Norfork Lake Fishing Report

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Norfork Lake fishing is still in its spring fishing pattern, but the fish are starting to transition to their summer fishing pattern. You may ask what in the heck am I talking about? In the spring the fish seem to migrate back into the creeks where the water is warming quicker and the bait is spawning. The fish are typically scattered and in shallow water (surface to 30 feet down) and can be right on the shore line. As the water warms in the main lake the fish start to school and move out to deeper water and into the main lake. Norfork Lake will get a thermocline and the fish will typically stay at the thermocline level and above it. Norfork Lake's current thermocline is around 30 feet, but with the warmer daytime and evening temperatures the thermocline will typically drop to around 40 feet and sometimes lower. Over the past couple of days I found fish half way back in creeks to the mouth of creeks and some fish are showing up on main lake deep flats. In my experience, this pattern change is the start of the summer fishing pattern. The above is an over simplification of spring and summer fishing, but hopefully you get the gist of the process.

 

Striper fishing has been really good for a lot of fishermen. Live bait fishing is working really well with larger baits working the best on the bigger fish. Gizzards in the 6 - 8 inch size are currently the best bait for the bigger strippers. Yesterday I fished with my sister-in-law and nephew and we caught a nice striper on a large gizzard shad, the hybrid on a thread fin, missed another good fish and landed a largemouth on a threadfin shad. Baiting was really tough so I only had 6 baits, but they all produced. Thread fin shad (typically smaller in size) are working great with the smaller stripers and the hybrids. As the stripers continue to school thread fin shad will become the bait of choice. With this transition to the smaller baits, vertical jigging with a spoon starts to work really well. Friday I found schooling fish around 8:30AM and they stayed in one area for about and hour and a half. I spooned up 4 stripers in the 6 - 10 pound range and lost 5 others. All fish were released except for the 10 pounder in the above photo.  I am slow to regain my jigging techniques so I loose a lot of fish. With the spoon, the fish were hitting it on the fall, so if you are not quick enough to set the hook you will not get a good hook set and lose the fish. Some fisherman are trolling umbrella/Alabama rigs. The trick to this fishing technique is to get it way behind the boat. Several hundred feet may not be far enough. The reason for this is to help get the bait deep enough and to keep your boat motor from spooking the fish. I am finding all the stripers 30 - 50 down in 50 - 100+ feet of water so how ever you are fishing you need to get your baits down to the 30 - 50 feet range. Start at 30 then go deeper as the sun comes up.

Bass fishing has also been really good. Largemoth and spotted bass are still coming up early and late in the day so have your top water bait handy. While we were striper fishing yesterday morning I notice a few fish coming up. I started throwing my clear Zara Spook and landed 4 nice largemouth bass in the 2.5 - 3.5 pound range. These fish were out in 100 feet of water, but still close to shore as the channel swings in tight on the the bluff wall where I was fishing. Crank baits and swimming minnows are also working great early and late in the day. Mid day bass will be down in deeper water 15 - 30 feet and usually concentrated around brush. Work your Texas rigged worms or Jig & Pigs slowly along the bottom in 15 - 30 ft of water.

Crappie are starting to become hard to find. With the warmer water they will typically go to deep brush and deep ledges off of the bluff lines.  You can still find some really nice crappie around docks when the bait is coming into the docks. Their feeding habits continue to change. Over the last couple of weeks my dock crappie have been caught throughout the day, but never at the same time day after day.

White bass fishing has been great when you can find the fish. They are schooling and in the same depths as the stripers. Some of the whites will still be coming up early and late in the day. Check back in creeks and also on the deeper main lake flats. They will be schooling and feeding on shad. Vertical jigging will work great once you find the whites.

I have not been walleye fishing, but June is typically one of my favorite months to fish for walleye. They will be on main lake points and flats. Drag a crawler harness along the ridges of the points from 15 feet to the thermocline or vertical jig with a spoon at the thermocline level.

Catfish are in shallow water. Trotlines and jugs are producing some really nice fish.

The Norfork Lake surface water temperature yesterday morning was 84 - 85 degrees and will continue to warm. Our air temps is forecast to be in the 90's during the day and low 70's in the evening. Can not ask for anything better. The main lake water if very clear with some creeks and coves  a little stained. The lake is dropping slowly and currently sits at 559.38, The Corp is generating power 12+ hours per day. It is estimated the lake will be back to normal summer pool of 556.8 around July 6th.

It's not too late to plan a trip to Lake Norfork this summer. Give us a call to see what we have available. 870-492-5113

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

  

 

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

Norfork Lake is shaping up to be a great place for fall fishing. The lake temperature has dropped into the upper 60's. The lake appears to have turned-over or at least the thermocline has dropped to 50 - 60 feet. The lake is clearing up. Top water action is starting. Fish are starting to feed in very shallow water. Fish are moving back onto brush piles. These are all typical signs of the beginning of the fall bite and the top water action really excites me! Over the last couple of weeks the stripers have been very hard to find and today I have found out why. They have started their fall move to the mid and upper portions of the lake. I was in the mid lake area this morning vertical jigging off of a main lake point in 35 feet of water. I had landed a nice walleye and several nice bass off of this point when I started to hear a lot of splashing going on. I looked out over the lake and saw one of my favorite fishing sights, striped bass were jumping out of the water all over the place. They kept coming closer to me and I picked up my spook rod and started to cast and walk-the-dog back to the boat. The spook got slammed several times and each fish missed then all of sudden another strike, I set the hook and off to the races we went. Ten minutes later I landed the above 14 pound striper. I quickly got my spook out of the fishes mouth and casted again. A second fish hammered it and off it ran. This fish was giving a good fight and I finally was making headway. I bent down to get the first striper out of the net and I must have given the fish a little slack and it came off:( I know better.) By this time the top water action had stopped and the fish were gone.There were hundreds of fish in this school making this a great sign of future fishing fun. I sure hope it keeps up and gets better. I could have been spooning as well as casting a spook. When I looked at the graph it showed all kinds of fish feeding under the boat.



















Largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass fishing is also improving daily. Fish can be caught in a variety of methods. I have been vertical jigging a spoon in 25 - 40 feet of water, throwing a jig & pig, and have started to cast a suspending rogue. I have been catching most of the fish off of the jig & pig. These fish are anywhere from on the shore to 25 feet deep. Jerk bait fishing (I use a rouge) is starting to heat up. I landed three nice spotted bass on a rogue yesterday morning. I have been working the bait as a jerk bait, by this I mean: I cast the bait to the shore, let it sit for a few seconds and give it a couple quick jerks, stop and let it sit, then give it a couple more jerks. I continue this method back to the boat. Live bait will also work, worms, shiners, shad and crawdad are all good live bait choices. I have mainly been concentrating on bluffs lines and points of the bluff lines. I have not really checked back in the major creeks, but secondary points in the creeks should be holding fish.

I have found walleye on the same rocky points as the bass. I caught all my walleye with a spoon vertical jigging in 30 - 40 feet of water.

Crappie are starting to move back onto brush piles that are in 20 - 40 feet of water. Vertical jigging a small spoon, casting a grub tipped with a minnow or just a minnow with a slip bobber will do the trick. Main lake brush has been the better areas, but keep checking the major creek brush, they will be on them soon. The fish will vary their depths depending on the time of day and how much sun light there is. Keep changing your depths until you find the fish.

Catfish are still hitting trotlines and jugs baited with live minnows. Guests are catching some nice fish while floating with crawlers on the bottom.

The Norfork Lake level is falling slowly and currently sits at 544.29. The surface water temperature is also falling and was at 68 - 69 degrees this morning. The lake is becoming clearer with a slight stain back in the creeks and coves.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

It has been a long time since I have written a fishing report for Norfork Lake, so I must apologize. I will try and do better. Our busiest time of year at the resort is the summer months so my free time to fish has been limited. I still try and get out on Norfork Lake a couple times a week, but that's a far cry from what I am used to. Even with all the heat most fish are biting very well. The best times to fish the lake are early in the mornings and in the evenings. After dark fishing has its benefits too. In my opinion the best bites on the lake are for largemouth bass, smallmouth bass and spotted bass. The white bass  and hybrid bass bites are improving. Catfishing is picking up, the striped bass bite is hit and miss and the crappie are becoming very hard to find.

There still is quite a bit of top water action for largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass early in the morning and some right at dusk. A spook is still working so have your favorite top water bait ready for action. Areas where I am finding black bass are on main lake points closest to the mouth of major creeks and along the bluff lines. Find the shad early in the morning and you will find feeding fish. As the sun comes up the bass start to go deeper. You will find them in 20 - 30 feet of water from the bottom to suspended out in deep water, but still close to the shore. Look for areas where the channel swings into the shore. I have been catching bass on live bait as well as vertical jigging with a spoon.

I am starting to find big schools of white bass back in major creeks in 23 to 50 feet of water. The schools will be solid with fish and scattered bait. Live bait will work, but vertical jigging and casting out a spoon has been working the best for me. Small spinners or blade baits should also work well. Along with the white bass will be hybrid bass and smaller striped bass. I have found some of the larger hybrid bass in 28 feet of water feeding on crawdads off of main lake points. Again, spooning and live bait have worked the best for me.

Striped bass have been very difficult for me to find and when I do find them they don't seem to want my flavor of bait.  I have found some very large schools of stripers out in deep water and also in shallow water at 30 feet. It seems that the shallow stripers are starting to move out to deeper water. I will start to concentrate my hunt to deeper water and hopefully I will start to find feeding fish in these locations. It is becoming that time of the season when the stripers start to move to 40 - 80 feet of water and they will usually be found on the bottom.

The crappie bite has also slowed which is not unusual for July and August. I have had several guests bring in several nice size crappie caught with live minnows around the bridges and also trolling back in creeks with a small jointed Rapala.

Last evening one of our guests brought Linda and me a plate of bacon wrapped fish with some really nice tasting seasonings. They cooked the fish on a charcoal grill. It was some of the best tasting fish we have ever had. I will get the recipe and pass it along in our website's blog. It is definitely a must try meal!!

Norfork Lake level is resting at 549.24 which is a little less than 3 feet under normal pool of 552. There has been some generation each day, but minimal. The lake surface water temperature is still holding in the mid to up 80's. The cooler evening temperatures have been offsetting the extremely hot day time temps. The lake is still stained, but you can see it trying to clear.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

Norfork Lake fishing is in a transition period with fish going from their spring pattern to their summer time pattern. This basically means fish are moving to deeper cooler water. Largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, spotted bass, crappie and walleye have moved out to 20 - 28 feet depths and the striped bass have moved even deeper. This doesn't mean fishing is harder, it just means you just need to change your fishing tactics. In fact, warm weather fishing is often easier as some species start to school up.

The striped bass bite has started to get very good. I am finding large schools of fish in 30 - 50 feet of water and on occasion they will be suspended in 100+ feet of water. This is the time of year that a good graph is very helpful in locating fish. I rely on my Lowrance HD unit heavily. Typically if I don't mark fish I end up moving to a different location until I mark fish then the fun begins trying to get them to eat. I have been out striper fishing for the last three mornings with success. This AM was the slowest day for me as I only landed one 15 pound fish and lost two other. I guess I am getting spoiled when I say "I only caught one 15 pound fish"! Yesterday I caught several in the 10 pound range and Friday AM caught fish with the big one being 20 pounds. I have been using live shad, but large shiners will also work. I am finding stripers along bluff lines close to a point. Concentrate on main lake points as the stripers still have not moved back into the creeks, at least I have not been able to locate them in the creeks. Also big flats are holding fish. They are located 35 to 40 feet down in 35 to 50+ feet of water. Find the bait fish and the stripers will be under shallower bait and on top of or inside of the deeper bait. This is also when vertical jigging a spoon starts to work. When you find fish free fall the spoon through the fish then reel up to the depth they are located. Jig the spoon up and down (I find being erratic with the jigging works for me) a few times then reel up and start over. If you like trolling try trolling the new Alabama rig, but you will need to get the bait down to around 30 feet of water. Let out a couple hundred feet of line and you may also need to add in-line weights. Lead core line will work to get you down as will a down rigger. With all the above talk about deeper fish, I did get into topwater stripers several times yesterday morning, but each time I went for my rod with a spook, one or two of my down poles would take off.

Smallmouth, largemouth and spotted bass are in the 20 - 28 feet range of water typically hugging the bottom. I have caught fish on the banks throwing a Wiggle Wart, but all the fish I have caught this way have been small. The bigger bass have moved out to deeper water. I am finding  bass in similar locations as the stripers, but closer to the shore. Main lake points are still the best and if they have brush on them even better. Jig and Pigs, swimming minnows, grubs and other plastics are good choices at this tme, work back to the boat slowly along the bottom. Of course if you like using live bait, your numbers of fish caught should increase. Some topwater action is still occurring early in the mornings.

Walleye are in the same locations as the bass, main lake points. Slow trolling or drifting a nightcrawler harness is producing nice fish. Leaches will also work very well. I am being told that using leaches in Norfork Lake is OK per the Game and Fish. This is a change from what I have been told in the past. You might want to double check with the Game and Fish for yourself before using them.

Crappie are around brush that is in 25 feet or shallower water. They are continually moving to different depths and locations around the brush. You will need to test depths, whether they are on top of the brush, inside of the brush or outside of the brush. Slip bobbers using a jig tipped with a minnow or just a minnow is working well. Some of our guests fished with both Harvey Hall and Jay Smith on Friday and had a great time. They all caught many nice slabs. Hopefully I will have photos soon.

Catfish are doing really well on jugs and trotlines baited with live shiners. I saw several very large fish come into the dock this week that were caught on crank baits and jig and pigs. All were flatheads.

The Norfork Lake level has fallen to 551.2 since my last report, but has been very stable for the last several days. Sporadic power generation is occurring, but minimal. The lake surface water temperature has fallen a few degrees over the last couple of day. I was geting75 - 77 degree temps this AM. in the main lake. Creeks and coves will be warmer. The lake is still stained, but seems to be trying to clear.

If you are Facebook followers you can get up to date fish catches from me and our guests with some fishing info, so log into Facebook for Hummingbird Hideaway Resort and like us.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.