Norfork Lake Fishing Report by Lou of Hummingbird Hideaway Resort

Norfork Lake's fishing pattern is entering into its fall phase. Striped bass are continually moving and not being very consistent in their feeding location. Over the last week I have covered most of the central to northern parts of Norfork Lake from the Robinson area, up to the state line and also back though the Fouts area and all areas in between. The most notable thing is that the bait has moved back into the creeks with very little bait being found in the main lake area. I have found scattered stripers back in the creeks feeding on small 2 inch shad. I have also noticed a few scattered fish along the deep bluff lines in the main lake. My guests and I have caught stripers back in the creeks during the early morning hours as well as the afternoon. Both live thread fin shad as well as vertical jigging with a spoon has been working once you find the fish. As the water temperature continues to fall the fish will become more aggressive in their feeding habits and will start to school. Any time now you will find stripers feeding after dark up close to the banks. If you decide to try the night bite get a few suspending jerk baits and cast as close to the shoreline as you can, then retrieve to the boat very slowly. I will start fishing after dark this week with the full moon.

Largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass are biting fairly well. The bigger bass started to move up into the sunken brush a week or so ago, but has since moved back out. I believe their move to deeper water occurred due to the drop in the lake level. Most of the sunken buck brush is now exposed or is out of the water. You can still find a few areas with brush out in the water, but I can only catch small fish in these areas. One of our guests loves to throw a jig and pig and is doing quite well. You will catch a lot of short fish, but the bigger ones are also in the area. You will be able to find some good bass in and around brush piles in 30 - 35 feet of water. Vertical jigging with a spoon will start to work as the water temperature continues to cool. In general, soft plastics are working the best worked along the bottom starting in 10 - 15 feet of water out to 40 feet of water.

The bluegill bite is still very strong. If you want to fill up your freezer with a lot of tasty fillets get some crickets and fish around 20 - 30 feet brush piles.

I am finding a lot of schooling white bass back in the creeks feeding on the the bait fish. Most of the whites are small to medium sized fish, but are a blast to catch. Spooning has been working very well.

Crappie fishing has also been inconsistent. One of my lake friends caught 20 one day and then the next day they were gone. They are still roaming through the deeper water going from brush to brush. Keep checking out all your brush piles and you will find them.

Norfork Lake water level continues to drop 3 - 4 inches per day. The lake level currently sits at 556.72 which is only about 3 feet above normal pool. Normal pool is expected to be reached by month end. The lake surface water temperature is also falling and this morning was 70.3 degrees. The water temperature will continue to fall with our cool night and normal day time temps. The main lake is clear with the creeks and coves stained.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Over the last couple of days I have seen 10 deer crossing the lake. If this continues we are going to need someone to direct traffic!

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

If it wasn't for the 20 mile per hour wind it would be a great day to be on Norfork Lake. It has cooled off a bit today, but warmer and less windy days are not far off. The fishing is improving with the warm weather we had the last few days and if we get the warm south winds that are forecast, fishing should start to explode on Norfork Lake.

Stripers are being caught both during the early in the day and at dark and after dark. I fished Saturday evening and caught one nice fish and lost two others. The fish pictured was released after its photo op. I was throwing a rogue and slow rolling it back to the boat. Two important techniques to remember on the retrieval, reel really slow and reel all the back to the boat. The fish that are biting my bait are hitting it just before I lift it out of the water. I believe that they are following it all the way to the boat from the shoreline. One of my quests has been catching stripers with a 3 inch paddle tail grub. He has been catching bass, walleye and striper with this bait. He casts to the shore and lets it sink to the bottom and works it slowly back to the boat. Most of his fish are being caught in 10 - 25 feet of water. He has also had luck with a white Rapala Shallow Running crank bait. No pictures of Ed as he practices catch and release on most all fish.

Robert Lee of Lee's Lite Line Guide Service took a couple of my guests out fishing this morning. Their trip was delayed for about 2 hours due to the lightening, but the late start did not effect the fishing. They were using good sized thread fin shad and were long lining the bait as well as pitching the bait to the shoreline. They ended up catching 5 stripers, 4 were released with the 20 pound fish in the photo going to become a wall mount.

Stripers are being caught at all ends of the lake. Bennetts, Cranfield, Pigeon, upriver, and down at the dam. All of my main information sources are fishing my end of the lake.

Bass fishing has been very good for most folks. Swimming minnows, twister tail grubs, and paddle tail grubs have all been productive baits. It appears slow motion is still working the best for bass. As the lake warms up into the 60's the bass will start looking for faster moving baits. There is also a small window of top water action early in the morning and right before dark. If you can get close enough to the schooling fish cast a top water bait or a rogue and work it through the active fish. Top water action will improve as the water temperature warms.

Crappie fishing is another thing. One to two weeks ago with all the warm weather the bite was getting very good. The cool weather last week slowed the bite, at least for my guests. Crappie are on the verge of spawning so the fish will be going to the banks. Look for fallen timber close to shore and cast a small grub, small swimming minnows, or a roadrunner. You can still find fish suspended over the brush and as the water warms the fish will not be very deep. With all the warm weather a week ago the fish were only 3 - 6 feet down.

The Norfork Lake water level is rising and currently sits at 549.61 ft. This is only a little more than 2 ft below normal pool. The lake has been gin clear, but with this mornings .4 inch of rain it should cloud up the water a little especially back in the creeks and coves. The water temperature yesterday was in the mid to upper 50's, but it has dropped several degrees today. Our end of the lake appears to be about 3 degrees warmer than areas south of Robinson.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

Fall fishing on Norfork Lake is in full swing. The lake is in great condition and the fish are biting. I have fished the last 6 days and have caught largemouth, smallmouth, walleye, crappie,catfish, panfish and striped bass. I fished for striped bass yesterday with my brother-in-law, his son and his son's girlfriend. We traveled up the river to the point 9 area of Norfork Lake. We arrived around 6:30AM just as the sky was starting to brighten. I was fishing with large gizzard shad. I hooked the bait onto my leader and dropped it to the bottom in 32 feet of water and set it into the rod holder. As I was reaching for the next pole the first pole bent to the water and line started zinging out. I had my nephew grab the rod and set the hook and the fight was on. All of sudden the line went slack he reeled it in and found that the line had snapped just below the weight. Must have had a kink in the line. I guess I need to be more diligent about checking the line for bad spots. I finally got four rods set, two down lines and two free swimming baits set on a Redi Rig float. This float works in the same method as a balloon keeping the bait away from the boat and at the depth you want. Our fishing trip was a success, we ended up landing five stripers in the 8 - 14 pound range (average Norfork Lake fish), broke off 2 fish and missed at least eight other bites. I had a blast watching my family fight those fish and took a lot of photos and probably gave more advice than was wanted.

Friday I fished with a writer and advertising agent of Northland Tackle and Frabill (Noel Vick). His goal was to bass fish and catch many fish. We started fishing around 8:30AM along bluff lines and points in the 101 Marina area. We were using crank baits, jig and pigs. Noel had a couple of hits along the shoreline, but no fish. The wind started to blow really hard out of the south and it became almost impossible to hold the boat and cast with any accuracy. We motored over to the Big E bluff line, which was blocking the strong winds. I went to a point that has a nice brush pile sunken in 40 feet of water. I rigged up a couple of rods with small live gizzard shad and immediately we started to get hammered. We ended up landing small mouth bass and spotted bass. We fished this location for a while then moved to the back of Float Creek. Again I rigged up live bait and was fishing in 23 - 35 foot depths and the largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass were there and hitting very aggressively. I marked a small school of larger fish sitting in 25 feet of water, I told Noel get ready and all of sudden he was slammed and the drag just started zinging out. The fish was headed for deep water. Noel finally landed a nice size Norfork Lake striped bass (photo of me with the fish). I was amazed that these fish were in such shallow water. I floated over a big brush pile and was marking crappie and pan fish just stacked. They were suspended over the brush in 10 to 18 feet of water. The brush piles were sitting in 23 - 35 feet of water. We re-rigged with some Northland crappie tackle. Noel tied on a red Bro's Bloodworm and I tied on a white Mini Thumper-R-Blade (twister tail grub with a small spinner). Noel immediately got wacked on the Bro's Bloodworm and brought in a nice 12 - 13 inch white crappie. He ended up catching crappie and bluegill on the Bro's Bloodworm. My jig kept getting hits, but I think the grub was a little big and they keep biting the tail and not taking the whole bait. We ended the trip fishing back where we started. I baited the poles up with live shad and we dropped to the bottom at 23 - 30 feet. We started catching spotted bass, one after another. We both had a great day and a fun time. I want to thank Noel for the new Frabill net. It works great and hooks don't get stuck into the webbing. Great net.

The Norfork Lake level is falling slowly and currently sits at 547.12. The lake temperature is falling as well and I was marking 59 degree water up north and around 60 - 61 degrees in my cove. The main lake is clear and the creeks and cover are clearing.

Have a great day of fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

We have had fabulous weather here in Arkansas at Hummingbird Hideaway Resort. The watersports people are out in force; fishing, waterskiing, tubing, swimming, and jetskiiing. There is a place for everyone and all are having a great time on Norfork Lake. Our swimming pool is also getting a lot of use. The air temperature has been in the 80's during the day and 60's at night. I can't ask for anything better.

Fishing has been a lot of fun for me. I have been out every morning but one for the last week. I have been catching Kentucky bass (spotted), largemouth bass and today a couple of nice stripers. Yesterday morning I started in the Cranfield area and caught several Kentucky bass, but the top water action was not there. I left and headed to the Bennett's area and found some bass chasing shad on the surface. I started throwing my spook and caught about 6 bass with 3 keeper size. I headed back in and stopped at a point close to our resort and found the gar rolling on the surface. I threw my spook several times and caught several more Kentucky bass. I think you can find Kentucky and largemouth bass almost anywhere in the lake.

Today I headed to a totally different area for me. I found some stripers hitting the surface out in the middle of the lake in about 150 ft. of water. I ended up catching two stripers and missing two others. The striper on top water is a very early bite. You need to be at your site before daybreak and if it happens, it usually ends as the sun gets over the tree tops about 7AM. If you get lucky and get cloud cover, the topwater bite could last longer. When you check into our resort ask me about striper locations. I'll be happy to mark your map. After I left my striper spot I headed to do a little bass fishing. One of our guests gave me some Chomper skirted twin tail grubs to try out. It's a great bait. On my first cast I caught a 2.5 pound largemouth. After that I caught 3 Kentucky bass, one keeper size.

The white bass are starting to school back in the coves and creeks. You can find some top water action early in the morning and also late in the evenings as the sun is setting. I caught the above white crappie on a live shiner. To be honest, I actually caught the two pound plus fish on my trot line. It was one of the largest white crappie that I have seen. Catfish are still hitting the trot line. I get about 3 or 4 every morning. Many of our guests have been sent home with a bag of fish. Our lake catfish is a very good eating fish. Blue gill are hitting worms and crickets and you will get some nice sized fish.

The Norfork Lake level is 562.4 (10.4 ft above normal pool) and seems to be holding fairly steady. The Corps. has forecast that the lake has crested and they will start to generate more especially with the warm weather we have been having. The Norfork Lake water temp is in the low to mid 70's in the morning and rising to the upper 70's durinh the day. The water is clear with a slight stain in the coves and creeks, but that too is clearing.

By the way, the young lady in the photo above is my gorgeous granddaughter.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

Well I am going through Norfork Lake fishing withdrawal. We have a full house of guests and my boat is out of the water until Sunday. At least I had time to give my boat its spring tune up and get it cleaned up. I did get some great news from several of our Bass Cat guests. They did get into some great top water action on Tuesday and Wednesday. They caught stripers, whites and black bass. They said they were erupting all over both in the morning as well as the evening. The lake temperature has risen to the low to mid 60's and slowly rising. Fishing will be a blast for the next month. The walleye are finally starting to hit rogues in the morning and the crappie are hitting small crank baits and rattle traps. All these fish are being caught by the bass fishermen while they're throwing for bass. The bass fishing has been really good so far this week. All are catching large and smallmouth bass and lots of them. Of course many are in the 8 - 14 inch range, but quite a few large ones are being caught. I just heard one of the tournament fishermen weighed in about 20 pounds today. Last years two day total was around 22 pounds. Fish are bigger and hitting better this year. The bass fishermen are throwing everything under the sun, crank baits, jerk baits, spinners, finesse worms, crawdad, ect, ect, ect. The fish are hitting all. I spoke with a few guides this morning and they are all finally catching limits of stripers with live bait in the mornings and afternoons. The fish are really starting to turn on. (and I can't go fishing til Sunday!)

The Norfork Lake level has risen with all the rain in the area. It is currently at about 554.7 and still rising slowly. Generation is intermittent. Lake temps low to mid 60's. The water is clear in the main lake, slightly off color to coffee color back in the creeks.

We hope see you on the lake and happy fishing. Don't miss out on the spring bite. We still have openings, just give us a call for reservations. If you've been here for the top water bite you have to agree that for fishing fun there is no better place to be than at an Ozark Mountain resort on Norfork Lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

Doug and his wife Mary Ann, from the St. Louis area, had a nice stringer of walleye and crappie to take home. They fished in the evenings for the walleye and in the mornings for crappie. Doug preferred a black back with silver sides and orange belly rogue for their walleye fishing and was using minnows with a slip bobber for the crappie. The crappie were suspended over brush in about 10 feet of water not far from our resort and the walleye were on points in the Cranfield area. While they were fishing for crappie they caught many bass and released all. The biggest crappie that he had ever seen got away just before being netted. I think Doug didn't want to give Mary Ann bragging rights. (Only joking Doug)

Striper fishing at night has still been slow, but the morning bite is starting to pick up. I have talked with several guides over the last two days and they are catching fish in the Cranfield to Red Bank area as well as down at the dam. They still aren't getting the bites they are used to this time of year, but I really think that will change soon with the warm weather being forecast. I talked with several others that had been striper fishing and they had caught stripers in the Float Creek area right before dark. Minimal top water action, but I think it is going to erupt at any time. I am always optimistic.

Bass are still hitting very good. I am still seeing very large bass under my dock. I have a feeling they are staging to spawn, even though I have been told by some fishermen that they had marked fish already on beds. I guess the big ones, might be the males waiting their turn.

The Norfork Lake temperature is in the mid 50's and rising. The Norfork Lake level is 553.3 and rising. Virtually no generation over the last 24 hrs. Today is sunny to partly cloudy and warm, but windy at 10 - 20 mph. The wind is suppose to keep up for the next day or so. If the forecast holds the wind should slow down a little by Wednesday. I guess I will wait till then before I get out on the lake. I have plenty to keep me busy around the resort.

Until next time happy fishing and see you on the lake.