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 sun is shining and the air temperature is in the 60's on Norfork Lake in the Arkansas Ozarks. I haven't been out in a few days with the cool and rainy weather but hopefully I will be able to get out this afternoon. The weather forecast is back to sunshine with highs in the low 60's and lows in the 40's, Not bad weather for fishing or just enjoying the lake and the surrounding area. I actually did get out a little on Tuesday afternoon. The rain had stopped so I just went out in our cove and fished for about 40 minutes for crappie. I caught 3 keeper size crappie over some brush in 40 - 45 feet of water. The rain started again and it was breezy and cold so I released my fish and headed back in to the dock.

I got an encouraging report from one of my guide friends today. He had a trip this morning and his clients wanted to catch a lot of fish. So they did, they caught walleye, Kentucky bass, white bass largemouths and hybrids. They were fishing the creek arm swings in 25 - 50 feet of water close to the point. They were using live threadfin shad, but I feel artificial will work in the same areas. You can either use live shad if you have a shad tank, or use large live shiners that I sell for live bait. If you prefer artificial baits use a spoon and vertical jig or a large to medium size grub with at least a 1/4 - 1/2 ounce jig head. Cast the grub out let it fall to the bottom and retrieve it very slowly. The water temperature is cooling and the fish will start to slow down.

The Norfork Lake water temperature has fallen to around 59 degrees. The main lake is clear and the creeks are slightly stained. The Norfork Lake level has risen some to 570.78, but is starting to hold steady. The Corps has forecast a slow fall in the level starting on the 20th of this month.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

The fishing and weather has been really good the last couple of days on Norfork Lake, in the Arkansas Ozarks. My boat is still in dry dock, but I did get some fantastic news last week, Yamaha has approved replacing my motor with a new one. They don't have the main drive shaft in stock so they are just going to replace all of it. Hopefully I get it back within the next week. I am really going crazy not being able to be out on the lake fishing. My wife is somewhat happy, I am getting a lot of honey do's completed.

Largemouth and Kentucky bass are surfacing at sunrise and sunset and are also up on the banks feeding. Any top water bait is working well for the surfacing fish or you can throw your favorite plastic bait and work it back to boat slowly along the bottom for those feeding on the shoreline. My preference is the Zara Spook for top water and a 10" motor oil colored worm Texas rigged. During the middle of the day the bass are going deeper on main lake points and rock bluffs. They are in 25 - 35 feet of water. Work a brown or dark green jig & pig slowly back to the boat. These fish are feeding on crawdads. You will pick up as many smallmouth on your jig & pig as you do black bass.

Crappie fishing is starting to pick up. I have seen quite of few nice size slabs coming into the dock. The fish are in 25-30 feet of water over sunken brush. Live crappie minnows are working the best.

White bass are schooling. They are being found in two different places, midway back in the large creek beds and also on the the main lake flats. Small spinners are working well as well as vertical jigging with a spoon.

Striped bass are on the move. They can be found from the two main bridges down to the dam. They are still deep, any where from 40 - 80 feet down. Vertical jigging with a spoon is producing some, but live shad is still the bait of choice. Large shiners are starting to get a few fish. The changing weather patterns that we have been having are keeping the fish on the move. You may find them in one area today, but they more than likely will not be there tomorrow. Once the weather settles a little and the lake drops another few degrees, the fall top water bite for stipers will be happening! Should be soon. One of my guides friends spotted a few striper breaking surface last weekend.

The Norfork Lake level is dropping and currently is sitting at 554.86. The Corps is running one generator about 24 hours per day. The lake is clearing nicely even in the creeks and coves.I have had reports of the lake water temps between the upper sixties and low seventies.

Hopefully I will see you on the lake soon!!!

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

I have been going through fishing withdrawal, but finally today I was able to get out on Norfork Lake for a great day of fishing. I fished with one of my striper guide friends, Robert Lee, of Lee's Lite Line and we had a fantastic day of fishing. We were on the lake at 3AM in order to net live shad. We ended up getting about 50 nice size thread fin shad and then left for the Robinson Point area around 4:30AM. We were fishing the flats outside of the island. At around 5:15AM the fish started to hit non-stop for about an hour. We ended up catching hybrid bass and stripers in 25 - 35feet of water. The fish were on the bottom and feeding heavily. The bites were coming so quickly that we ended up missing as many fish as we caught. We left this area and headed to several points around Bidwell Point. We were marking plenty of fish, but found no takers. Our last stop was back in the Bennetts area. We fished a point at around 35feet of water and were catching nice size Kentucky bass. I caught a nice 5 pound walleye. Robert wanted some Kentuckys for dinner this evening for his fish tacos. We had fried walleye at our house. mmm good!

Vertical jigging would have worked well today. The fish were schooling and in a feeding frenzy. There was very little topwater action today. I think most fish will be caught in the 25 - 40 foot range from this point until the cool fall weather starts.

I will be back to my normal fishing schedule next week so hopefully the fish will react the same to artificial baits as they did today on live bait.

The Norfork Lake level is currently at 558.4 and falling. Two generators are running most of the day. The Norfork Lake water temperature is in the mid to upper 80's. Water is clear.

Well I'm am off to bed, it has been a long but very productive day. See you on the lake and happy fishing.