Norfork Lake Fishing Report

Spring time fishing on Norfork Lake has been very exciting over the last 10 days. Last week we had a large group of fishermen from the Kansas City area. They had a great time fishing for striped bass. Last week the best place for stripers was from the Diamond Bay area to the dam. This group's bait of choice was to troll the new Alabama rig baited with 3.5" swimming minnows. This method proved to be very effective. We had a lot of weather changes during the week which affected the bite, but they ended up landing some very nice stripers. The top two photos are examples of the fish caught by this group. Live bait was also working, but the Alabama rig was outfishing live bait. This is not the usual case, but last week it was. Stripers are on the move and being found at different depths.  This gives you a lot of options to check out with your electronics. I have found fish on the shoreline as well as 30 feet deep on the bottom. I have also marked fish in the channels down deep. Look for the bait fish and you may find the fish. I have caught fish and have reports of other fish being caught in the mid lake area as well as up in Bennett's and over toward Cranfield. This is a normal occurrence for spring fishing. This morning I hooked into a nice size fish, but after about 5 minutes of fight the hooks on my spook bent out and the fish escaped. Yes, I said on my Zara Spook, I have been finding top water action for black bass as well as stripers. Keep your eyes open when you're traveling in your boat. I had several fishing trips over the last week and we had a lot of fun catching hybids, stripers, walleye, smallmouth, largemouth and spots. The third and forth photos are some of the fish we caught.

Bass fishing has still been very good. I am finding largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass on main lake and secondary creek points. Early in the morning they are very shallow as well as pushing shad to the top. Caught several the last two morning  on Zara spooks. I fished with Grant this morning and caught fish on top water as well as on grubs and live bait. This  morning live bait was definitely more productive than artificial baits. But artificial baits are working, crank baits, spinner baits, jig & pigs, swimming minnows, you name it and it will more than likely catch some bass.

The crappie bite is good most days. My guests are catching a few off of my dock during the middle of the day. They fish on the lake early in the morning and in the evenings, then they get out of the sun under the dock and catch crappie and bluegills. What a life. Crappie are also being found over brush that is in 15 - 25 feet of water. The fish will be suspended over and around the brush so try different depths. Live minnows is working the best.

The Norfork Lake level is basically at normal pool 551.95. Power generation has been sporadic but is holding the lake level steady. The surface water temperature is in the up 60's to low 70's, but will be warmer in shallow water. The lake is clearing but still stained.

The fish are biting!

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

Fishing on Norfork Lake today was exciting and a lot of fun. The rain has finally stopped and the sun is shining. We're getting back to our typical great spring fishing season. The twin lakes area has received 14 or 15 inches of rain over the last week or so, bringing the lake to the top of the flood pool. Some may think this is a bad thing, but think again. Fishing on Norfork Lake is starting to explode. Just this morning I took a couple from the Tinley Park, IL area out fishing and we had great fun with smallmouth bass. The largest was about 20 inches. We ended up catching over 30 fish in a two - three hour period, 14 were keeper size. We missed as many as we caught. We started fishing right after day break and that was definitely the best bite. As the sun rose the bite slowed, but they did still bite. My Tinley Park guests headed out this afternoon to try their hand at striper fishing. They were using large shiners as bait and landed this nice 11 pound striped bass. Pictured is Brian's first Norfork Lake striped bass. He is really really excited! Brian caught his striper with a large shiner with a small split shot on 6 pound test line. The fish hit the bait about 10 ft down. Striper guides have been doing very well on the striped bass. Tom Reynolds of STR Outfitters has caught over 40 fish for his guests over the last 5 days. The photo is some our guests after a trip with Tom. Robert Lee of Lee's Lite Line has been pulling in many quality fish for our guests. A friend set some trot lines for catfish last weekend and caught over 15 nice size catfish. A few crappie are being caught over deeper brush piles in 25 - 30 feet of water, but watch for these fish to move into the trees along the sides of the lake very soon. They may be tricky to get to, but when you get to them you will be rewarded for the effort. I have had many reports of top water action for black bass, white bass, striped and hybrid bass. This will only increase with the upcoming warm dry weather. It is becoming a very exciting time!

A second benefit of the high water is that it is going to be great for the spawn of all lake species, insuring great fishing for the future. I can definitely see the quality and quantity of all Norfork Lake fish species just growing by leaps and bounds. The numbers and sizes of largemouth and smallmouth bass that I have been catching this spring is exceeding all previous fishing seasons thanks to the high water we had in 2008 and 2009. I'm hearing the same thing from the crappie guides.

To find water with the best clarity look back in creeks in the Robinson area and on down to the dam or around the 101 area. The best bite will be in this off colored water to clear water. The main lake from Cranfield to Robinson is still muddy. Some of the creeks are starting to clear to a greenish off color (great fishing clarity). With the upcoming week of nice warm weather I expect the muddy areas to start clearing.

The Norfork Lake level is falling about 9 - 10 inches per day. The fall in the water level is due to the spillways being opened releasing high volumes of water into the North Fork River. The lake level is currently at 579.78 feet above sea level. The surface water temperature this morning was 60 degrees which is a drop of about 5 degrees from a week ago.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

Striped Bass, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, walleye and crappie are all being caught on Norfork Lake. The fishing has been really good and will only get better as the temperature rises. I have guests striper fishing using medium size gizzard shad and they are just hammering the fish. All of their fish were caught on free swimming baits and the stripers came out of the water to attack the bait. The best bite for them seems to be in the late afternoon. The Bennett's area has been their top location, but they have caught stripers in East Pigeon and the Cranfield area as well. I have heard that the night bite is taking off. I can't confirm that since I have fished after dark in several areas and have found no stripers. Or at least they didn't like the flavor of rogue I was casting. I will keep trying and will find them eventually.

Crappie, bass and walleye fishing yesterday under the cloudy skies was really good for Ed, a Wisconsin guest. Ed was using a small paddle tail with a 1/8 ounce jig head. The paddle tail was in the darker colors with a lighter tail. He found fish in shallow water 7 - 15 feet deep back in coves. He found some fallen timber that was laying on the shore and stretched out into the water and caught fish all day long yesterday. This almost 16 inch crappie was his prize. Ed was fishing the Cranfield area and coves heading up river. The fish were lying on the bottom to a few feet off of it.

As mentioned earlier I fished last evening. I started trolling a couple of shallow running crank baits because the wind was blowing pretty brisk. As the sun was setting I started to cast the shore with a rogue. All of sudden fish started to break the surface. I cast my rogue into the break, cranked down two cranks and largemouths would just hammer the bait. In about a 45 minute period I landed 6 bass in the 3 - 4 pound range and lost several other. It was fun!! Once it got real dark the fish went down and I started casting the shoreline again. I fished until about 9PM with only one strike. I think it was a bass. I was fishing back in the Bennett's area.

The lake level is rising slowly and currently sits at 548.31. Minimal generation. The surface water temperature has fallen to 51 - 53 degrees due to the cool nights that we have been having. The water clarity is gin clear. The clarity may change a bit as there is rain in the forecast tomorrow, then the weather is to become gorgeous and warm again. Fishing in April should be out of site!

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

Early fall has been a great fishing time for the bass fishermen and fisherwomen. Largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass are being found all over the lake. I have had the best luck on bluff line points for spotted bass, deep bluff lines and brush piles for the largemouth and deep bluff lines for the smallmouth. All of my fish have been caught in 30 - 40 feet of water either vertical jigging with a spoon or with live shiners. Live crawdads will work great this time of year for the spotted bass. One guest last week fished a few hours in the morning and a few hours at sunset and after dark. He was pitching a dark colored jig and pig along the bluff lines and caught close to his limit each time he went out. His fish were caught in 15 - 25 feet of water.

I fished with a couple of my guests yesterday morning and we started looking for stripers with no luck so I started to move closer to the points and bluffs. We hooked up with some nice bass, catfish and walleye. We were fishing with live shiners as well as spoons. One of the guests started throwing a small popper at the banks. He picked up a few nice largemouth and a whole bunch of hand sized blue gill. I fished the Fall Creek area, Diamond Bay area and along the Robinson bluffs. We caught fish at all locations. It wasn't non-stop action, but we caught some quality fish.

Last week we also had a couple of pan fisherpeople. They loaded up on large hand size red eared blue gill and had a blast. They took home a freezer full. Crickets were the bait of choice. This was non stop action!

Striper fishing has still been slow. I have had reports of one or two being caught, but nothing to say they are in the fall feeding pattern. This time of year we should be finding them schooled in the mid lake area, but we're not at this time. The lake is still a little warmer than normal so this may be affecting the bite. I have marked stripers, but I can not get them to bite. This is what I'm hearing from everyone I've asked. Once the lake temperature gets into the 60's I think we will see a major change. Of course this is not going to stop me from trying to locate and catch them. If all else fails I will go catch some nice bass and walleye.

Crappie fishing has picked up. You can find them over brush piles that is in 30 - 40 feet of water. The crappie should be suspended about 15 - 30 feet down. Use live minnows, a small spoon or a twister tail grub tipped with a minnow. Keep checking the various brush piles in the lake, you will find them.

The lake level is falling slowing and sits at 551.2. The Corps is running 1 - 2 generators sporadically during the day. The surface lake water temperature has been around 72 degrees. The main lake is clear with the creeks and coves cloudy.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

Happy belated July 4th to all. It has been pretty busy around the resort and my fishing boat has been rented for skiing and tubing. I did finally get out fishing the last two days and did OK but not great. The black bass are still coming up somewhat early in the morning, by 8AM they have gone down deep. Today I caught 6 largemouth all 15 inches and all caught on a spook. I was also vertical jigging with a spoon. A large school of striper went under me and I hooked one momentarily while reeling up quickly though the school.It buried my rod tip in the water and when I set the hook the fish came unhooked! I immediately dropped the spoon and when it hit about 35 feet I felt my line go slack. I set the hook and the fish just took off. It ran across the bow of my boat and the line snapped. I think the line must have been cut by the fish's gill plate. I had another rod rigged with a spoon and dropped it and again the line went slack, I set the hook and the fish dove and as quickly as it dove the lure came unhooked. I did notice one of the hooks was bent out. I guess I have forgotten how to land a fish. I will get them the next time, which may not be until next week. I am finding white bass and black bass on the bottom in 30 - 40 feet of water. The stripers are suspended in 30 - 40 feet of water. I have been fishing back in the major creeks and fishing the secondary points especially where there is a channel swing.

The Norfork Lake level is at 554.16 and holding steady. The main lake is clear and the creeks are clearing. The surface water temperature was at 87 degrees this morning a few degrees lower than last week.

Happy fishing and see you on the water.

PS: The top photo's are some black bass spooned up by my brother-in-law John over the 4th and the second photo is of Chuck Pate and his client. Chuck is a very dedicated striper guide on Norfork Lake. His client hooked into this 33 pound striper on the 101 bridge columns. The fish took off between the columns and under the support brace. Chuck grabbed the rod and dove into the water and took the pole under the support bracing so the line would not be cut by the concrete. Once on the other side Chuck handed the rod back to his 13 year old client who continued to land this monster.