Norfork Lake Fishing Report

Fishing on Norfork Lake is getting better and better every day. The best part of all of it is the weather, it has been in the 70's during the day and 50's at night. It is really hard to ask for nicer fishing weather than what we are currently having. I have been doing really well on the lake as have our guests. All species are being caught on a regular basis. Undoubtedly the best bite on the lake is the largemouth and spotted bass bite. In second place is the striper and hybrid bite. Catfish are not far behind. Crappie, bluegill, white bass, walleye are all being caught.

I fished this morning and had a really good day. I landed a 16 pound striper, two 8 pound hybrids, broke off another big fish and missed one other. My break-off was the fisherman's fault, I noticed too late that my line was wrapped around the tip of my rod. Boy did it make some noise when the line snapped. I also caught 8 largemouth and spotted bass and missed numerous others. Today I strictly fished with live shad. There was a little top water action, but they only came up when I was fighting a fish. Figures!! I am finding stripers and hybrids on main lake points in 10 - 50 feet of water. I also look for points that have the deep channel close by. The stripers seem to like the deep water near as easy escape. The hybrids are feeding on crawdads so you will find them closer to the bottom. The stripers are still hitting free swimming baits. I have been
pitching the bait close to shore then letting it sit for a while. I then pull the bait off of the shoreline using my trolling motor. I have gotten many hits when the baits starts to move away. I am also placing a small split shot about 2 feet up from the hook and dragging it slowly across the point in 25 - 40 feet of water. The hybrids and bass are feeding on the bottom so I am picking up fish with both methods. If you can't get or keep shad, larger brooder shiners are the next best bait. Bass just love them and stripers and hybrids will also hit the shiners.

Smallmouth, largemouth and spotted bass are in the same areas as the stripers and hybrids. It doesn't get better than this. Fish for both species in the same manner. I have also found that when the striper bite stops and they move on, the black bass start to get more aggressive. Fishing is great!

Catfish have been hitting jugs and trotlines set with live bait as well as cut bait. I have seen  many good fish coming into out dock that were caught in our cove. I still like live bait over cut bait. I typically use live shiners, shad or crawdads for catfish. I did forget to mention that the black bass are also feeding on crawdads.

Crappie are being found suspended over brush in 20 - 30 feet of water. They will be at different depths so you will need to keep testing until you start to catch fish. They tend to move higher in the water column as the sun warms the water.

Norfork Lake water level currently sits at 551.8, which is almost normal pool. Periodic power generation is occurring to maintain this normal pool level. The surface water temperature this morning was in the mid 70's. The main lake is somewhat clear, but all creeks and coves are stained. We did have a cold front roll through the area at the beginning of the week. This frontal system slowed the bite, but the weather has been stable ever since and the bite is getting strong again.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Happy New Year from Hummingbird Hideaway Resort

Happy New Years to all of our fishing blog friends. We hope 2012 brings many memorable fishing trips, good health and prosperity. Be safe. See you on Norfork Lake!

Lou and Linda Gabric
Hummingbird Hideaway Resort

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

If you enjoy open water fishing in the winter months, Norfork Lake is the place to be. The fish are feeding and the bite is on for most species. Whether you enjoy fishing early mornings, mid day, evenings or after dark you can find fish. We are still getting mid morning topwater action for striped bass and white bass, watch for the feeding seagulls.

The striped bass are schooling and are continually on the move. In early mornings I have found them on flats in 28 - 50 feet of water feeding on shad. Live bait such as thread fin shad and shiners and artificial are all working. I have caught fish in the Cranfield and Bidwell areas early mornings. Just last Monday mid morning the stripers started to erupt back in the bayou area. This info is from one of my fishing friends. The birds have been a big help. Flocks of seagulls will suddenly appear and start diving into the water. If you happen to be in the same area start throwing a Rooster tail, rattle trap and even a topwater bait such as a Zara Spook. A Rooster tail has worked great for me. I let it sink to different depths and then retrieve it to the boat. As the sun gets up a little the fish tend to go a little deeper into 50 - 70 feet of water, but are still following the shad. Once the fish move to deeper water I start to vertical jig with a spoon and of course, still have live bait down on several poles. I have also been fishing in the afternoons. I have found fish in the mouth of our cove as well as back in Float Creek and back by the 6A area. The problem with winter fishing for striper is their movements. You will find and catch fish one day in a certain area one dat and then the next day they are not there. I have about 5 different areas that I tend to check out until I find the bait and then the schools of stripers.

I told my facebook followers that I would give some details of my comedy of errors fishing trip last Monday afternoon. I was fishing back in Float creek. The bait was thick from 30 feet down to 55 feet  and large schools of striper started to appear. I had been casting a Rattle trap with little success and laid the pole down by my feet and started to spoon. I also had 4 live bait poles out, set at 25 and 35 feet deep. All of a sudden one of the live bait poles started to zing, I quickly jumped up from my seat and must have kicked my casting pole a little and when I stepped down to the deck to grab the pole with the fish I heard and felt a big snap. My casting rod snapped in half. My drag went out on the pole with the fish and the fish broke off: A few minutes later both of my back poles took off. I ran to the back of the boat to see both lines going straight towards each other. Needless to say the two fish tangled and both got off. I was getting pretty discouraged at this point. Then another live bait pole took off and I landed the above 11 pound fish. Finally! Another bite came on live bait while I was retying one of the leaders and to say the least I got to the pole too late to set the hook. Things started to quiet down a little and I started to spoon again. I hooked into a nice fish and my swivel broke in half. This was a first for me. It was a great afternoon for bites, but a really poor performance day for the fisherman LOL

You would think by now that I would learn that too many rods on the boat is not always a good thing. But of course I still have not learned this lesson! 4 poles out with live bait and the 5th pole with artificial, I think will always be a standard for me while striper fishing.

Crappie are still on the brush from 20 - 35 feet down. Live bait, grubs, grubs with live bait and spoons are my baits of choice. I have not fished much for crappie lately as I have been have too much fun striper fishing.

White and small hybrid bass are also following the shad. I have found then on the flats in 30 - 50 feet of water and vertical jigging with a spoon has been working the best for me. The above photo of 4 fish show the size of the whites.

Walleye fishing is starting to pick up, but is the slowest bite of all species. You will find them on the same flats early in the morning, late afternoon and after dark. Bluffs with chunk rock in 20 - 40 feet of water are also holding some nice walleye during mid day. We should start see a good pick up in the walleye bite in mid January and on.

The Norfork Lake Level is currently at 552. It has risen slightly from my last report, but is starting to fall slowly as power generation is starting to increase. The surface lake temperature is in the low to mid 50's. The main lake is clear and creeks and coves are still stained.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

It has been windy on Norfork Lake for the last 4 days. Even with the wind I have been able to get out this morning and a few evenings over the last week. The bass bite is still good. I am catching bass in 30 - 37 feet of water on the main lake points as well as over sunken brush piles. I have been using a 3/4 ounce spoon for vertical jigging. This morning I caught several bass. One was a 6 pound lunker. I caught a double header on a Zara Spook top water bait. Both were Kentucky bass. One was 14 inches long and the other was 12 inches. I thought I had a really big fish when I was bringing them in. The double headed was caught casting close to docks. All bass were released immediately so I have no pictures today.

The crappie bite is improving. They are on sunken brush and suspended anywhere from 15 feet down to the bottom of the brush. Minnows are working the best at this time. Once the water cools the crappie should become more aggressive.

Still have not caught any striper lately and haven't heard of many being caught. I did see some really nice top water stripers about 4 evenings ago. I was fishing the Cranfield to Point 8 area. Along the bluff line the stripers started to blow up. By the time I got close enough they went down. I started to spoon in the same area and saw them come up again right behind my boat. I got so excited I almost threw my spooning rod in the water reaching for my top water rod. To say the least I was too late and they went down not to be seen again that evening. I am soooo happy I didn't lose my rod and reel! I hope this early top water action is a sign of what's to come in November.

The Norfork Lake level is falling and currently sits at 550.12. One to two generators are being run sporadically during the day. The surface water temperature this morning fell to 69 degrees. (This is a good thing) The main lake is clear with the creeks and coves stained.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

Summer has made its way to Norfork Lake in the Arkansas, Ozarks. The high temperature for yesterday was in the low 90's and today is looking to be about the same. It was 70 degrees this morning at 5AM when I was getting ready to go fishing. I had a successful morning of fishing. I caught 3 walleye, several white bass, several Kentucky bass and two largemouth bass. I headed to the Cranfield area to see if any top water action was occurring on the flats or in the various coves in the area. But to my dismay very little top action except for the carp and gar. I did get a few bass to come up for my spook, but it was relatively quiet in this area. At around 7:30 I decided to start spooning on the deep rock bluff lines. I am glad I did. I ended up spooning up 3 walleye, a white bass and two Kentucky bass. The big walleye was 6 pounds (26 inches long), I also had a 3 pounder but the third one was short. I was spooning in 30 - 40 feet of water at a location that has a lot of underwater boulders.

The backs of creeks are holding many white bass. I sent a guest to a location in Float Creek and they have had a blast the last two mornings. The bite is early and stops once the sun gets over the trees. They caught most on a Zara Spook and once they went down they started to catch the whites on a spoon vertical jigging. They also caught a few small hybrids.

The striped bass are still being caught on free swimming live baits as well as with baits set at depths of 30 - 40 feet. A report from another guest fishing back in the Fouts area reported some big fish surfacing, but all were too far away for him to cast into. They ended up catching bass and a few whites on a spook and ended up spooning in deeper water, catching white bass and Kentucky bass.

All the fish that were cleaned today showed that they have been feeding on crawdads. I'm sure this is one reason for the spoon starting to work. In addition the lake temperature is rising, giving the fish another reason to go begin going deep.

Make sure you still have a top water bait tied on, but be ready to start spooning as the fish are starting to go deep.

The Norfork Lake water depth is at 559.57 with the rise starting to slow. Generators are being run intermittently during the day. The surface water temperature was mainly in the low 70's this morning. With the upcoming hot days and warm nights the water temp should continue to climb. The water in the creeks are somewhat stained. The main lake channels are clear.


Happy fishing and see you on Norfork Lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

Since the wind and rain has stopped I have been working hard at cleaning up the yard with all of its millions of leaves. My granddaughter has been a great helper!!

The sky is clear and the sun is out, no rain, on Norfork Lake in the Arkansas Ozarks. Finally we are having our normal fall type weather. The day time temperature is reaching 70 or close and the evenings are in the mid to low 40's. The weather forecast is predicting this type of weather for the next couple of weeks. The lake should stabilize and the fishing should ramp up. I have been out bass fishing the last couple of mornings and evenings and have caught some nice bass on a rogue as well as a zara spook. Most of the fish are on the short side, but I have caught two nice 18 inch largemouth. Most of the bass that I have caught are Kentucky bass. I have been fishing the deep banks as well as the submerged island in the Cranfield area. The fish are starting to come up in the brush, but I think most are still deep. The lake has come up almost 18 feet over the last couple weeks, with the biggest increase just last week end. The fish are most likely still getting acclimated to their new surroundings. Most fish should be holding at the old shore line depth of 20-40 feet.

I am a little vague on where the fish are because my sonar unit is on the fritz and I have been fishing blind. A new Lowrance unit is on its way and hopefully will be installed soon. It is really difficult to fish without electronics. I guess I have gotten spoiled. I seemed to do just fine fishing years ago without the benefits of technology, but I sure enjoy having the toys of today.

I have heard second and third hand that there has been some striper top water action in the mornings and evenings. I have not seen any yet, but if it is anything like last fall it should happen in the next couple of weeks. The stripers being caught by the guides are back in the creeks as well as on the main lake. The fish are 40-60 feet down, both on the bottom and suspended.

The Norfork Lake level is finally holding steady at 569.68. The Corps is generating one generator for over half of the day. The lake surface water temp. is 63-64 degrees and dropping slowly. The main lake is clear and the creeks and coves are somewhat stained, but starting to clear.

Hopefully later in the week I will be able to give you a more detailed report. Until next time 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 for smallmouth bass

Good morning from Hummingbird Hideaway Resort, your Arkansas Ozark vacation destination on Norfork Lake. Long time resort guest, Larry from Muncie, IN, caught this nice 18 inch small mouth bass in our cove. I believe he was pitching a pig & jig off of a point. He and his wife are here with their two granddaughters and are having a great time swimming in our pool and fishing Norfork Lake. In addition to this small mouth, Larry has caught many keeper size largemouth and Kentucky bass. I have given him a couple of potentially good walleye spots to try out so hopefully he will have success with them as well.

I caught a nice 17 inch smallmouth on a live crawdad in our cove. Since the smallmouth are coming into our cove the walleye should be right behind them if this year is consistent with past years. I went out for a short time this morning and caught two nice 2 1/5 pound largemouth bass on a Zara spook. I also threw a twin tail chomper for a little while and caught several short Kentucky bass.

The Norfork Lake level is 562.42 and holding steady. The Corp. is running two generators about 6 hours per day. The lake is clear in the main lake and clearing up in the creeks and coves. The water temp this morning was in the low 70's to mid 70's.

Have a great day and happy fishing.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

Norfork Lake produced top water action this morning. My better half (Linda) wasn't the fisherwomen who caught the fish, but she is the person who cooks up the fish. I tried to get her to hold them, but no luck. She also is not willing to get up with me and go out on Norfork Lake at 5AM. I just don't understand this!! I did get into a short period of striped bass top water action. I caught this 8 pound striper and also a diaper striper (undersized). I guess I was a little lucky that I was in the right place at the right time. They started hitting the surface around 6:30AM and it lasted just 20 minutes if that long. The bigger fish was a blast to catch. It came up at about 25ft from the boat. I casted a white with chartreuse head Zara spook a little past the surfaced fish. I was doing a walk the dog retrieval and thought I had missed the fish, but when it was only 4 ft from the boat it hammered the lure and dove straight down. It spooled half my reel so I think it went down to the bottom. It was a good fight. I was sitting in about 55ft of water. I casted a spook most of the day. I landed 6 largemouth bass, one weighing about 2 pounds and the rest around 10 - 12 inch fish. It was a fun few hours. I was fishing the Bennettes Arm area. A guest fishing in the same area caught several nice largemouth and a nice smallmouth, plus several more undersized fish. Big or small, I just like to catch fish, and I had a nice time this morning.

My trotline is still producing, caught a nice flathead and two channel catfish. I am using live shiners as bait.

The lake level is still rising slowly, currently sitting at 560.08. Water is clearing quickly all over except for in the backs of flowing creeks. Our south winds and warm days are really warming the water quickly. I was marking temps in the low 70's this morning and I am sure it will be much warmer in the afternoon. None too soon for the upcoming holiday weekend. The swimmers and skiers will enjoy the warmer water. The forecast is for sun and warm temperatures.

Happy fishing and see you all on the lake.

Beautiful spring day in the Ozarks

What a gorgeous day. I was able to go on a garden tour with a group I belong to here in Mountain Home, Arkansas. The more plants I see, the more I want! I have this problem with self control when it comes to things like that. I know I only have room for 10 tomatoes in my garden but I have close to 100 tomato plants started. I have flats of 5 different peppers but am only planning on putting one or two of each in the garden. Why do I do this? Who knows? I start several seeds in a 6 in inch pot, assuming that some won't sprout. When they all sprout, I just can't throw the excess away. I'll trade some plants, give some away and donate some to the Master Gardener group for their annual plant sale. I will get rid of them some way. I'm going to try really hard not to overcrowd my vegetable garden this year. Lou put new flooring in one of the cabins today. It looks really nice. I guess we'll be painting tomorrow. We ended up with a thunderstorm this evening so the trip to float creek for striper fishing was put on hold. We'll try to give you that fishing report tomorrow night.