Norfork Lake Fishing Report

Another great day on Lake Norfork in the Arkansas, Ozarks. It was sunny with a south wind and the high today was in the upper 70's. Can't ask for anything better than that, especially with the outstanding fishing this morning. I left our dock at sunrise and headed to Float Creek. I decided to do a little bass fishing and boy did I catch the bass. I caught smallmouth , largemouth and Kentucky bass. I ended up fishing entirely in one cove off of the main creek, a place where I have had good luck in the past. I had two poles down with live shiners and was also vertical jigging with a spoon. I started in the mouth of the cove in about 60 feet of water and was marking plenty of bait fish. I didn't get into the fish until I reached the back of the cover in 35 - 42 feet of water. The action on the live bait was just non-stop. I only took 8 baits with me and I went though them in less than an hour. I ended up catching 3 smallies, 2 largemouth and one Kentucky all on live bait. The best part was that all the fish were keeper size fish. I released them all as I landed them. I also caught 4 white bass on my spoon. They were caught in 50 feet of water. All fish were on the bottom and were very aggressive. Stripers are also being caught in the main creek channel, most are suspended in 75 feet of water about 40 feet down. I fished this area Thursday evening for about an hour and caught an 8 pound striper and lost another one. The striper bite has not been fast and furious, but the fish are there. One of my guide friends caught a 30 pound striper in the same general area Thursday evening. All of my stripers as well as those the guides are getting are hitting on live bait. Still no top water action except for a few black bass, but I still have my eyes open and hopes up.

If all goes well I plan on fishing in the morning again.

The lake level is at 570.4 and still slowly rising 1 - 2 inches per day. The corps is generating on and off during the day. The main lake is clear and the creeks are starting to clear, but still stained. The surface water temperature is still around 63 degrees.

Happy 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

Norfork Lake produced top water action this morning. My better half (Linda) wasn't the fisherwomen who caught the fish, but she is the person who cooks up the fish. I tried to get her to hold them, but no luck. She also is not willing to get up with me and go out on Norfork Lake at 5AM. I just don't understand this!! I did get into a short period of striped bass top water action. I caught this 8 pound striper and also a diaper striper (undersized). I guess I was a little lucky that I was in the right place at the right time. They started hitting the surface around 6:30AM and it lasted just 20 minutes if that long. The bigger fish was a blast to catch. It came up at about 25ft from the boat. I casted a white with chartreuse head Zara spook a little past the surfaced fish. I was doing a walk the dog retrieval and thought I had missed the fish, but when it was only 4 ft from the boat it hammered the lure and dove straight down. It spooled half my reel so I think it went down to the bottom. It was a good fight. I was sitting in about 55ft of water. I casted a spook most of the day. I landed 6 largemouth bass, one weighing about 2 pounds and the rest around 10 - 12 inch fish. It was a fun few hours. I was fishing the Bennettes Arm area. A guest fishing in the same area caught several nice largemouth and a nice smallmouth, plus several more undersized fish. Big or small, I just like to catch fish, and I had a nice time this morning.

My trotline is still producing, caught a nice flathead and two channel catfish. I am using live shiners as bait.

The lake level is still rising slowly, currently sitting at 560.08. Water is clearing quickly all over except for in the backs of flowing creeks. Our south winds and warm days are really warming the water quickly. I was marking temps in the low 70's this morning and I am sure it will be much warmer in the afternoon. None too soon for the upcoming holiday weekend. The swimmers and skiers will enjoy the warmer water. The forecast is for sun and warm temperatures.

Happy fishing and see you all on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

If you are looking for a great fishing experience or just some peace and quiet, come visit us at Hummingbird Hideaway Resort your Ozark Mountain vacation destination.

I fished Norfork Lake last evening (as my wife would say) again. Maybe I shouldn't be doing this blog as some are going to see how often I actually fish. It wasn't as productive as the previous evening, but I still caught fish. I was fishing along a bluff line outside of the Cranfield area and the fish started to explode around me. I had rogues tied on so I started casting into the blow-ups. I got into a mess of white bass. It was a lot of fun and actually lasted for about an hour. I think I ended up with 6 whites and 3 largemouth. Again the largemouth were on the small size. The whites were all in the 1.5 - 2 pound range. Pound for pound they are one great fighting fish.

Once it got dark I moved to a point and started casting rogues for walleye and striper. Here the bite was slow. Finally at about 9:30PM I hooked into a striper. It weighed about 7 pounds. I fished for a while longer and got nothing so I decided to call it a day. I had put everything back so had no fish to clean. I was able to surprise Linda by getting home so early!

The lake level has risen slightly to 552.6, not much generation in the last 24hrs. The water temp has seemed to stabilize in the mid 50's and is finally starting to rise slowly. Water clarity is clear, clear.

The BassCat Invitational Tournament is coming up at the end of this month. To those bass fishermen and women, you should have a fantastic time fishing this year. Be prepared to catch a lot of fish, the lake is just filled with them. The bass seem to be starting to stage for their spawn. I have been seeing quite a few of keeper size fish swimming the shoreline and under our dock. I have caught many keeper size over the last two weeks and many more undersize. For me crank baits have been working. I have talked to some local fishermen and they are fishing plastics with a lot of success.

See you all on the lake and happy fishing.

Beautiful spring day in the Ozarks

What a gorgeous day. I was able to go on a garden tour with a group I belong to here in Mountain Home, Arkansas. The more plants I see, the more I want! I have this problem with self control when it comes to things like that. I know I only have room for 10 tomatoes in my garden but I have close to 100 tomato plants started. I have flats of 5 different peppers but am only planning on putting one or two of each in the garden. Why do I do this? Who knows? I start several seeds in a 6 in inch pot, assuming that some won't sprout. When they all sprout, I just can't throw the excess away. I'll trade some plants, give some away and donate some to the Master Gardener group for their annual plant sale. I will get rid of them some way. I'm going to try really hard not to overcrowd my vegetable garden this year. Lou put new flooring in one of the cabins today. It looks really nice. I guess we'll be painting tomorrow. We ended up with a thunderstorm this evening so the trip to float creek for striper fishing was put on hold. We'll try to give you that fishing report tomorrow night.