Norfork Lake Fishing Report

Striper fishing on Norfork Lake is going strong. I fish this AM with some success. I decided to check out several areas that I haven't fished in a while. I started in the Diamond Bay area. I arrived about 5:15 AM and set out two balloons and two free lines with live thread fin shad. It wasn't more than 15 minutes before both balloons started to ZINGGGG! I set the hooks on both fish, set one rod back into the rod holder and started to fight one of the fish. I had it almost in and saw it dart right into the other line. And then there was one. I landed this nice 10 pounder, but who knows what the other was. (must have been a 35 pounder!!) As soon as I reset the two balloons one of the free lines took off. I was heading into the wind at this time and I guess when I got off of the trolling motor it gave slack in the line and the fish escaped. I was fishing in 20 - 30 feet of water. Sunrise was starting and it was like someone turn off a switch and the fish stopped biting. I then headed to the dam area to see what was happening there. As chance would have it nothing was happening for me. I fished three different areas with no bites. Robert Lee of Lee's Lite Line has been fishing the dam area for the last week and has done quite well on hybrids and stripers, but I guess I didn't go to the right places. I then headed back to Fall Creek. No stripers, but plenty of bass. I landed 7 spotted and largemouth bass in about a 45 minute period. It was then time to head back to the resort and start cleaning the pool.

Jeff, one of our MO guests landed this nice 28 pound striped bass the other afternoon. He released the fish after the photo. He has caught many striped bass over the last several days all with gizzard shad. He has been fishing the Bennett's area and has had most of his success late in the afternoon. He has been pulling 4 - 6 planer boards trying to stay near the shoreline. His fish have been caught in 8 - 30 feet of water.

Bud Gauger of Howard Cove Striper Service took several of our guests out fishing yesterday. They had a successful trip, landing 6 striped bass and missed 3 others. The largest was 17 pounds. Essie caught the big fish of the day, and by the way she is 90 years young and going strong. She had a great time on her guided birthday trip and fishing off of our dock. Bud was fishing with gizzard shad back in the Bennett's area.

Norfork Lake level is on the rise and currently sits at 552.21. The surface water temperature has dropped to around 60 degrees north of the bridges and as low as 55 at the dam. A warm southerly wind is forecast for the next several days, this should help spur on the top water action. Coves and creeks are still stained and the main lake is clear.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

No fishing today, but I did get out the last two days on Norfork Lake. I am granddaughter sitting today. She has not gotten into fishing yet, but I keep trying. The cold spell, then the warm summer like weather have the shad moving continually. If you can find the shad you will find the fish. I have talked with 3 different striper guides today. I have also talked with two crappie guides while setting up fishing trips for spring guests. They are all having their successes and of course the slow days. Two days ago I went crappie fishing and caught several nice size black bass, no crappie. The bass are fat and sassy. I caught mine vertical jigging with a 1/4 oz spoon in 30 feet of water over (actually in) the brush piles. I was also told that one bass fisherman has been using a dark colored jig with a tail and catching quality fish anywhere from 15 - 30 feet of water. The trick is the speed. Barely move the jig over the bottom. The fish are looking for slow moving bait, but when they hit, they hammer it and are pulling like a freight train. More keeper size lunkers are being caught than I have ever seen in the past. Two guides fished several docks yesterday with live shad and just hammered the bass, one being 8 pounds.

The crappie guides are catching large healthy slabs suspended at about 20 feet over brush in 30 - 40 feet of water. Over the last several days they have also caught fish suspended at 9 feet in about 20 feet of water. The hot weather has moved them up. They aren't catching large quantities, but what is being caught is quality.

Striped bass are following the shad and the current problem is finding the shad. One day they are back in the creeks and the next they are suspended at 60 feet in the channel of 120 feet of water. One guide (STR Outfitters) graphed various hot spots all the way to the dam and found spotty fish. He ended up coming up to the mid lake area and found shad and stripers in 40 - 60 feet of water between the bridges. I fished the 62 bridge and Float creek yesterday and caught one small striper, but when I got close to the bank and points I was picking up some nice bass. I used live shiners yesterday.

I, along with the guides, believe that the spring bite should be one of the best we have seen in a long time. Lots of big fat fish. Start planning your fishing trips.

The Norfork Lake level is rising and currently sits at 553.2. The Corps is running one to two generators most of the day with short periods of no generation. We have had almost an inch of rain so far today so we should see another foot or more rise in the next day or so. The backs of creeks and coves look like chocolate milk with a mud line. From the mud line out towards the main lake the water is stained. It will take a while for the coves to clear especially after today's rain. The main lake is fairly clear, but when the lake stabilizes it will clear even more. The surface water temperature has risen to about 48 degrees.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

I fished Norfork Lake this evening and had a lot of success. I was walleye fishing and ended up catching 3, but one got away before I could net it. I was vertical jigging with a spoon in 25 - 40 of water. I used several colors, white, white and chartreuse and white and green. I found the fish on main lake points that end on a bluff line, as well as along the bluff line. You will want to be fishing very close to shore as the water gets deep very quickly. Look for submerged boulders or ledges in the 25 - 40 foot range, the walleye will be hanging out in the creases and on the ledge. In the same areas are schooling Kentucky bass. I ended up catching 5 bass with 3 about 15 inches long. Nice size for a Kentucky.

The striped bass are being caught in deeper water. Early in the morning you might find fish in 35 - 40 feet of water, but as the sun rises they go down to 40 - 60 feet. I have marked some nice fish even deeper. The live bait guides are catching some really nice size fish (20 - 30 pound range)using gizzard shad. Thread fin shad are producing fish, but they seem to be much smaller. The bigger fish are also the ones found in the 60 foot depths.

Overall the thermocline in Norfork Lake seems to be 25 - 40 feet down depending where you are on the lake and who you are talking with. All types of fish seem to be hanging out at or near the thermocline.

The Norfork Lake level is 552.96 and falling very slowly. The water temperature this evening was in the mid to upper 80's, of course it's cooler in the morning. The main lake is clear with the creeks and coves still off color.

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

I have had a couple of fun days of fishing Norfork Lake. Yesterday one of our guests and I (both in our own boats) headed to the dam at about 5AM. At about 6:00 the stripers just erupted. It lasted about 40 minutes, by the time we reached the fish we only had about 20 minutes of fun. I only landed one with plenty of other slaps at my bait. As you can see our guest had a great fishing trip. Today we both decided to head to the same location, but this was a new day. I only saw one fish break and our guest coaxed up one striped bass on his Zara Spooks. We were fishing near the Jordan Marina area. At about 8AM I headed back to the Cranfield area. As I was passing Mallard Point I notice several pockets of fish breaking the surface. They looked like white bass. Once I got near the fish they went down. I made a few casts with my spook and on one cast as I started to lift the spook out of the water there was a huge eruption right next to the boat. That fish actual splashed water into the boat. Of course (not to my surprise) I missed the fish. I guess the breaking fish were not all white bass! The top water bite has started, but it is a very early bite and very inconsistent day to day. One thing that I am sure of is that the stripers are pushing the shad to the surface somewhere and also that there are stripers to be caught all over the lake. Hard to cover 550 miles of shore line!! (But I will try) We are also getting some nice evening top water action in our cove. The white bass have made their way in and you can see them feed from our dock.

Large and smallmouth bass are still hitting spinner baits, crank baits and soft plastics. I have had the best luck at sunrise and sunset. I have thrown a bone colored rogue with good success, but it needs to get into the buck brush.

The catfish are hitting jugs and trot lines on live bait (crawdads are my favorite). Bluegill are still plentiful and big. Worms and crickets are working well with them. Crappie have slowed, but you can still get them over the brush piles. They will be suspended over the brush anywhere from 5 - 20ft. You just need to test the depths until you find the right one.

The Norfork Lake level is still rising and currently is sitting at 558.73 (6 3/4 ft above normal pool of 552). The water temp goes from the low 60's in the morning and rises to the upper 60's in the afternoon. The water is getting back to gin clear all over the lake, but the creeks may get stained as we are currently getting a heavy rain.

We still have openings for the upcoming holiday period (Memorial Day weekend). Should be a great time to fish.

See you all soon and happy fishing.

Arkansas Ozarks, Norfork Lake Fishing Report

It has been a couple of beautiful days on Norfork Lake, but very, very windy. The wind is supposed to keep up for the next several days with temps in the 80's. Too windy for me to fish, hopefully it dies down this evening. The forecast is still calling for 15 - 25 mph winds.

The lake level is rising slowly at 554.1 which is 2 feet over normal. This warm south wind is warming the lake temp and it is ranging from the mid to upper 50's. Still minimal generation.

I went baiting with one of the guides the other day and learned a lot. But still it is more work than I am looking for, so I guess I will stick with artificial baits, which is my preference anyway. We fished a little, but only got two striper hits.

A group of our guests (4 guys) went striper fishing with a guide and did OK, but not great. They caught several nice hybrids, a couple of striped bass, a walleye and some white bass. The guide was using live shad and was fishing the dam area. Yesterday the same group went to the river with two guides and caught so many rainbows and browns that their arms were starting to ache. During the early hours two generators were running and they caught some really nice sized fish. Once the generation stopped and the river level lowered, they started catching the smaller fish, but got a fish on every cast. They all had a blast. Hopefully I will get some of their pictures and post them later. I believe they fished the White River up from the confluence with the Norfork River.

The word is out from many fishermen that the largemouth are sitting and making their beds. I have also heard that the smallmouth are finally coming up to shore to feed. Soft plastics (3 in. grubs) are working with a slow retrieval. Largemouth are hitting soft plastic, spinners as well as crank baits. I guess you throw what you are comfortable fishing, they are hitting them all.

To all the Basscatters that are traveling soon have a safe trip and see you all soon.