Fishing Norfork Lake has entered its summer pattern with striped bass going deep and most other species hoovering around the old shoreline of roughly 23 feet. It appears there may be a thermocline formed in the 20-foot range, plus or minus a foot or two. Hard to tell with a depth finder when it’s this shallow.


Striped bass fishing has been pretty good once you find the fish. They seem to be moving in and out of the major creeks. I am currently finding them on main lake bluff line points, especially when the point transitions from solid rock to chunk rock or gravel. The stripers seem to be close to the point, but still out in deep water 80 to 100 feet and most of the ones I have been catching are suspended 60 to 70 feet down. Some smaller stripers and hybrids are suspended about 20 to 30 feet down feeding on the shad which is staying close to the surface down to 20+ feet of water. The best fishing time for me at this time has been around 6:30am to 9am. There have been many reports of striped bass being caught lake wide, especially from the mid-lake area down to the dam and from the dam back towards Big Creek. I have mainly been fishing with threadfin and gizzard shad, but vertical jigging a spoon is working as well.



Largemouth bass fishing has also been good. The areas that have been best for me have been the same places where I have been finding striped bass. If there is bait on the points the bass will be from the surface down to about 25 feet. They have been close to the shore all the way to the bottom, especially later in the day, but the times I am fishing they are out in the deep water suspended and feeding heavily on shad. There still has been some topwater action, but this activity is slowing down. Swimbaits, spinner baits and minnow shaped crank baits are all working.



Walleye are being caught just outside of the sunken buck brush or on the old shoreline roughly 20 to 25 feet down. Dragging a crawler harness with a small spinner is picking up some nice fish. Crappie are in the same area, but may move up into shallow water during the day. With our high water there is brush all over the shoreline so the challenge is locating the fish.



The current water depth has been dropping roughly 3 inches a day with constant power generation and is at 576.76’ MSL. The surface water temperature this morning was 83 degrees. The water is clear with a slight stain, which is typical this time of year with the warmer water.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Hope everyone has a happy and safe Independence Day.

Norfork Lake Bass Fishing Report

The weather and the fishing on Norfork Lake has been very good. Largemouth and spotted bass fishing has been really good this winter. The fish are in their winter pattern so you will need to slow down your retrieval methods. With the colder water the fish have slowed down so you need to slow down as well. Yesterday I was using two methods to fish for bass; vertical jigging a spoon, and  throwing a 2.5 inch grub/swimming minnow. I found that after lifting the spoon off of the bottom to let it fall, most of my hits came when the spoon was on the bottom motionless for a few seconds. I then would start to pull up and the fish would be on the line. Basically I found that I had to slow down my jigging speed. I was jigging in and around brush piles in 30 - 40 feet of water and the best fish were found on both main lake and creek points. My second method of fishing was with a 2.5 inch Berkley Powerbait with a T tail with a 1/4ounce jig head. I have found this bait to be very versatile. I can work it on the bottom as if it was a worm or I can let is sink to a certain depth and retrieve slowly working it as a swimming minnow. With this bait you can fish for the bottom feeding fish as well as the bass that are suspended. I was using the T tail minnow around the same areas as I was vertical jigging. Yesterday I caught bigger fish jigging and the smaller ones came on the T tail minnow.
I caught well over 20 bass yesterday between my morning and late afternoon outings. I usually only fish once a day, but yesterday was so beautiful and warm that I had to go out again. The above photo shows the average size that I was catching, but of course there were the little guys in the mix. I have gotten reports from a few friends that they have been using wiggle warts and doing well casting along the deep bluff lines.

Today the weather has changed to lots of rain. This may be a very good thing for Norfork Lake. So far today we have had close to 2 inches of rain and have more in the forecast for this evening. The lake will be on the rise and the off color water will increase back in the creeks. One good rule of thumb is to find where the muddy water line and the clear water line meets. Fish in this area and you will find fish.

Norfork Lake has risen over 4 inches since last evening and should rise more unless generation increases a lot.The lake level currently sits at 551.37. Sporadic power generation, just a few hours at a time. The lake surface temperature was 47 - 48 degrees yesterday evening and was 46 degrees in the morning. The main lake was very clear and the creeks and coves getting clearer. This will change over the next couple of days due to the run-off.

If you like Cajun food, gumbo in particular, check out the blog on our website. Linda made seafood gumbo today with Norfork Lake striped bass. It really hit the spot. The recipe can be found at http://hummingbird-hideaway.com/

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

This past week has shown what spring fishing is all about. Top water action for stripers and bass, as well as the night bite starting to kick-off. What 5 days in the 70's and nights in the 50's and 60's can do for the fishing and lake water temperature. Of course my fishing time last week was very limited due to spring time cabin opening and maintenance. Work first play second.

I have credible reports that several lucky fishermen got into some nice striper, hybrid and spotted bass top water action for about 2 1/2 hours last week. They were launching their boats at Panther Bay and the fish started erupting. They were catching fish on every cast. Also back in Pigeon Creek the Kentuckys and whites were hitting top water baits.

Spawning report: The white bass are spawning back in the creeks. Crappie have either started or they are really close. Stripers are ready to go though their mock spawn as you can see white milk pouring out of the males when you catch one. Bass are still a ways off, but it appears they are staging. Walleye should be close to finishing their spawn

Stripers are being caught all day long. The best bite appears to be in the afternoon. I got a call from some of my guests yesterday at about 7:30PM for a photo opportunity, they landed 5 nice stripers. All fish were in the teens and twenties. The two larger fish (23 and 24 pound) were released and the three in the mid teens will become supper. I didn't get the photo as I was in Float Creek trying to catch my own striper. They had better luck! My guests have been catching fish all week long in different areas of the lake. The photo of Peter holding a nice 15 pound striper was caught Wednesday afternoon. They have caught fish in East Pigeon, Bennett's, and the Fouts area. They are using gizzard shad both the large and small ones and the fish don't seem to be very choosy on the size. All fish have been caught on free swimming baits without weight.

I had the chance to get out several nights during the week. Last evening I ended up landing 4 largemouth bass and 2 smallmouth bass, but no stripers. I fished Float Creek until about 9PM. A few nights ago I fished the Cranfield area and ended up landing several bass and one smaller striper. There were several other boats that landed fish and they were in the same size range. I also tried the Diamond area with zero luck, even though I had many reports of stripers and walleye being caught. I have been using different color rogues and using a very slow steady retrieval to the boat. The night bite should get much better with the warmer water assuming our current cool front doesn't mess things up.

Crappie fishing last week was really good. The fish are suspended over shallow brush and being caught in 3 - 6 feet of water. Small live minnows has been the best bait, but small jigs are producing some fish. They are ready to spawn.

The Norfork Lake water level currently is at 547.4 ft above sea level. The water is gin clear. The lake surface water temperature was 57 degrees back in float and 53-54 degrees on the main lake.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

The rain has finally stopped and a warming trend with clear skies is forecast to start tomorrow on Norfork Lake. It should be a great weekend to be on the lake fishing or just enjoying the scenery.
I haven't had a chance to get out fishing in almost two weeks. I am starting to get restless, but the resort work must come first. I will be out fishing tomorrow morning. I have been getting great reports on striper fishing from my guide friends. They are catching their limits and one guide last Sunday landed three 30+ pound stripers on one trip. That is a great catch. The stripers are schooling and feeding heavily. They are still coming up early in the morning and late in the day. If you are not using live bait, try throwing a Zara Spook or a fluke with a weighted hook. Other top water baits will work as well. As the day wears on the stripers are going deeper, feeding on shad and crawdads. Have a spoon ready and when you find a school feeding on the bottom drop the spoon and vertical jig. Try the backs of creeks. Typically when we have rising water the stripers go back to the mud line. This typically holds true for the black bass as well.

The largemouth, smallmouth and Kentucky bass bite is still good. These fish are surfacing early in the morning and late in the day. During the heat of the day they are on the bluff lines in 11 - 20 feet as well as on the sides of points. Top water baits are working for the surfacing fish. Once they go down use a jig and pig or a plastic worm Texas rigged. Work the baits slowly along the bottom. The fish are hitting very lightly so watch your line.

The walleye are in the brush piles 20 - 30 feet down and are coming up in the shallows at night and early in the morning to feed. Crank baits and walleye assassins are catching a few when they are shallow. Live minnows are working well when they are in the brush. They are also suspended on the bluff lines with the bass during the day.

The crappie bite has been pretty good, but they have gone deeper. They are on brush that is in 30 - 40 feet of water and the fish are suspended over the brush at different depths. Live minnows with a slip bobber is working the best. Set your stoppers at different depths until you find where they are suspended.

I have had a chance to set my trot line a few times. The flatheads are coming in to feed. Jugs are also working very well. I have caught my flatheads on live shiners as well as crawdads. We'll be having fish tacos for lunch and will bread and freeze the rest for a big fish fry we have planned for June 4th.

The Norfork Lake level is rising and is currently at 558.06 feet. above sea level. (6 feet above normal pool) The lake water temperature is in the upper 60's to low 70's. The temperature should start to rise with the warm weather being forecast. The lake has gotten a little stained with all the rain we have had. We had almost 2 inches last evening.

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

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

The sun is shining and the air temperature is in the 60's on Norfork Lake in the Arkansas Ozarks. I haven't been out in a few days with the cool and rainy weather but hopefully I will be able to get out this afternoon. The weather forecast is back to sunshine with highs in the low 60's and lows in the 40's, Not bad weather for fishing or just enjoying the lake and the surrounding area. I actually did get out a little on Tuesday afternoon. The rain had stopped so I just went out in our cove and fished for about 40 minutes for crappie. I caught 3 keeper size crappie over some brush in 40 - 45 feet of water. The rain started again and it was breezy and cold so I released my fish and headed back in to the dock.

I got an encouraging report from one of my guide friends today. He had a trip this morning and his clients wanted to catch a lot of fish. So they did, they caught walleye, Kentucky bass, white bass largemouths and hybrids. They were fishing the creek arm swings in 25 - 50 feet of water close to the point. They were using live threadfin shad, but I feel artificial will work in the same areas. You can either use live shad if you have a shad tank, or use large live shiners that I sell for live bait. If you prefer artificial baits use a spoon and vertical jig or a large to medium size grub with at least a 1/4 - 1/2 ounce jig head. Cast the grub out let it fall to the bottom and retrieve it very slowly. The water temperature is cooling and the fish will start to slow down.

The Norfork Lake water temperature has fallen to around 59 degrees. The main lake is clear and the creeks are slightly stained. The Norfork Lake level has risen some to 570.78, but is starting to hold steady. The Corps has forecast a slow fall in the level starting on the 20th of this month.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.