Norfork Lake Fishing Report

I'm back fishing Norfork Lake after a week of being home bound. All of our boats were rented last week so I got to sleep in. The striped bass are schooling and in their summer pattern. I had a huge school go under me this morning. I missed hooking the first one. I finally landed the second striper and the third broke off. I also caught 3 big white bass and two black bass on a spook. I have had reports of stripers being caught in Float Creek, Panther Creek, Fall Creek and in the Robinson Island area. The fish are suspended at levels of 30 - 40 feet and can be found in all depths, 50 feet to 120 feet of water. I have also had reports of stripers being caught in the dam area. Live bait is working the best (gizzard and thread fin shad) but spooning works once you find the fish. I spoon all summer long. The stripers were hitting my spoon on the drop this morning. Be ready to set the hook as soon as you feel or see the line go slack, you only get one chance. I have also had positive reports on the afternoon bite for stripers.

The top photo is of one of our guests that fished with Tom Reynolds of STR Outfitters. Bill landed this nice 20 pound striper and it is currently at the taxidermist. His fish dwarfed my little 10 pounder of today. His group had over 20 bites and end up landing 7 stripers and a nice 4 pound smallmouth bass.

Crappie fishing has been a little difficult with the summer heat. They have gone deep and if you get lucky you may find them on a deep ledge. They should start to move back into the deep brush piles soon. Catfishing has been good on trotlines and jugs. The guides are catching catfish on most of their trips with their shad. Big slab blue gills are being caught under docks and I have spooned up several in 30 feet of water. Walleye are being spooned up in 30 - 40 feet of water along rock bluffs as well as main lake points.

The Norfork Lake level is 555.8 and rising very slowly. Currently no generators are being run. The main lake is clear and the creeks are still a little cloudy due to the rise in water. The Norfork Lake surface water temperature is in the upper 80's.

Happy fishing and hope to see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

The Striped Bass bite is improving for both morning and night fishing on Norfork Lake. These are a couple of our Chicago area guests Guy & Jerry and yes, they were happy. They were one fish shy of their limit. The limit could have included a 25 + pound fish that was up along the side of the boat, but decided to take one more dive. Their line was cut immediately. Several other fish hit their baits but escaped. They fished with Tom Reynolds of STR Outfitters using gizzard shad in the dam area. They had six lines out, two long lines, two on balloons and two outside poles on planer boards. All baits were free swimming with no weights.

I fished last evening in the Bidwell area. I started on a point back by 101 boat dock, had two light bumps and lost a nice fish that was pulling drag. I guess I didn't set the hook. At about 10PM I started to head home, but once I got across from Bidwell I was tempted to try fishing near the docks with lights on. I casted several times and had one light bump. I heard fish breaking the surface and headed out to the main lake points to find them. I ended up landing two 11 pound fish and a third got away after straightening three hooks on two of my treble hooks. I saw the fish and know it had to be over 20 pounds. That's my story anyway and I'm sticking to it!! I lost 3 other nice bites, but just didn't get a good hook set. I was using a suspending rogue and slow rolling it back to the boat. I headed home around midnight. For last night at least, the bite was much later than what I have found in the past. For morning fishing try using a fluke or bass assassin with or without a weighted hook. Cast main lake points and secondary points back in the creek channels.

I haven't had a chance to get out fishing for other species, crappie, bass, catfish and so on, but what I am being told that the crappie bite is starting to take off and the bass bite is still as good as ever. No news on the catfish. I am going to try and set a trot line this evening.

I am starting to see bluegill, crappie and bass under my dock for those dock fishing guests.

If any of my followers have any good updates on fishing Norfork Lake please feel free to add your comments. This will help all to have a successful fishing trip on the lake.

The Norfork Lake level is 554. 92 and falling ever so slightly with one generator being run. This level is only about 3 feet above normal pool. The lake is holding steady, but if we get the forecasted rain this evening it will rise again. The lake surface temperature last evening was between 54 and 55 degrees. The main lake is gin clear and coves and creeks are clearing very nicely.

Have a great day and see you on the lake.

The Lake Norfork Bluegill Hunter

Hummingbird Hideaway Resort welcomes Guest Blogger, Nathan with an account of his morning fishing on Lake Norfork. Pictured above is Nathan and his daughter, 'the bluegill hunter.'You may recall seeing this young lady in one of our earlier blogs with her "June catch." She's back for a two week visit and is putting food on the table again! "The Bluegill Hunter" is pictured to the left with her granfather. Here is Nathan's blog...

We took the bluegill hunter with us this morning!

We went down by Robinson Point with no success, then we headed to the Cranfield area where I spotted a bunch of bait fish in the 30 ft flats around the island. I caught a few 12" Largemouths on a Bink's spoon, then things calmed a little.

Then we headed north of the island to the points on the north side of the lake. We saw a lot of splashing but by the time we were over there all that was on top was a lot of gar. We spotted large schools of bait fish in about 25' of water so we started jigging and had some fun. I caught a good size white bass that ended up in the lake (long story) then a good size largemouth that flipped out of the net, anyway we ended up with this 16"er that my dad hauled in.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

Two guests from Hummingbird Hideaway Resort had a great morning crappie fishing on Norfork Lake. They headed to one of my favorite holes at about 9AM and ended up catching almost twenty fish with 8keepers. One was 14 inches and two others were 13 1/2 inches long. This is going to be some good eating. Yesterday evening they had a fish fry with their prior catch. I truly enjoyed the plate they brought over. Most of the fish were caught on a crappie minnow with a 1/16 oz split shot. They are using 4 pound test line, casting to the edge of the brush and letting their bait sink. The fish hit the minnow while it's free falling. They were sitting in 40 ft of water casting to brush that was 20 - 30 feet deep. They also used a twister tail grub with some success.

I went out this morning. The striped bass were coming up sporadically. White bass, largemouth and spotted bass were also pushing the shad to the surface. The stripers were coming up in deep water toward the center of the channel while the white and black bass were coming up closer to shore. I had better luck with the white and black bass than I did with the stripers. I caught a couple of nice size largemouth bass and several nice whites. I caught all fish on my white and chartreuse head Zara spook. The guides are catching their limits of stripers using live shad. The fish are being caught both on a free swimming shad as well as on a down pole in 20 - 40 feet of water. Thread Fin and Gizzard shad are being used with great success. The white bass are schooling big time in the back of creeks and coves. Use a Rooster tail spinner or a Road Runner. You can either cast and retrieve or slow troll with your trolling motor. Once you find them, stop trolling and start casting.

Walleye fishing has been picking up. Walleye are being caught in 15 - 20 ft of water outside of the buck brush and on flats. Slow troll a crawler harness with a bottom bouncing weight or drift with live shiners Carolina rigged. Some fish are being caught suspended at 10 ft as well as on the bottom.

Norfork Lake level is falling slowly and is currently sitting at 562.15. The Corp. has been generating at least one generator for the last 30 hours. Norfork Lake water temp is ranging from the mid to up 70's. The water is still gin clear even after the rain showers from last evening.

We have a lot of families vacationing with us at this time. During the heat of the day they are playing in the water (skiing, tubing, swimming, ect..) and in the morning and evening they are fishing. What a great way to spend time as a family and have a great vacation.

See you on the lake and happy fishing.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

Fishing was pretty good this morning on Norfork Lake in the Arkansas, Ozarks. I took my daughter's friend fishing and he caught his first striped bass. In fact, he stated it was his first bass of any kind. It was an exciting day. I wanted to show him the lake so we headed to the dam at 5AM. It was a gorgeous morning with not even a ripple on the water. We arrived and on my second cast I caught a striper. Both of us were using Zara Spooks. The fish started to surface all around us, but as usual they were surfacing out of casting range. Finally one came close enough and Jason hooked his first fish. We ended up catching striped bass, spotted bass and largemouth bass. We missed 5 other stripers which hit our lures, but did not hook-up. I think these fish need glasses. They erupt on the lure, take the lure under water, but when you try setting the hook, no fish. I think they miss their intended target! Of course it couldn't be the fishermen!

Crappie fishing has been picking up this week. Guests that are crappie and bass fishing are catching their fair share of both and have had some crappie in the 13 to 14 inch range. Nice fish. Crappie minnows for live bait and twister tail grubs for artificial have been the bait of choice for crappie. The black bass are still hitting top water in the mornings and evenings, then are going a little deeper during the day. My Chompers are still working very well. Catfish are still hitting live bait on my trotline. I caught a nice 12 pounder last evening.

The Norfork Lake level is at 562.3 and falling slowly. The Corp is generating a little more, but still not all day long. The higher water level this year and last year have really aided the spawn. There are a ton of short bass in Norfork Lake from the record high water last spring. The fish had plenty of places to hide and grow. The water level this year will also benefit the spawn, but it is definitely nothing like last year. The lake temperature has risen slightly to the mid to upper 70's. The water is gin clear all over.

Until next time happy fishing and see you on the lake.