Norfork Lake Fishing Report by Lou of Hummingbird Hideaway Resort

Happy New Year to all. I hope the fantastic weather we have been having is allowing you to get out on the lake and do a little fishing. Norfork Lake is one of the best lakes I have had the opportunity to fish and I enjoy it most every day. Even though I have been out of pocket for the last couple of weeks I am back out on the lake finding and catching fish. Yesterday (1/7) was my first day out on the lake for 2019 and I spent the day traveling to different parts of the lake, doing a lot of graphing and looking for striped bass with very little fishing. Today was a different story. I retraced my travels from yesterday to the spots where I found fish. My first area at about 8AM was the Cranfield and Pigeon Creek area. I found bait and fish, but very few takers. I fished this area for about an hour with little luck then headed to a mid-lake creek that the wind was blowing into. Again I found scattered bait with fish following, and this time they were feeding. The fish were 40 to 60 feet down. The hybrids and whites were in the 40 - 50 foot range and the deeper fish were stripers. I was vertical jigging with a spoon and caught many big whites, a hybrid and 2 striped bass. I was jigging for the suspended fish 60 feet down and a small school of big fish came under me on the bottom at 80 feet so I dropped my spoon to the bottom. The spoon did not have a chance to hit the bottom as a striper just inhaled the spoon and the fight was on. The fish in this area were scattered though out the deeper water so I had to keep moving around until I located them. I finally decided to move to my next location and was pleasantly surprised to find a lot of active fish. I was in between the two bridges in 90 to 100 feet of water. This time I found schools of fish only 20 to 40 down, but lots of them. They would not hit my spoon jigging, but when I dropped it though the fish and reeled up fast though them they hammered it before the spoon got to the surface. One of the striped bass caught here hit the spoon almost on the surface then took a straight down dive to about 60 feet before I could turn its head. It ended up being a nice 14 pound fish. I ended up catching fish all the way up to 2PM, when I decided it was time to go home, but the fish were still there.

Winter time fishing can be a blast. The fish, as you have read, can be at any depth from surface all the way down to the bottom, located in very deep water. I did have a couple of live baits out part of the time and never got a bite on them, but they liked my spoon. Each place that I fished today are typical winter time locations based on prior years experience. It does take some time to locate the fish, but when you do, hang on. I still only use 8 pound test monofilament line so I do have my drag set a little loose. What is a little different this year, so far, is that the fish and bait typically move into the deep channels, but I am finding them near the channel or on very deep flats, but not in the channel.

Nothing to report on other species at this time as I am just getting back into the groove. But winter time bass and crappie fishing are both typically very good and lots of fun.

Norfork Lake has risen about 3 feet since my last report and currently sits at 556.34, which is less than 3 feet over the normal seasonal pool. The main lake is clear. Some coves and back in the creeks are stained. The water temperature this morning at 7:30 AM was 48 degrees and by the time I headed back to the dock it was slightly over 49 degrees. The lake is in great shape and the fishing is looking to be a lot of fun.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Welcomes BASS tournament

Welcome BASS fishermen and women to Norfork Lake. The Arkansas BASS Federation is holding their annual championship tournament on Norfork Lake this week. The actual tournament will be this coming Friday and Saturday and the weigh-in is at Henderson Marina. I haven't heard a final count, but I am being told it should be close to 150 boats.

My new Skeeter Bay boat has finally arrived. This new addition to the Hummingbird Hideaway fleet will allow me to fish whatever style is working best. I have a shad tank ordered so I will soon be able to live bait fish as well as fish with artificial bait as I have done in the past. I will also be able to start guiding occasionally. With all the bass boats around I was trying to wait until after the tournament to break in the boat, but I couldn't do it. We cruised around for about an hour this morning.

Look for an updated fishing report next week, but the guides are telling me that the fishing trends have not changed from my last report.

Norfork Lake level is at 552.3 and hold fairly steady. Generation has been sporadic. The surface lake temperature is in the low 80's early and mid 80's in the afternoon. The lake is clear and the creeks and covers are clearing nicely.

Happy fishing and see you on the water.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

If you are looking for a great fishing experience or just some peace and quiet, come visit us at Hummingbird Hideaway Resort your Ozark Mountain vacation destination.

I fished Norfork Lake last evening (as my wife would say) again. Maybe I shouldn't be doing this blog as some are going to see how often I actually fish. It wasn't as productive as the previous evening, but I still caught fish. I was fishing along a bluff line outside of the Cranfield area and the fish started to explode around me. I had rogues tied on so I started casting into the blow-ups. I got into a mess of white bass. It was a lot of fun and actually lasted for about an hour. I think I ended up with 6 whites and 3 largemouth. Again the largemouth were on the small size. The whites were all in the 1.5 - 2 pound range. Pound for pound they are one great fighting fish.

Once it got dark I moved to a point and started casting rogues for walleye and striper. Here the bite was slow. Finally at about 9:30PM I hooked into a striper. It weighed about 7 pounds. I fished for a while longer and got nothing so I decided to call it a day. I had put everything back so had no fish to clean. I was able to surprise Linda by getting home so early!

The lake level has risen slightly to 552.6, not much generation in the last 24hrs. The water temp has seemed to stabilize in the mid 50's and is finally starting to rise slowly. Water clarity is clear, clear.

The BassCat Invitational Tournament is coming up at the end of this month. To those bass fishermen and women, you should have a fantastic time fishing this year. Be prepared to catch a lot of fish, the lake is just filled with them. The bass seem to be starting to stage for their spawn. I have been seeing quite a few of keeper size fish swimming the shoreline and under our dock. I have caught many keeper size over the last two weeks and many more undersize. For me crank baits have been working. I have talked to some local fishermen and they are fishing plastics with a lot of success.

See you all on the lake and happy fishing.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

I just got back from a successful fishing trip on Norfork Lake. I started heading to Diamond Bay, but once I went under the 101 bridge the waves started crashing over the side of my boat so I thought it wouldn't be so bad fishing closer to the resort. I headed to Hensley Cove which is on the bluff side of the lake from our resort dock cove. I started fishing the calm side of the cove with a shad rap and started catching last years hatchlings (large and small mouth). They have grown about 10 - 12 inches since last year. I guess they have had plenty to eat. This lake is really going to be a fantastic bass lake over the next few years. I decided to head across the cove to the windy side points. Immediately my screen turned black with bait fish. I switched to my standard suspending rogue for early spring and immediately caught two 1.5 pound large mouth bass. The sun had set and I thought maybe the striped bass would be on the points. I cast the windy point and had a huge hit, it was pulling drag and I was sure it was a striped bass. I finally got it to the boat and it was a 4.5 pound large mouth. I fished a while longer, but when I lost my second rogue to the shoreline trees, I decided to head home. I haven't had a lot of experience casting windy banks in the dark and that darn wind just does whatever it wants with a rouge. I will go back out in the daylight when its not windy and retrieve my lures.

I do release all large and small mouth I catch unless I ever get that trophy fish.

Happy fishing and see you on the water.