Norfork Lake fishing has been pretty good. The best bites on the lake are for crappie, large & smallmouth bass, walleye and then striped bass. Hey wait, that is most species in the lake!! Yes, most species are biting and the best bite is early in the morning and late in the afternoon. This is very typical for this time of year, sunrise and sunset are the best time to find active fish.

Two methods of fish are working the best for crappie. (1) Trolling Berkley Flicker Minnows size 7 and size 9. The size 7 get down to about 15 feet and the size 9 goes to about 20 feet. I troll with my trolling motor and travel about 1.2 mph. I fish in coves that have a lot of sunken brush piles. Somedays the fish are scattered out anywhere from 20 feet of

water out to 40 feet. (2) Vertical jigging a small spoon or a small grub with a jig head. Find brush in 25 to 35 feet of water and then locate the part of the brush pile the comes up in the water column the highest. I am finding crappie suspended 10 to 25 feet deep. Vertical jig for them or mark your spot with a float, then cast to this spot with a slip float and then slightly twitch the line to keep the grub moving slightly. You can also tip the grub with a live minnow to get more action.

Largemouth, spotted and smallmouth bass are hanging around close to shore. With the high water there is a lot of sunken buckbrush 10 to 18 feed deep. The fish are hanging inside the brush. On windy days cast out a spinner bait and work it on top of the brush. You can also use grubs, worms or flukes and cast them to just outside the brush and let them sink to the bottom. I would think that a Ned Rig would work great at this time, just outside of the brush. Many times, when you lift the bait off the bottom there is a fish on. Right at sunrise and again at sunset there is topwater action for this species. Any topwater bait or a swimbait will work great.

Long shallow points, part way back into coves and also on the shallow side of the main lake are great places to try.

The walleye bite has been getting better for me. I have picked up some walleye when trolling my Flicker Minnows in 20 – 30 feet of water and also when I’m fishing close to the sunken buck brush on long shallow points. On these points I have been casting out a 6-inch swimbait and have been doing well for most species including Walleye. Once the bait starts to move onto the flats, bottom bouncers with nightcrawlers will start to work great. I have also done very well for walleye before sunrise, in the dark, using my swimbait in similar types of areas as long as there is bait in the area.

The bite for striped and hybrid bass has also been fairly good, but this bite has been inconsistent for me. One day I find the bait and the fish are nearby feeding, then the next day they are gone and I am out looking again. The cool weather frontal systems that we have been having weekly, affect this species the most. I also think the changing surface temperatures due to these frontal systems have a big role on striped bass feeding habits.  I have found stripers in 2 different parts of the lake, but very   There have been days when the fish move out to deep water, 50 to 70 feet of water, and suspend from the surface down to 20 or 30 feet. Live bait is working very well, but casting out swimbaits is working the best for me. Other days I find them close to the shore line, especially long shallow points that have lots of flooded buck brush. The bait moves into the buck brush to hide
and the fish follow. Pitching live bait with no weight into 10 to 20 feet of water then waiting for the pole to bend to the water before setting the hook is working, as well as, casting out swimbaits or shallow diving hard baits such as a suspending jerkbaits.  I have gotten into some good topwater action for stripers, but not on a daily basis. This action is typically when I find the fish and bait out in deeper water. That is not to say throwing out a Zara spook into shallow water will not call a fish up.

If you enjoy looking at Facebook, go to Hummingbird Hideaway Resort’s Facebook page and you will get frequent and most times daily fishing reports and daily catches. My Facebook page is a great place to check out the most current fishing information on Norfork Lake.

We had a big rain last evening and the lake is again on a slow rise. It came up 3.5 inches over night and the Corps. of Engineers has just reduced the out flow of water so expect the lake to come up a little more. The lake surface temperature has been hoovering around 60 to 62 degrees. The lake has cleared up nicely, but with last nights rains I would expect the backs of the creeks and coves will become slightly stained. Overall fishing has been good and with stable weather and water levels the bite will become outstanding.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report by Lou of Hummingbird Hideaway Resort 870-492-5113

Spring is coming, I promise!. The weather is still playing games with us, and the fishing seems to be effected for a day or so after each frontal system. In between systems the fishing gets good and people catch all species for a couple of days. Then the cycle begins again. Over the last week many fish were caught including striped bass, hybrid bass, white bass, walleye, crappie, spotted bass and largemouth bass.

It appears that over the last couple of days, largemouth and spotted bass fishing has gotten really good. Baitfish have moved into the sunken buck brush and the bass have followed suit. Plastics and hard baits are both working. Unweighted flukes or bass assassins cast into the brush with slight twitches have made the bass go crazy. They are right inside of the brush so once you get hammered you will have a fun time getting the fish out. Lots of 14 - 17 inch fish have been caught and released with lots of smiles on the fisherman's face. Try out a jerk bait doing the similar routine. Find an opening in the brush and cast in a Zara spook and walk the dog out of the brush and watch the bass erupt on your bait. It will not be long until the smallies start to get real active.

Walleye fishing has also been good. They are inside of the brush, same as the bass, or right at the outside edge of the brush. A 5 inch swim bait has been working well with a 1/4 - 3/8 ounce jig head. Cast the swim bait to the edge of the brush and let it sink a little, then retrieve the bait slowly back to the boat. Early morning and right before sunset are two great times to catch walleye close to shore. Casting out a suspending jerk bait at sunset to a little after dark will also produce some nice fish. Make sure when you are retrieving the jerk bait you do it slowly with barely making a wiggle with bait.

Striped bass, hybrid bass and white bass fishing has had its ups and downs over the last week. The fish are chasing the shad and the shad are continuing to move. One day you find them in the backs of coves in 15 - 20 feet of water and the next day they are on main lake points or large flats in 20 - 35 feet of water. Vertical jigging or casting out a spoon has been the best method of catching many fish. The hardest part is finding their current feeding location. I have a 4 mile stretch that my guests have been fishing over the last week with some great results and other times a very tough time. They have typically been found on the shallow side of the cove or lake not the bluff line side. Casting out a 5 inch swim bait has also been picking up some nice stripers. There are a few stripers that are feeding in close to the sunken buck brush. If things happen as prior years, we will soon see schools of stripers up close to the brush feeding early and late in the day. This is what I am hoping will happen, the sooner the better.

The lake is currently on the rise after a slight rain a few days ago. We are currently sitting at 561.70 ft. above sea level with sporadic power generation though out the day. The surface water temperature is around 58 degrees on the main lake and close to 60 degrees back in the creeks and coves. The main lake is clearing nicely, but still slightly stained. You can see your bait at least 8 - 10 feet down. Some of the creeks and coves are stained, but are clearing.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

Hummingbird Hideaway Resort will be represented at the St. Louis Boat and Sportshow. Stop by and make your spring fishing trip or summer vacation reservations. We will be happy to plan a memorable trip for you. If you are not aware of Hummingbird Hideway Resort's 2015 Norfork Lake Fishing Derby give us a call at 870-492-5113 or go to our website at Hummingbird Hideaway Resort for details.

 

Winter fishing on Norfork Lake for striped bass, hybrid bass and white bass had been fantastic this year, up until a few weeks ago. Around the first of February the baitfish started to move out of their winter pattern and so did the predators. I fished several days last week and found fish on large flats in 30 – 50 ft of water on the bottom and nothing in the deep water channels. I found big schools of roaming hybrids and whites. If I was lucky enough to get over a school of fish I had fun. There were a few striped bass mixed in with the hybrids. This movement of the fish is typical for this time of year, but may have occurred a little earlier than normal. Unless this current cold front changes things, what you can expect to happen over the next 4 weeks or so is that stripers will start to migrate back into the creeks. As the water warms they will continue to move farther back in the creeks. Typically at the end of February and beginning of March, I will find stripers in the Cranfield and Fouts areas at my end of the lake. They will also be up in the Red Bank and Calamity areas this time of year. They will be feeding on bait along the bluff lines. The night bite for the stripers will start around mid March as the water temp warms to 50 degrees or so. You need to start getting your stick baits ready for the slow roll night bite, it is a blast.

Black bass have also changed their patterns a little. You will still find some nice fish on the bottom in 50 feet of water, but I have caught a few big ones suspended at 20 feet over 30 – 40 feet of water along bluff lines. Throwing an Alabama rig for these suspended fish is working well. For the bottom feeders, pig & jigs or worms are a good choice. As the water starts to warm these fish will start to move up into shallower water.

Walleye are staging for their spawn. They can be found along the side of channels off of rocky points in 30 – 50 feet of water. They will move back into creeks and coves as the water warms a little more. The Calamity area and into Missouri waters is one of the favorite spawning ground for walleye in February. Dragging crawler harnesses or live shad are great baits. Sinking stick baits are a good choice for artificial bait. The night bite will also bring out the walleye fishermen. After their spawn, they will be on shallow points at dusk and after dark.

Crappie are both scattered and on deep brush piles. The scattered fish will be following bait so if you can find a good concentrations of bait, especially around docks, the crappie won’t be far behind. I have been asked numerous times when will the crappie spawn? The rule of thumb for the crappie spawn, is when the Dogwoods just start to bloom the crappie will be up on the banks spawning. In our area this typically happens toward the end of March to the beginning April all depending on Mother Nature.

The Norfork Lake level has fallen to 548.92, but currently is stable as power generation is just keeping up with the rise. The lake should continue to drop as the Corps prepares the lake for the spring rains. The water temperature was at 45 degrees, but I would suspect it to lower a few degrees due to the snow and cold rains we received last evening. The main lake was clear and the creeks are clearing.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

Norfork Lake's striper and hybrid bass bite is still very strong. Today was no exception. I landed 4 stripers in the dark with live gizzard and thread fin shad. I started to fish about 5:45 AM in total darkness. I set out the first pole at 38 ft and was sitting in 42 ft of water. I used a 2 ounce weight with a 5 foot leader, all with 8 pound monofilament line. I started baiting up a second pole and looked over to the first rod and the line was straight out and the reel zinging away. I landed the striper shown in the 3rd photo down. I continued baiting up the rods and finally had 2 out. All of a sudden both rods got buried in the water and the fight was on. To my dismay both of the fish swam together and the lines tangled so I ended losing both of them. After this I only put out one pole and held onto it. This made things much easier. I landed another 3 fish in the same size as below and released them immediately and also missed several good bites. Once the sun rose (approx. 7 AM) the fish decided to leave my area so I had to start looking again. Today I used live bait, but prior to today I had been vertical jigging with a spoon with great success. Jackie and I fished last Thursday (top photo) and had a great time. We landed over 8 fish, mostly hybrids,all on a spoon. We found these fish part way back in a creek at a channel swing in 60 - 70 ft of water. The fish were schooled up and suspended 30 - 40 ft down. On Saturday John and Mary Kay (second photo) used live shad for their fish and they fished the same area that I fished Thursday. Today I found
the fish on a main lake point. The best bite for
stripers and hybrids are within 3 miles north of the dam and also east of the dam. It's a big area, but there's a lot of fish. If this year is anything like prior years the stripers will start to migrate away from the dam area sometime in September, but I have to say, this year has been anything but normal.

The black bass bite is also very good. Lately there has been some good topwater action at sunrise and sunset for largemouth, spotted and smallmouth bass. Today, however, there was virtually no topwater action, but I did find some
nice schools of bass 30 - 35 ft down in 30 - 60 ft of water. I landed 4 really nice largemouth bass all on a one ounce spoon. What surface action I did see was right on the shoreline. I believe the recent frontal system rolling though our area drove the bass down to the thermocline.

White bass are also schooling, but I have not had much success in finding them consistently. I have found some really big whites when I am striper fishing and some medium size whites up in the Briar Creek area. Look for the whites on the deeper flats in 40 - 60 ft of water. I have spooned up some whites and have also caught some on a Kastmaster.

I haven't targeted crappie or walleye lately so I don't have a lot to report on them. There are still a few crappie sitting under docks, but I am sure most of the crappie and walleye left the brush piles for deeper water when the water warmed up. Watch for the crappie and walleye to move back onto the brush with the upcoming cool front rolling though this week. The last walleye that I caught was in 40 ft of water on the bottom, caught with a spoon vertical jigging.

The surface water temperature this AM was 82.5 degrees. The Norfork Lake level has also dropped a little and is currently sitting at 550.05 ft about sea level. The main lake is clear with the creeks and coves stained.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

If you want to catch a striped bass, now is a great time to fish Norfork Lake. For me, the best bite on the lake has been for striped and hybrid bass with black bass and white bass not far behind. I have caught 24 stripers and hybrid in the last 4 days and only fished 3 of those 4 days. All but 3 fish, were returned to the lake to be caught again someday. I have used live shiners, but vertical jigging with a spoon has by far been the better bait. I have been using a 3/4 and a 1 ounce spoon in all white, and white with a green back. To be honest, I don't think color matters much when you are dropping the spoon into a school of feeding fish. The biggest secret for this time of year is to work the spoon very, very slowly. No big jerks or fast movements. It is cold water and the fish are moving slower this time of year, even though a few bites today almost jerked the rod out of my hands. Today's bite started out really slow. I looked and looked for stripers in the early morning with little success. I finally found schooling fish around noon and caught 9 stripers/hybrids in the next 1 1/2 hours. It was a great end to a beautiful day on the lake. I have been finding stripers and hybrids in the Cranfield area, 101 area and the Henderson area. The fish are feeding on small 1 inch shad. Find the shad and you will find the fish. The schools that I have found this week are anywhere from 30 ft. down to 90 ft. down in 100 ft of water. I have actually spooned up a striper from the bottom at 100 ft deep. Look in the old deep river channel or just off the edge of the channel, these are the types of areas where I have been have had the most luck.

 

White bass fishing has also been really good over the last couple of weeks. These are the big 2.5 plus pound whites. The great thing about the white bass is that they are hanging in very similar areas as the stripers and hybrids. When you find one you typically find the other, but maybe not at the same time of day. They are also schooling in huge schools feeding on shad. Vertical jigging with a spoon is working great for me at this time. A few times I have found the whites in a little shallower water 55 feet and deeper. I have marked them at all depths in the water column. A very good tool this time of year to finding whites is to find the feeding seagulls. If you see the birds diving in the water, go that direction and there will be fish under them. Some people think this is a silly tool to use, but why not use what nature is providing. If I am looking for a place to fish and I see birds feeding, guess what, I'm  heading that way to check out what is under the birds. I have used this method in ocean fishing for years, so why not use it here. The birds typically stick around through the winter and early spring, then they are gone. If they are not diving in the water and are just flying around, more than likely there are no fish under them.



Black bass fishing has also been very good. Today I was back in Float Creek and noticed a lot of birds feeding in a shallow cove. I headed that way and found a ton of bait. I was only in 20 feet of water and started casting a bone and orange colored suspending rougue. I worked it as a jerk bait for a while with no success then I started to just slowly roll the bait back to the boat. I landed 3 nice 17 inch largemouth. They were out in the middle of the cove not on the bank. I also landed 3 spotted bass vertical jigging in 30 - 40 ft of water off of some bluff lines.

I still have not been crappie or walleye fishing lately. I am having way too much fun striper, white and black bass fishing. I guess if the striper bite slows, I will start checking out these other species. Winter has typically been a really good bite for me for the big black and white crappies. Walleye are staging for their upcoming spawn. The spawn should happen at anytime if not already.

 

The Norfork Lake level is rising slowly and currently sits at 542.52. The lake has risen about 2.5 ft over the last week. No power generation has occur for the last week. The surface water temperature this morning was 47 - 48 degrees. A slight warming trend is going on, but I would guess we will still get some cold weather. The main lake is clear with a slight green tint and the creeks and coves are still a little stained.

 

Keep an eye on this blog, I'll be writing about the upcoming Norfork Lake Chamber of Commerce Fishing Derby. Hummingbird Hideaway Resort will be participating and we hope to have many of our guests enter. This is a first derby for the Chamber. We think it will be a fun way to welcome spring and hope to make it an annual event.

 

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.