Norfork Lake Fishing Report

Norfork Lake's fall fishing bite is changing for the better with the cooler water temperatures. The surface temperature ranged from 62 degrees to 64.5 degrees depending on the location on the lake and the time of day. The best bite is white bass with crappie and black bass not far behind. I have been fishing almost every day and yesterday I actually fished in the morning then went back out in the afternoon. What a life, but I guess someone has to do it! I strictly fished for stripers in the morning up north, with no success, but a friend landed a 25 pounder not far from where I was fishing. The striper bite has been slow, but fish have been caught in all parts of the lake. There has been some top water action in the mornings for stripers, but you need to be in the right place at the right time. Stripers have been caught over the last couple of weeks back in the Bennett's area, 6A area, Pigeon creek, Cranfield, around the bridges and so on. These are confirmed catches so you can see the fish are scattered with some schooling, but still a lot of fish just cruising the lake. I will keep plugging away at the stripers and will eventually find a consistent bite.

 As I mentioned above the white bass bass bite is getting very good. I fished two afternoons this week and have found schooling and feeding fish in 30 - 40 feet of water. I have been vertical jigging with a 3/4 ounce to 1 ounce spoon. When I find them schooled and in a feeding frenzy the color of spoon doesn't seem to matter. Last evening they were hitting the spoon on the fall. You have to be ready to set the hook as soon as you feel the fish attack the bait. I have been using my standard green or chartreuse and white spoon and also a blue and silver spoon. I have found the fish on flats in the mouths of coves. You will also find them on main lake flats from 30 - 50 feet. Electronics are sure nice in the search for the fish. The bite has seemed to stop as soon as the sun gets below the trees. I ended up landed 8 whites between 5 and 6PM. It was pretty windy so each time I caught a fish I would be blown off of my spot and then have to locate the fish again. It sure would be nice to have the wireless trolling motor with the anchor button on it. Some day! In with the whites are hybrids and striped bass. I caught a 20 inch striper last evening and released it to grow bigger.

The crappie bite has also improved. I have had the best luck on the bigger fish in the mornings. I find the fish in brush that is 30 - 45 feet deep. I have been using a 1/4 ounce white spoon. The crappie have been inside of the brush so you do get snagged up a lot, but if you just quickly twitch the spoon it typically frees up.

Smallmouth, largemouth and spotted bass are getting aggressive. They are starting to move back to the banks to feed with this cooler water, but I have found the bigger largemouth out in deeper water, 35 - 50 feet down. I have vertical jigged up bass and have also gotten them on live bait when I am striper fishing. The bigger boys have been hitting my large gizzard shad with a vengeance. Rogue fishing slowed for me last week with the rise in the water temps, but this week it started to pick up again with the cold front that rolled though our area. As the water continues to cool the bass will be on the banks more and more. I have thrown my jig & pig a little and usually pick up a few smallies. I find the smallmouth on rocky bluff line points.

Catfishing is also picking up. I landed this nice 13.5 flat head on a 1/4 ounce spoon with 4 pound test. It was a good fight, but I finally won the battle. I was checking out some new areas off of bluff line points spooning in 45 feet of water when this guy engulfed the bait then the up and down battle began. The rod was doubled over and I thought it was going to break. Jug fishing is also picking up some very nice fish.

This time of year I vertical jig quite a bit. It is fun because you never know what type of fish you are going to catch. All species will hit the bait.

 

Again as the water cools the night bite will start. Striped bass, hybrid bass and walleye will be in very shallow water off of points that have flats off of them with deep water nearby. I use a Smithwick Rogue for this type of fishing. Cast your bait as close to the rocks as possible then reel back to the boat very very slowly and hang on. I will start to test those waters this week after dark.

 

Norfork Lake's level is falling slowing a currently sits at 543.77. The surface water temperature is around 63 degrees. The main lake is clear and the creeks and covers are somewhat stained. Partial generation is sporadic, but generation has increased with the cooler nights.

                                                                              

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

Wow what an unusual fishing week and a half on Norfork Lake. We have had cold fronts, very windy days, and the lake level dropping. During the past 10 days I have gotten into top water action for hybrids and whites then the next day a cold front moved in and the wind started. Prior to the cold front the fish were in shallow water being caught on free swimming shad and shallow running lures, but from what I have seen over the last couple of days the fish went deeper. It is very hard to determine what the fish will be doing over the next couple of days as the lake level is stabilizing, the air temperature is on the rise and no frontal systems for a while.

The largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass bite is still one of the best bites on the lake. Crawdad colored crank baits diving 10 - 15 feet have been one of the best baits. Sunday, when the wind, started to blow 10 - 30 MPH, a few fishermen braved the wind and caught a lot of bass on spinner baits in the wind blown pockets close to the shoreline. The smallmouth bass that I have been catching have moved out to about 25 feet depths but are still hugging the bottom. Early and late in the day you will still find the bass along the shore line feeding.

Crappie are starting to show up on shallow (15 - 25feet) brush piles. They are suspended over the brush so you will need to find the depth where they are hovering. More small crappie are being caught but it sounds as though you get a nice slab about every 4th fish or so. Live minnows are working very well. We had a family that took a guided trip with Jay Smith, of Crappies Only, a couple days ago. They were fishing sunken tree stumps with live bait and had a good day, catching a lot of fish, many keepers.

Catfish are hitting trotlines and jugs on live bait. They are coming into shallow water to feed.

Striper fishing, my favorite past time has been up and down. I have mainly been using live bait and have caught nice fish on points close to shore in shallow water, then things changed up a lot. Sunday I was finding striper in 120 feet of water suspended 40 - 60 feet down. This is very unusual for this time of year. I guess the fronts, the lowering of the lake level and the lower surface water temperature have effected the normal spring time pattern. I ended going with my summer and winter rigged poles with a 2 oz. weight and fishing straight over the boat. This method worked for meon Sunday and from what I have been hearing, from some guests, it also worked this morning. ( I slept in this morning, but will be back at it tomorrow early) Another bait that is actually out producing live bait is the Alabama rigs, I have a group of fishermen here this week and they have been trolling the Alabama Rigs. They have caught as many if not more than I have been catching. Great job guys. The lake level has stabilized at normal pool and the weather pattern seems to becoming more stable so maybe things will get back to normal. If you can't find the striper in shallow water check out deep before you give up. There was top water action starting to happen right before the cold front rolled in. Last Thursday evening I got into some nice hybrid and white bass action casting Zara Spooks.

The lake level currently sits at 552.06. The surface water temperature has fallen to the low 60s to high 50's. The main lake is clearing and most creeks and coves are also clear, but still somewhat stained. Periodic power generation is occurring to help maintain the normal pool level.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

All fish in the photos were released except for the Striped bass. These photos only show a sampling of my catches as I do a lot of releasing on site. Check out Hummingbird Hideaway Resort's facebook page for additional current fishing information.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

The Norfork Lake spring fishing bite is in full swing. It is very hard to say what is the current best bite on the lake, but I guess I would have to say it is smallmouth, largemouth and spotted bass. Coming in a very close second would be hybrid bass and striped bass. The walleye and crappie bites are picking up and the catfish are hitting trotlines and jugs. Oh yeh, throw some white bass into the mix and you have the full spectrum of fish on Norfork Lake. Pick your species and go out and have fun. I guess I am making it sound easy, every day has its ups and downs, but I believe this is a great time of year for fishing. Norfork Lake is a very dynamic place right now, the fish are continually moving, the lake is dropping rapidly, the water is trying to clear-up and Mother Nature has thrown in a few cold fronts on occasion to make sure we get fishing changes. After our 11foot rise in water a few weeks back the bite stalled for about 4 days after the rise, but boy has the bite come back with a vengeance.

The smallmouth, largemouth and spotted bass bite for this spring is the best I have ever seen. You can find fish on shallow points as well as on deep bluff lines. Crank baits that dive about 10 feet are catching nice fish. Spinner baits on windy days are working great. Probably the most productive baits are the tube jig, jig and pig, and Texas rigged worms worked slowly along the bottom. Start your baits in around 5 feet of water and work it through 25 feet depths before you bring it up. Crawdad colors of the green to the deep reds are working well. Of course, swimming minnows / grubs worked close to the bottom are also effective. I am finding bass up very shallow early in the morning with some top water activity. If you see the top water action throw a Zara Spook. I have caught many smallmouth this way early in the morning. As the sun comes up I have found the fish dropping back to 10 - 20 feet depthsr. The largemouth and spots are typically in the 10 - 15 range and the smallmouth seems to be in the 15 - 20 range. You can find bass all over the lake. Live bait is working exceptionally well.

The striper and hybrid bass bite are improving by leaps and bounds. Just today one of my guide friends, Tom Reynolds of STR Outfitters, caught a limit for 2 clients in 50 minutes and continued to catch and release thereafter. Tom was fishing the dam area with live shad. I have been catching hybrids and stripers up close to the banks early in the morning with Zara spooks, Flukes and free swimming live shad. After the sun rises fishing with swimming minnows should also work. Live bait is still one of your best options. Drop a couple baits down about 20 feet and also have a few free swimming baits thrown towards the shore. The fish are continually moving and if they are in the area they will find your bait. The dam area has been one of the better bites lately, but the fish are starting to bite in the Bennetts area, Float and Panther creeks as the water in these areas are starting to clear. I am going to concentrate my striper fishing to these areas next week. I will let you know.

Walleye fishing has improved. Several of our bass fishermen have been catching some nice fish off the ends of deep bluff lines with crawdad colored crankbaits. The walleye seem to be in about 10 feet of water. I caught a nice 22 inch 3.5 pound walleye the other morning before daylight throwing a suspending rogue at the ends of docks with lights.

Channel cats are coming into shallow water to feed and spawn. A couple of our Bass Cat guest set a couple of trotlines and were baiting them up with live shiners. They ended up catching a bakers dozen. the best part of their catch was that they ended up catch 4 nice cats on bare hooks. Yes I did say no bait. They had set their lines one evening then a storm rolled in and they didn't get a chance to bait them up. The next evening they went out to bait up the lines and ended up finding 4 cats with no bait. These fish must really be hungry.

The lake level is currently falling about 8 inches per day and sits at 555.84. The Corps has forecast to be at normal pool of 552 by April 22, 2012,  The quick drop in water level will slowly diminish over the next week until the level stabilizes. This will also enhance the clearing process. The surface water temperature yesterday morning was from the mid to upper 60s. This should help spur on some top water action. The lake is still stained, but is having color changes showing the clearing process has started.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

The Fall bite on Norfork Lake is getting better and better each day. Currently the best bite on the lake is for largemouth and smallmouth bass, crappie, bluegill and catfish. The lake is still on the warm side, but with upcoming cool fronts, the lake should dip into the low to mid 60's. Ideal fishing temperatures. It also appears that the lake is close to completing (if not finished) its annual turn-over. The fishing should really start to improve :-)

To all those that will be traveling to Mountain Home for the Mr. Bass of Arkansas Pro-Am fishing tournament on Norfork Lake, have a safe trip to the area. I predict it will be a great tournament with many fish being caught. Have a great time.

The black bass pattern is still very similar to my last report. You will find largemouth and smallmouth bass around brush piles in 20 - 30 feet of water. Also fish along deep bluff lines as the sun comes up, the fish are hanging on the ledges. The biggest change is that you will also find the fish back in the creeks and coves following the shad. I fished a jointed shad rap for a while yesterday late morning and had success on main lake points working the windy side. Most of the fish I caught were short, but I did catch one keeper. There has been some top water action as the sun rises and also as it sets. Most of the fish I have caught have been the small ones. I believe the big boys are staying deep waiting for cooler water. The baits of choice are still jigs worked slowly on the bottom. Cast to about 10 feet of water, let it sink to the bottom and work it though 30 feet of water before bringing it back to the boat. Spinner baits and crank baits are starting to produce some fish, but again mostly short ones.

Yesterday I found schooling crappie off of a rocky bank inside of a cove. I was spooning in about 30 feet of water and saw a lot of bait on the bottom. Each time I dropped my spoon (1 oz. green and white) a crappie would hammer the bait. I ended up catching 4 nice nice crappie before I lost the school. The two fish in the photo swallowed the treble hook so I ended up keeping them. The others were released. I also caught two fat walleye in the same area, but they were only 17 inches long. I have also caught a few crappie on brush piles in 25 - 35 feet of water. The crappie are getting very active so if you are targeting crappie it might be a good time to plan a trip.

Striped bass fishing is still up and down. Last Saturday Tom Reynolds of STR Outfitters had a good trip with Kari and Robert Bahus. They were fishing up north with live shad. Yesterday I fished the same area and only had one fish on that broke off and another pull down and release. I fished for about 3 hours with only the two bites then decided to do a little bass fishing. With the cooling of the water and the turn-over of the lake, I expect very soon the stripers to turn on with a vengeance. I hope!!!

The Norfork Lake level is fairly stable with intermittent generation and currently sits at 570.56. The lake has dropped about 1 feet in the last two weeks. The lake surface water temperature has fallen to the mid to upper 60's. The main lake is fairly clear with the creeks and coves starting to clear.

On a final note the weather forecast for tomorrow is for some rain and cooler temperatures. By the weekend it is forecast for sunny skies with highs in the 60's and lows in the 40's. Great weather for fishing or just viewing the surrounding scenery. Another great fall weekend is in store for us so call for reservations, you don't want to missed out on this beautiful fall weather at Hummingbird Hideaway Resort.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

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.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

Well I didn't get out Striper fishing on Norfork Lake last evening as planned, the thunderstorms scared me off, but I have talked to a couple of guides this morning and the night bite was still happening. The guides were fishing the mid lake area, similar places that I have been fishing. They were throwing suspending rogues (same as I have been doing) and boated several good fish. It also sounds like the morning bite is starting to pick up as another guide is out now and has boated several and lost several on live shad. The morning bite should really improve with the rain that we have had. Can't wait for the top water bite to start happening.

I have also talked to some local fishermen who have been white bass fishing and have really been slamming them. They are back in the creeks in about 20 or less ft. Spooning was working for them as well as heavy spinner baits.

I forgot to mention that I have caught several good walleye during the night bite on the same rogues that the Stripers are hitting.

I hope to get out on Norfork Lake soon to catch more fish. My favorite pasttime.