nights have been in the 50 and 60's. We have had no rain lately. The fall foliage colors are starting to appear so not only the fishing, but the view on the lake is going to be impressive.

I have never seen so many bluegill being cleaned at my dock as was this week. I have 3 different groups fishing for gills and they are bringing in basket loads daily. There have been some really nice slabs being caught. Crickets have been their bait of choice, those bluegill can not resist that little morsel. The best location to find massive numbers of gills have been in 10 - 15 feet of water that has sunken brush just outside of this location. I think the sunny skies have really turned these fish on!

Crappie are being caught in the same location, but suspended over the brush. They are about 15 - 25 feet down. Live minnows are doing the trick and on occasion they also hit the crickets. Grub fishing tipped with a minnow is also starting to produce a few nice slabs.

Largemouth, smallmouth and spotted (Kentucky) bass are all starting to feed heavily. I fished yesterday morning and concentrated on brush piles in 25 - 35 feet of water off of rocky, bluff line points. I was vertical jigging with a spoon right in the brush. I marked schools of fish suspended from 15 feet to the bottom. I mainly bounced the spoon off of the bottom. I ended up catching 10 black bass in three different locations. 6 were keeper size but all fish were released on sight. My biggest largemouth (had to be a 5 pounder) came up to the surface, very reluctantly and jump out of the water, shook its head and spit the hook out. I was disappointed because you would think that I would know by now, not to reach for the net until the fight is over!! Oh well, he will be there to catch another day. One of our guests is strictly bass fishing and is having a lot of luck throwing a jig and pig in the same locations. He is casting to about 15 feet of water and working the bait across the tops of the brush. He caught 5 nice size Kentucky's this morning. All smallies that I have been catching are in the 17 - 19 inch range and boy do they give a good fight.

Striped bass fishing is starting to pick up, but slowly. I have credible reports that fish have been caught in the point 2 marker area, back in the Bennett's area, 101 area and up north in the Calamity area. These fish have scattered and are located though-out the lake. It does not appear that they have started their winter feeding habits, but they should start feeding in earnest once the lake temperature gets into the 60's.

The Norfork Lake level is falling slowly about 1 - 2 inches per day and currently sits at 551.88. This is normal pool. The lake surface water temperature is in low 70's for most of the lake and in the upper 60's up north and in the far south. The main lake is fairly clear with the creeks and coves still cloudy.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

I want to wish all a MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR. Hope your fishing trips are frequent and full of big fish.

Bass fishing has been great lately. Norfork Lake is becoming a premier bass lake. I think the last several years of high water during the spawn has improved the quality and quantity of fish in this lake. The bass are still in deep water, 35 - 45 feet, and close to brush piles. The photo is of my yesterday catch. I missed more bites than I caught. They are hitting real light. When you check in, ask where I have placed large cedar trees. I have been vertical jigging with a spoon and also using live shiners. One of my guests was using a Berkley Gulp minnow on a jig and caught several nice largemouth and Kentucky bass. He also hooked into a couple of nice catfish.

Winter striper fishing has been going good. A few of my guide friends have been limiting out with nice fish. They are currently located near the 62 bridge to the Bidwell area. This is winter so the fish are moving, but it does seem that they are staying on this end of the lake. Live shiners are working well and you can also catch them with spoons once you find the school.

Crappie are starting to bite. I have spooned up a few and a friend is using live minnows and starting to have luck catching crappie during various times of the day. The best bite seems to be close to dark. My favorite crappie bait, a 2 - 3 inch twister tail grub tipped with a live minnow should start working soon. Winter crappie fishing is really fun, but of course I try and wait until the afternoons are in the 40 degree range.

The Norfork Lake level is still falling and currently is at 558.38. The surface temperature water has risen slightly and is at 51.5 degrees. The main lake is clear and the creeks and coves are still stained.

Happy holiday to all and have a safe and Merry Christmas.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

Happy Thanksgiving. Hope you had a great day of family fun and relaxation and of course lots of food.

I fished for about an hour and a half Wednesday afternoon and then again this afternoon. I caught 10 nice size white bass on Wednesday and 8 more today, all in 40 - 42 feet of water. I was vertical jigging with a spoon. I didn't go far, in fact I didn't even crank my engine over. I used my trolling motor and stayed close to our dock.

The striped bass are being caught all over the lake from coves to creeks to the main channel. The fish seem to have settled into their winter pattern. I guess the high water either messed up the fall top water bite or else it is just late. All of my stripers and most of the reports on stripers being caught are at this end of the lake. Fish from Robinson area back to Bennett's and also up the river past Cranfield.

Norfork Lake is clear with the creeks and coves still stained. The Norfork Lake water temp was 59 degrees this afternoon. The lake level is falling slowly and sits at 570.68. The weather looks great for the next week, even if it is going to be a little bit cool for a few of the mornings.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

Another great day on Norfork Lake in the Arkansas, Ozark Mountains. I have electronics back on my boat again, so I had to go out this morning to try it out. Well it worked fine marking fish. I bought the Lowrance X135, since I couldn't justify buying the nice color units, but this one seems to do the trick. I headed out before sunrise and went to the #2 marker. I was marking huge schools of fish (I think?) but nothing would bite. The fish were anywhere from 40feet down to 70feet suspended in 120feet of water. I was spooning and also dragging a couple of large live shiners. I didn't get a bite. I then headed back into Float Creek. Several boats were already there fishing. I threw out my shiners and in about 5 minutes my pole bent to the water and the drag was just zinging. I thought I had a huge 20 pound or larger fish on. It ran so far it almost spooled me. I finally landed the fish and it was only a 8 pound striper. but it definitely fought like a much bigger fish. I was fishing in 60 - 75 feet of water and was marking fish top to bottom. I ended up fishing this area a couple of hours and broke off another nice fish on live shiners and caught 3 hybrids in the 2 to 4 pound range on my spoon. All the hybrids were caught when I was reeling up though them fast. Fishing wasn't fantastic, but I caught enough fish to make it interesting. I did not notice any top water fish, but I still have my hopes up. Last year it started in the second week of November and lasted a couple of weeks.

I have reset my trot line and started baiting it up the last couple evenings. I have caught 2 nice size channels and one baby channel cat, also a couple of keeper size Kentucky bass. I am using live shiners for the trot line.

The Norfork Lake level is currently at 569.93 and rising 1 to maybe 2 inches per day, but this seems to be slowing. The Corps is generating one generator on and off throughout the day. The lake temperature is 63 degrees and still slowly dropping. The main lake is clear and the creeks are muddy.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

It rained the last two evenings on Norfork Lake, but currently the rain has slowed and the lake is calm. The air temperature is in the 50's at night and 60's to 70's during the day. It looks like there is another cold front on the way, but that doesn't stop the fishing. I fished for about an hour last evening in our cove. I caught a 15" largemouth and a 16" inch walleye. Both were caught on a rogue jerk bait. I have used this bait for the last few days and have caught several nice bass along with some undersized ones. The bass are hitting the rogue in about 10-15 feet of water and the walleye I caught hit next to the boat which was in 25feet of water. It appears that the lake is turning over that the turn may be almost complete since I am catching these fish on a rogue which only goes down 1 - 3 feet. Once the lake complets its turn, the water temperature is the same down deep and the oxygen levels go back up. The fish should really start feeding heavily for the winter months. Crappie have stayed in the same depths 20 - 30 feet over brush and the black bass and white bass are coming up at sunrise and sunset. To be ready for the topwater bite, have your favorite top water bait tied on and be ready to go at a moments notice. Striped bass should start coming up soon, early morning and late in the evening. During the day they will be in 40 - 70 feet of water close to deep water or suspended in deep water channels. I marked a nice school of stripers in the the Robinson Point area on Friday, but it was so windy I couldn't get my spoon down to them.

The lake level is rising and is currently at 563.08. The Corps is generating one generator a portion of the day. The Norfork Lake water temperature is between 64 - 65 and falling slowly. The main lake is clear with the creeks and coves stained.

Have a great fishing day and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

Own lawn maintenance crew has been working hard cleaning up persimmons at Hummingbird Hideaway Resort on Norfork Lake. I guess these bucks know about hunting season so they are coming to a safe haven. We have seen 4 bucks at one time and a herd of 8 does and fawns. We also have a group of 8 turkeys feeding on the resort grounds on a frequent basis. It's a lot of fun watching the wildlife from the porch of your cabin.

I finally have my boat back and fished for a about an hour this morning, mainly breaking in the new motor. I did catch several white bass and two undersized largemouth bass. I was spooning in 30 feet of water off main lake points close to the 101 bridge. The whites are schooling and move quickly when you find them in the open water. There were a few bass coming up after shad. I tried throwing a spook, but had no luck with top water bait.

Fishing heats up and then the weather changes to slow it down. I hope Mother Nature starts giving us more constantly normal fall temperatures and weather conditions. Last week was cool with a strong north wind. With the north wind our cove was stocked full of white bass and hybrids, with a few stripers mixed in. Spooning was pulling in some nice 3 - 3.5 pound whites. This week the wind has changed to the south and conditions have changed. My fishing guests are finding large and small mouth bass off of main lake points typically on the bluff side. A few bass are being caught in the submerged buck brush in shallow water. A few are being caught on top water, but they're having the most luck in deep water 20 - 30 feet down. Jig and pigs with a 3/8 ounce jig head are working well, dressed in dark colors.

Reports from my guide friends are that the striped bass are moving up the lake. They are finding some nice fish in the mid lake area close to deep water. The fish are suspended 40 - 60 feet down in anywhere from 60 - 120 feet of water. The main lake points are producing fish, as well as, spots back in the channels of the major creeks. I hope to get out this afternoon to do a little serious fishing.

Crappie are being caught over brush in 25 - 35 feet of water. White grubs are working the best tipped with a crappie minnow. Drift slowly over the brush dragging your bait or cast out, let it sink, retrieve slowly, stop and let sink again. Repeat this action until you get back to the boat. The crappie are hitting the bait on the fall.

The Norfork Lake level is rising slowing at 560.26. The corps is generating with one generator for over 12 hours per day. The main lake is clear and the creeks and coves are starting to clear but are still stained. The Norfork Lake surface temperature is around 66 degrees and falling slowly. I am looking for about 60 degree water temperature to help trigger the striper fall top water bite. Hopefully by the end of this month or the beginning of November.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

After a week long low pressure system covered the area and dropped 3 - 4 inches of rain, I can now say that the fishing is picking up. The bite was really slow last weekend but started to pick up around Wednesday or Thursday. The rain has slowed or stopped for awhile and the sun came out today. We had guests catching crappie, bass, catfish and blue gill. They were fishing with live crappie minnows and nightcrawlers. They were mainly fishing brush piles that I have placed in over the years and the crappie bite really started to improve throughout the week. The fish are in 15 - 25 feet of water and are hitting well on live bait or a small tube jig hooked with live bait. Other guests have been fishing for bass. They started to catch fish along banks near deep water using crank baits and spinners. I guess the cooler water is letting the fish come in close to the shore line to feed. Guests were also catching nice large and smallmouth bass using shaky head worms and lizards in 20 - 25 feet of water. Dark colors were working the best. We had other guests strictly catfishing. They started catching nice blue catfish and flatheads on trot lines using live blue gills. Their biggest was 12 pounds, but most ranged in the 4 - 5 pound range. Earlier in the week catching bait fish was even a challenge. Thank goodness the low has moved on ane the fishing has picked up.

The live bait striper guides are still doing well. The best bite is still from point 2 to point 1. The fish are in deep water so either use live bait or vertical jig with a spoon in 40 to 80 feet of water. The fish are typically on the bottom, but you may find them suspended especially when you find them feeding on a school of shad.

The lake level is on the rise and is currently at 555 feet above sea level which is up 1.5 feet over last week. The level is about 3 feet above normal pool. The rain really came down in our area. The main lake is clear, but not gin clear and the creeks and coves are cloudy to muddy due to all the rain and rising water. The Norfork Lake surface water temperature has dropped to the mid to upper 70's.

Keep watching my posts. If the water temperature continues to drop at the current rate the fall striped bass top water bite and night bite may start earlier than normal. Last year from about mid-October through mid-November the early morning and evening top water bite was just fantastic.

Start planning you fall fishing trip. The lake will be gorgeous with the leaf color change and fishing is a lot of fun.

See you on the lake.