Norfork Lake is in its final stages of winter and spring is right around the corner. I can’t wait! I really enjoy winter fishing on Norfork Lake, but I am getting the warmer weather fever. Hahaha! We have several guests staying with us and a couple of them have been crappie fishing. Over the last several days they have caught many crappie, with most on the small side. Today was a different story. This morning they were jigging a ¼ ounce spoon in brush piles that were anywhere from 20 to 40 feet deep. They found some really nice slabs in 22 feet of water. The fish were buried in the brush. They ended up landing a dozen or so 12+ inch crappie and releasing all the smaller ones. This afternoon they went out for a short period of time and again landed a bucket full of nice crappie over 12 inches long. Over the last 5 or so years Norfork Lake has had several high-water events that lasted though out the spawn. High water is a benefit to the fishery as it adds new nutrients into the lake to help feed the new fry, as well as, provides plenty of new cover for the newly spawned fish to hide. To say the least, catching big slab crappie in Norfork Lake is common at this time and when you land a nice 15-inch fish, know that it came from the 2015 spawn year. Yes, it only takes about 4 years to grow to this this size. Over the next several weeks, as the water warms the crappie will begin to school and roam the banks from brush to brush in

pre spawn mode. This will be a great time to slow troll crank baits, such as a Flicker Minnow for these schooling fish.

Not only crappie have been positively affected by the various high-water events, but our bass population has also been greatly increased. Another of our guests has been trolling crankbaits in 20 – 40 feet of water and has done quite well with bass. Largemouth and spotted bass have been roaming close to the shorelines. They have been suspended out away from the bank down 10 – 30 feet deep. I was out looking for striped bass today and started to mark a lot of fish out in

deep water of 60 – 70 feet. The fish were anywhere from 5 to 30 feet down. I had live bait set at 30 feet and the spotted bass were just mauling the baits. I started casting out my ½ ounce chrome colored Kastmaster and letting it sink down to about 20 feet and the largemouth bass were just inhaling the bait. It takes about 8 seconds for my lure to reach this depth with 8-pound monofilament line. I slowly retrieve the bait with a jerk-stop-reel retrieval method.

Striped bass fishing has been a challenge as of late. I am finding stripers lying on top of bait that is so thick you can walk on it. The bait that I find back in one of the major creeks is only 10 – 20 feet down and is in places 20 – 30 feet thick. In a mid-lake creek, the bait is 50 – 60 down, but very few fish. The bait appears to go deeper in the clearer water. I have managed to catch a few, mainly on live bait, but I have picked up a nice fish on a swimbait, as well as, a couple fish trolling a deep diving crankbait, a Bandit Walleye Deep Diver. This morning (2/19) I found an area in the main lake out in 100 feet of water that has minimal bait, but there were

scattered stripers in the area. I did not reach this area until 11:30AM and got to land a nice hybrid. The fish were only 5 to 30 feet deep. As the water starts to warm the stripers will become more active.

As the spring time water temperature begins to rise, all species will become more and more active and aggressive. Most species will start to move in closer to the shore line to feed and topwater action will start to happen, first will be the largemouth bass. I know I am getting excited.

The surface water temperature this morning ranged from 45 – 47 degrees. The lake is fairly stable with a slight lowering of the lake level with both generators running continuously. The current lake level is 560.62 feet MSL which is roughly 7 feet over normal seasonal pool. Some coves and various areas of the lake are still discolored from the recent rains, but all the areas that I have been to are start to clear up nicely.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

Norfork Lake is gearing up for a great fall bite. The lake temperature is dropping and is in the low 70's. The thermocline is starting to disappear in a lot of areas. The forecast for day time temperatures is in the upper 70's to low 80's and the nights in the 50's and 60's. Can't ask for much nicer fall weather. We have cabins available so call for you reservations:-)

The bass bite on artificial baits as well as live bait has been very good. I fished this morning and caught more fish vertical jigging with a spoon than I did with live bait. I was fishing in 25-35 feet of water. I had plenty of bites on live bait, but it was difficult getting to the poles when I also had a jigging spoon down. I found the fish on the end of a main lake points that had brush in 28 - 40 feet of water. The points that I am finding most productive are located on the end of bluff lines which gives the fish deep water close by. Last week one of our guests was only bass fishing and caught and released many fish. He was catching on crankbaits, plastic worms and jigs. Most of his success was on bluff lines and it was even better when he found brush.

The walleye bite this morning was also very good. I ended up spooning up 4 walleye, but they were only 17 inches long. I guess I found the day care area. They are located in the same locations as the bass. I caught all on a spoon, but did notice a few bites on my live bait. I guess I get too impatient and set the hook too soon and ended up only getting teeth marks on the the bait. With live bait you need to give them some line when they start to run, but once they stop set the hook. I will get the hang of this some day!!!

The striped bass bite is finally starting to pick up. Last Saturday one of my friends  landed 7 nice fish. Tom Reynolds of STR Outfitters took a couple of our guests out and landed 3 fish with the biggest being 22 pounds. I have reports of another guide landing 5 stripers in the midlake area on Sunday. The stripers are on the move and starting to scatter though out the lake. The best part is that they are starting to bite. Another sign that the fall bite has started. The stripers are being found in 25 - 40 feet of water both on the bottom and suspended.

Catfish are hitting trotlines and jugs baited with live bait, chicken livers and cut bait. I have been baiting up a line in our cove the last few days but have only caught two fish. Each morning when I check the line all the bait is gone. I think I have been feeding the turtles. I guess I need to move my line to another location. A couple of our guests had some good success a week ago using live blue gill as bait. Photo on the top. I also caught a nice blue cat spooning this morning. You never know what you are going to catch when you are vertical jigging with a spoon. I guess that is why I enjoy it so much.

Crappie are on brush piles and under docks. You will find them 15ft to 30ft down over and in the brush.

Norfork Lake surface water temperature is in the low 70's and I have also found the upper 60's up North. The lake is falling slowly and currently sits at 553.27. Generation is intermitent and is only dropping the lake about 1 to 2 inches per day. The main lake is clearing quickly due to the light generation, but the creeks and coves are still stained.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.