Norfork Lake Fishing Report by Lou of Hummingbird Hideaway Resort

The term "March Madness" definitely fits Norfork Lake this month. 3 inches of snow a week ago, 90 degrees yesterday and some thunderstorms and cooler weather on the way. The changing weather patterns play havoc with the fish, but today the fish gave signs of getting back on track.  I saw sporadic surface activity for largemouth bass and striped/hybrid bass, crappie moving in tighter to the banks for their pre-spawn activity, and the white bass and walleye have started to move out to the flats which indicates the majority of the walleye and whites have completed their spawn.

Today was a very interesting morning of fishing. My game plan was to search a different area of the lake for striped bass. I didn't find striped bass, but I ended up catching fish on 5 different types of baits. In the dark I started casting a suspending stick bait to the shoreline. I landed largemouth and crappie on my Smithwick Rogue. As the sun was coming up I casted out my blade bait, Kastmaster, and landed some whites. As the morning wore on I started casting out a paddle tail swim bait to the shoreline and landed a largemouth, then in deeper water I dropped a spoon and landed a walleye. Live thread fin shad landed a second walleye and I broke off a big fish, maybe what I was looking for.

Striped bass fishing the last couple of days has slowed with the cool system that rolled though our area last week. The snow and cold temperatures dropped the surface lake temperature from 56 degrees to 50 degrees. This morning the lake had warmed back up to 56 degrees. A few days ago the stripers that had moved back into the major creek arms were biting aggressively and could be found anywhere from 20 feet of water to 50 feet of water. Most fish that I was catching and marking were suspended 15 to 35 feet down. Yesterday I did mark a few stripers, but they were not feeding. This will change with the warming water very shortly and the good bite will begin again.

Largemouth bass fishing has been good. This species is moving in close to the shoreline early and late in the day. This morning brought some of the best surface activity that I have seen so far this year. This is still early for topwater, but a very good sign. This morning I caught largemouth before sunrise on a suspending jerk bait, as well as, after sunrise largemouth were being caught on a 5 inch paddle tail swim bait by one of my guests. The topwater started just as the sun got above the horizon. Start carrying your favorite topwater bait as I believe this will become a little more common each day. Alabama rigs are also working very well rigged out with a 3.5 to 4 inch swimbait. The shorter baits are still working a little better than longer baits, but this will change as the water continues to warm.

Crappie fishing is becoming very good. This species is in their pre-spawn mode and can be found in very shallow water as well as on 20 - 30 feet brush piles. Cast out a small paddle tail grub or small swimbait to the shoreline. Let it sink to the bottom and reel back to the boat. Small spinners will also work. Today one of my guests had a great morning of crappie fishing. He found fish stacked in and over 25 - 35 feet brush piles. He was vertical jigging with a spoon. Only 4 of the 11 crappie he kept had eggs in them. I am not sure if some of the crappie have already spawned or not. If you find some sunken brush along the shoreline that is exposed, fish this brush as it will be holding crappie.

I caught walleye this morning, one on a shallow flat in 18 feet of water and the other was out in 65 feet of water suspended down 55 feet. I marked bait from 40 feet to the bottom and saw 5 big arcs in the bait. I assumed the arcs were stripers so I dropped a 1/2 ounce spoon and landed a nice 23 inch walleye. You tell me what the current pattern of our walleye are? :-) The majority of the walleye have spawned and should be moving to the flats to feed. Deep diving crank baits, crawler harnesses and dragging live minnows will start to pick up some nice fish.

White bass have also completed the majority of their spawning activities. I am starting to find scattered fish on large flats suspended down 20 to 30 feet in 30 - 50 feet of water. I caught several nice whites on my Kastmaster bade bait. It will not be long until large schools of whites will be roaming shallow flats feeding heavily on shad. Topwater frenzies will erupt and make the water boil. Topwater baits, blade baits, spoons and swim baits will all pick up some nice fish.

Norfork Lake surface water temperature this morning was 55 - 56 degrees. The lake level is falling very slowly and currently sits at 545.25 which is approximately 1 ft drop over the last 2 weeks. The lake is somewhat stained but clearly is occurring.

Happy fishing a see you on the lake.

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

Norfork Lake's winter fishing pattern is in full swing. The bait fish are in the deep water channels of 80 - 100+ feet and the bait are suspended 50 - 70 feet down. Striped and hybrid bass can be found following the bait fish whether it is on the main lake or back in the major creeks. For most of last week I was fishing in the 62 bridge area, mainly to the south of the bridge. Later in the week the fish moved in between the 2 bridges. Today I was only marking a few stripers, so after a couple hours of looking and fishing with minimal success I decided to move into Float Creek. Immediately I was marking large balls of shad with small schools of stripers following. For the next hour it was total havoc on my boat. I was by myself with 4 live bait poles out. I had doubles on several times and ended up boating 5 stripers, but missed as many. I had bait set at 40, 50 and 60 feet deep, but all my strikes came from the 40 and 50 feet deep baits even though I was marking many fish 60 + feet deep. Today was the first day in over a week that vertical jigging with a spoon would have worked great since I saw multiple fish at one time at same depth. Large shiners, big river chubs and thread fin shad are the best choices for live bait. I had to clean one striper this morning since it could not swim away and found that its belly was full of 1 - 3 inch thread fin shad. If this winter is typical, the fish should stay at this depth and in these areas for the next 3 - 4 weeks. Towards the end of February and beginning of March the major creeks will be great places to look. The fish will start to go toward shallower water following the bait.

Small and largemouth bass, as well as, Kentucky bass fishing has also been good. The bass can be found along the deep water bluff lines. I have found many bass suspended 30 - 50 feet down in 60 feet of water. Early and late in the day they are moving in a little tighter to the shore line 15 - 25 feet deep, but still on the bluffs. You can vertical jig with a spoon, but this method can be difficult with suspended fish. Try casting out a grub, small spinners or blade baits to catch these suspended fish. On the windy days throw a spinner bait. Jig & pigs, other types of plastics and deep diving crank baits are also a good choice for the fish that move in tighter to the shore early and late in the day. Another good place for the Kentucky and Largemouth bass is near deep brush piles. Work the bottom with a spoon around the brush and you will pick up some nice fish.

Crappie are on and near the deep water brush piles. Look at sunken brush in 30 - 50 feet of water. The crappie will be inside of the brush (these are typically the bigger ones) as well as suspended over the brush. At times you will find them only 10 feet deep, but I have more success at 20 + feet deep this time of year.

The Norfork Lake level is currently stable, but has been falling slowly and sits at 547.88. The water temperature is fluctuating between 48 - 50 degrees. The warm days and nights are rising the water temperature slowly. The main lake is clear in most areas and the creeks and coves are stained. Currently Norfork Lake is in excellent fishing condition and the fish that I have been catching are fat and energetic. Make your plans now to come catch a few!


Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report by Lou of Hummingbird Hideaway Resort

Norfork Lake's fall fishing pattern is under way. The lake is finally starting to cool down, but additional cooling is needed to bring on the full blown fall pattern.

Striped bass are biting well up in the coolest water at the Arkansas / Missouri border. Live shad (big ones) are working the best set at 12 - 18 feet, but trollers are starting to pick up a few fish on big swim baits. The stripers up north seem to be cruising in the shallow water and not necessarily in the old river channel. A few nice stripers and big hybrids are starting to show up on the big flats from the Cranfield area up to the Red bank area. Vertical jigging with a spoon is working the best as the fish are hugging the bottom in 30 - 40 feet of water. The fish are showing up all day long starting at sunrise up to sunset. This doesn't mean they are biting all day long. Over the last week I have caught stripers and hybrids at sunrise, at noon and tonight I found them around 4PM. I guess you need to fish all day long to be there when they are biting. Just take a cooler along with some water and sandwiches. :-) I try to vary the time I'm fishing so I can know what's going on different times of the day. It's a fun time of year when you never know when the bite is going to happen. I have a fishing prediction that over the next week the lake will cool to the upper 60's, the lake will finalize its turnover and the striped bass will start to show up on the large flats starting in the Robinson area up to Missouri and also up towards the Fouts area. Inaddition topwater action will increase.

One of the main reason I like to vertical jig with a spoon  this time of year is that all species will be found in the same areas and at the same depth. I also like flat fishing, but it can be a little tedious so patience and good electronics do help a lot. Over the last week except for one day up river fishing with gizzard shad, I have been vertical jigging flats in 28 - 40 feet of water. This evening, as well as, yesterday morning I landed walleye, white bass, largemouth bass, crappie, hybrids and stripers. What more can a fisherperson ask for. Big schools of fish are just starting to show up and this will be more commonplace as the water continues to cool.

The best places for crappie are on brush piles that have been sunk in 25 - 40 feet of water. The crappie will be anywhere from 10 - 30 feet down. The hardest part of crappie fishing at this time is finding the best depth to catch the fish. Live minnows are working great, but vertical jigging a small spoon or jigging small plastics tipped with a minnow is also working very well. If it is blue gills you are wanting, work the same brush piles as for crappie, but use crickets for the bait.

Largemouth bass are all over the place. You can find them suspended 15 - 20 feet down off of the deep bluff lines. They are also laying on the bottom early and late in the day on the shallow banks.  You will also find some nice fish hanging around the crappie brush piles. Crank baits are picking up some nice suspended fish and plastics of all kinds are working for the bottom feeders. The bass hanging around brush are hitting spoons or drop shot rigs.

Norfork Lake is falling slowly due to one generator being run for a good portion of the day and currently the level sits at 552.84. The surface water temperature has been on a roller coaster ride. With the very hot days we have recently had the temperature has risen slightly and this evening was around 75 with the morning temperature around 73 degrees which is a couple of degree rise over the last couple of days. The creeks and coves and main lake flats are stained with the rest of the main lake is clear.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

 

 

 

 

Norfork Lake Fishing Report by Lou of Hummingbird Hideaway Resort

Norfork Lake fishing continues to be good for most species. The summer fishing pattern is in full swing and will more than likely last throughout August and into the beginning of September. The better bite for striped bass is located from the Point 2 area to the dam. You can locate stripers on long points, as well as, on big rounded points.  Before sunrise they are feeding in 30 - 40 feet of water and as the sun gets over the tree line they move out to deeper water 50 - 70 feet deep and even into the old river channel. Live bait is working the best for me, but I did jig up a few the other day with a spoon. I have been finding small schools of fish and most days they are aggressive, but over the last week I have had a few days that we had over 30 short bites with very few takers. Well that is why they call it fishing. :-) There has also been many big stripers being caught over the last couple of weeks in the 20 to the mid 30 pound range. I thought I was going to be spooled with the 25 pounder I caught a few days ago.

If you are looking for other species of fish you're in luck. The white bass, largemouth and walleye are in 28 - 35 feet of water. The best time to fish for them is from sunrise until about 9 or 10AM and  then again about an hour or so before sunset until it gets too dark to see.  Minnows and nightcrawlers are working. I enjoy vertical and/or horizontal jigging with a spoon. I have been using a 3/4 ounce spoon that the main color is white. You need to bounce the jig off of the bottom and set the hook once you get hammered. Look for these fish on the large shallow flats or the shallow side of the shoreline. You can find the whites and the largemouth on your depth finder, but the walleye have been hard for me to see.

Catfish are in the same target depth as the white bass and they are biting really well at this time. Vertical jigging and crawlers are working well.

The lake is still in great shape for summer activities and will be through the month of September. Kids are heading back to school though which means more cabins are available, and the fishing season is upon us. Start making your plans to catch the fish of your dreams. Give us a call at 870-492-5113 with your questions and to make reservations.

The Norfork Lake surface water temperature this morning was 87- 89 degrees. The lake level is holding fairly stable with a few hours of power generation and currently sits at 553.11. The main lake is clear and most creeks and coves are stained.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing report by Lou of Hummingbird Hideaway Resort

Norfork Lake fishing continues in its hot summer fishing pattern. Most fish are deep and will continue to go deeper as the thermocline drops. To be quite honest, not much has changed since my report last week.  I am catching stripers before sunrise in 35 - 45 feet of water on long points and large flats. As the sun comes up they move off the side of the point into deeper water 70 + feet, but are still 30 - 45 feet down. Live bait, vertical jigging with a spoon and trolling swim baits are all working. Over the past week I have been fishing with my family and we have been having a lot of fun. Some big fish are biting. My 9 year old granddaughter landed a 20+ pound striper and my 12 year old granddaughter has caught several fish. Her biggest so far has been a 14 pound striper. It is a blast to watch these kids fight a striper on their own from start to finish. We're making some good memories.


The biggest change this week over last is for the largemouth and spotted bass. I, as well as a couple of my guests, have found some good top water fishing in the morning at sunrise and also at sunset. The other day I was fishing with my granddaughter and we were sitting in 70 feet of water off of a point where she was catching stripers. In the times between netting her fish, I was casting a Kastmaster into 25 feet of water. Almost every cast after the bait hit the water a bass hammered it. Some were keeper size, most were small, but still a lot of fun. The other location where my guests have gotten into top water fish is back in the major creeks in shallow water. Fish are chasing shad early, but even after you don't see them they are still coming up for a top water lure. Wiggle warts are also working very well most days.

Crappie fishing is in its normal hot water slow time, but there are some good crappie being caught.They are still under docks and you can also find them scattered along the deep water bluffs. Locate a ledge 20 - 30 feet down and they will be suspended along the ledge. Small swim baits as well as live minnows have caught some nice fish.

Norfork Lake water level is holding stable with minimal power generation and currently sits at 552.63. The surface water temperature is ranging from 87 - 92 degrees depending on the time of day. The main lake is clear and some creeks and coves are stained with others clearing. The lake is in great shape for all your summertime fun activities, not only fishing.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report by Lou of Hummingbird HIdeaway Resort

Fishing Norfork Lake has been a blast over the last week. Striped bass, hybrid bass and white bass fishing has been very good. Fish are up tight on the banks before sunrise and they stick around until the sun gets above the tree line. On a cloudy day they stick around longer like they did this morning. This morning (5/16) fishing was awesome. I got into some of the best top water action I have seen in a week. I was fishing in a main lake area on the shallow side of the lake, not bluff line side. There are a lot of small cuts in the shoreline with points that have brush out in the water. At around 6AM I noticed a few fish coming up out in the main channel. I started to head out but heard splashing behind me and turned around to find the whole shore line and all the cuts were boiling with fish. Every cast with my Zara spook I either had several hits and misses or had a fish. This lasted until about 8AM. I landed over 20 fish and I caught myself giggling a few time. It was fun! Top water action for stripers and hybrids should last until the water temperature warms the lake enough to form a thermocline. Mother nature will have the final say on this. When the stripers leave the shallow water in the morning start looking out in deeper water and you should find them suspended down to about 30 - 40 feet deep. Live thread fin shad has been working the best for me with just a small split shot. Artificial baits that have also produced fish have been a Kastmaster spoon with buck tail and smaller sized swim baits 3 - 4 inches long. There has also been some good white bass top water action in the late afternoon. They could be anywhere from deep to shallow water, but the most consistent spots are part way back in some of the major creeks.

Largemouth and spotted bass fishing has also been very good. They have been in the same areas as the stripers early in the morning, but unlike the stripers, they don't necessarily move out once the sun comes up.  Swim baits, spinner baits on windy days and tube jigs are working well. They are moving to the bottom once the sun gets high in the sky so work a jig and pig or your favorite plastic bait along the bottom up to 25 feet down.

Walleye fishing has been good. I have found some nice fish while striper fishing on shallow points down 15 - 25 feet. Anglers have also picked up a few on a Zara spook right on the shore line before sunrise.

No change on pan fishing, both bluegill and crappie are biting. Look for the gills inside of bluff line cuts 20 - 30 feet deep on the bottom. Worms and wax worms are working great. Crappie are in or around brush and under docks. Small live thread fin shad is the best bait, but crappie minnows with a small jig is working as well.

The Norfork Lake level is slowly falling and currently sits at 553.95. The lake surface water temperature is holding fairly stable and is ranging from 69 degrees to 71 degrees. The creeks and coves are stained and the main lake is clear on the surface. One generator has been running continuously.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

  

Norfork Lake Fishing Report by Lou of Hummingbird Hideaway Resort

Fishing on Norfork Lake has been great over the last week. Fishing has stayed fairly consistent, but the fish are starting to move around a little. They have stayed in the same general area, but one day they are on the west side of the lake then the next they may be on the east side. It will take a little time scanning areas with your fish finder, but when you start to see some bait, stop and fish. All fish species seem to be relating to points, whether a shallow long point or a deep bluff line point.

Striped bass fishing has been outstanding this past week. I believe every one of my guests caught hybrids/stripers during their vacation. The stripers moved from the deep bluff line side of the lake to the shallow sloping bank side of the lake during the week. I have been fishing in a main lake area that has plenty of points, coves and bluff lines.  There has been good top water action in early mornings and a Zara spook is working well. Other artificial baits that are catching fish are a silver Kastmaster with bucktail, rattle traps, rooster tails, and swimbaits. Live thread fin shad has also been an outstanding bait and it really has not mattered what size the live bait is, as I have caught stripers on 3 inch baits up to 6 inch baits. Look for stripers in very shallow water starting just before sunrise. Anglers are finding them in 5 - 40 feet of water and the fish are near the surface. As the sun comes up look for stripers in the same type areas, but go out to deeper water and look for the fish to be suspended 20 to 30 feet down.

White bass fishing is also becoming very good. There has been great top water for whites early in the morning and late in the afternoon. I have found the whites in the same locations as the stripers, but also on occasion in very deep water chasing shad on the surface. Same type baits for stripers are working for whites.

Walleye fishing is picking up and guess what, they are in the same areas as the stripers and whites in the early mornings. I was fishing with my brother-in-law and sister-in-law this morning and we found some good fish on a shallow point in about 15 feet of water. We should have had several other walleye but things happen. :-)

Largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass fishing is also very good. They are chasing shad in the same areas as the stripers and can be caught on similar type of baits. As the sun comes up start using some sort of plastic bait worked slowly along the bottom. The bass will be a little deeper but not typically deeper than 20 - 30 feet down.

Pan fishing has also been good. Look for bluegills along bluff line cuts in 20 - 30 feet of water. Wax worms and earth worms are working great. Crappie have moved onto the brush. Look for brush in 20 - 30 feet of water and the fish are hanging around the tops. Use small grubs tipped with minnows or just minnows.

Norfork Lake level is falling slowly with constant generation. Current level is 553.29. The surface water temperature was 68 - 70 degrees this morning. The creeks and coves are stained and the main lake is clearing.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

 

 

Norfork Lake Fishing Report by Lou of Hummingbird Hideaway Resort

Overall, Norfork Lake fishing is good to excellent. Top water action for stripers, hybrids, whites and largemouth bass is occurring at sunrise and sunset. Now, top water action is not always occurring in the same location every morning, but typically will be somewhere in the general area. If you find a large concentration of bait on the service there is a very good chance a school of fish will erupt on that bait at some time. Some days you will see a large area start to boil with fish going crazy, but other times you might just see some swirls on the service. Cast some sort of top water bait at the swirl or boiling water and hang on. Top water many also occur at any depth of water, close or far away from the shoreline.

Striped and hybrid bass fishing has been great the last week, including this morning. I landed 5 hybrids and 3 stripers on both a Zara Spook and live thread fin shad. There were fish coming up along a bluff line down from a main lake point. You can find the fish up tight on the banks early in the morning and as the sun comes up, they move out from the shore a little and have been 5 to 20 feet down, no matter what water depth. I have been trying to leave my dock at 5AM to get into some night time action with a stick bait or I pitch a thread fin shad to the shore line with no weight. Both baits have been working picking up stripers, hybrids and walleye in the dark. I have been long lining live bait with a 1/16 ounce or a 1/8 ounce split shot and slowly moving about with my trolling motor. This has been effective in both shallow and deep water. Good artificial baits to use are a blade type bait or a swim bait, just get either of them to the proper depth of the fish. Saturday morning Brian, a guest of Hummingbird Hideaway Resort, landed a monster 35 pound striped bass. He was fishing with a small 3-4 inch thread fin shad and had the battle of his life. This fish will be a wall fixture. I have been fishing mid to the upper portions of the lake, but I have many reports that striped bass fishing is also good in the southern portion of the lake.

Largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass fishing is also very good. Many of the fish have completed their spawn and now are on the post spawn feed, Early and late in the day you can get this species with a top water bait or swim bait. They tend to go down deeper as the sun comes up. Switch to a jig & pig or some sort of plastic bait and work it along the bottom from 5 feet to 17 feet of water. Most of the bass I am marking, no matter what time of day, are in less than 20 feet of water.

Pan fishing is also picking up. A couple of our guests caught a boat load of big blue gills in the middle of the day off of bluff line cuts. If you can find a good ledge that is around 30 feet down they will be hanging out. Wax worms were their bait of choice. No need to sit indoors in the middle of day, blue gills are a great eating fish. Crappie are moving into brush in 20 - 30 feet of water. They typically will be on the tops of the brush or between the brush and the shoreline.

Catfish are starting to move into the shore line. Trotlines are picking up a few good fish. I caught a nice 6 pound channel this morning on live shad in 20 feet of water.

The Norfork Lake level is rising slowly with the past couple days of rain. The current level is 553.57. The surface water temperature has also risen to 67 degrees as of this morning. Parts of the main lake is clear, but many areas are stained due to the rains. The creeks and coves are also stained. Great fishing color to the water.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.