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

Norfork Lake is still in its summer fishing pattern. This typically lasts until around mid September, when the striped bass will then scatter and heads to the cooler water northward. The lake currently has a thermocline which has set up around 25 - 30 feet. There is warm water down to the thermocline then the water temperature drops drastically below the line. Many of the fish species hang out right around the thermocline, so fishing in 20 to 35 feet of water will produce some nice fish. Overall fishing has stayed fairly consistent since my last report.

The biggest change has been with the striped bass. They are going deeper, at least I am finding the larger fish on the bottom in around 60 - 70 feet of water. This is not to say you will not find striped bass shallower. One of our guests at Hummingbird Hideaway Resort was jigging a 1/2 ounce chrome Kastmaster in 35 feet of water the other day and landed a nice 15 pound fish. I am marking fish from 35 feet down to the bottom. My fishing time typically is from around 5:30AM until about 9:30AM. In the dark I have been using live shad set at 35 and 45 feet deep. I have found large schools of fish cruising around in the dark. As the sun comes up they do tend to go deeper. When they go deeper I switch to a spoon and start to vertical jig at the depth where I find the fish. When I find a large school I also cast out a large Rooster Tail type spinning bait. Cast the bait out and let it sink to the bottom, then reel up though the fish and hang on. The striped bass are being very aggressive at this time and are hammering the baits and are giving a great fight. One major item to remember is that most of the striped bass you catch at this time will die if you release them due to the temperature of the water. So when you catch a fish you should keep it and when you get your limit, switch your fishing tactics and fish for other species. Catch and release at this time is not a good idea for striped bass at this time. Trolling is also picking up some good fish. You will need to get your baits down to below 35 feet to catch some decent fish. I have been fishing points from a little south of point 2 down to the dam and a little east of the dam up towards Jordan area.

Walleye fishing has also been good, but they are at all depths. I have caught walleye in 50 feet of water as well as at 20 - 30 feet of water. A crawler harness with bottom bouncing weights is working well, as well as, deep diving crank baits as long as you can get them very close to the bottom. Brush piles in 30 - 40 feet of water are also holding some nice fish.

Bass fishing has been fair. I have picked up some nice spotted bass, as well as, largemouth bass in 25 - 35 feet of water by vertical jigging a spoon. Brush piles are also holding some fish. Early and late in the day you can also get a few nice bass on topwater back in the creeks and coves.

Norfork Lake is holding fairly stable on water depth. Currently the lake depth is 552.41. The main lake is clear and some of the creeks and coves are stained. The current surface water temperature is in the mid 80's.

Happy fishing and 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.

I hope all had a great Thanksgiving holiday. My wife and I hosted a family reunion for her side of the family and we had a great time with 29 family members. I had the opportunity to fish with many different family members during the week. We had a lot of fun but did get a little cold at times. We caught fish most days. It was a real joy watching the ones that don't get to fish often land a fish on their own. No better feeling than seeing those big smiles and shaking arms.

Norfork Lake has entered its fall fishing pattern. The only big change over the last couple of weeks is that the fish have started to move into shallower water. Stripers, hybrids and whites are being found on 20 - 45 foot flats. The flats are holding bait fish at all different depths depending on the time of day and big schools of stripers, hybrids and whites are roaming at all different depths feeding on the shad early in the morning as well as in the evening. It is a big challenge finding the schools of fish and it will take some time watching your electronics, but when you find the fish it is a blast. We had 4 on at the same time a few times. My group has been vertical jigging with a spoon bouncing it off the bottom, but if you mark fish suspended, reel up to their depth and hang on. Areas where I have been fishing has not changed from my last report. Start looking on the flats around the 101 bridge up to the Red Bank area, as well as, from the 62 bridge up to the Fouts area. Check out the Robinson flat as fish are starting to move in. There has been some isolated top water action for striped bass and if you are in the right spot and ready you will pick up a few fish.                                                                                       Largemouth
bass are starting to school part way back in creeks and coves. I found some nice schools of bass on the bottom in 30 - 35 feet of water. We were vertical jigging and hooking up one after another. Nice 2.5 - 4 pound fish were being boated. Spotted bass will also be schooling up this time of year. Spinner baits have worked well on the windy days and crank baits are also working on main lake points, as well as, secondary points.

Crappie are becoming more aggressive. Look at brush in 20 - 40 feet of water. You will find the bigger slabs in the deeper water inside of the brush and other nice fish will be suspended above the brush. Small spoons, grubs and live bait are all working at times. Live bait is still your best bet.

Walleye are in similar areas as the stripers, hybrids and whites. We have been catching quite a few walleye in 30 feet of water vertical jigging, but the majority of the fish are short.

The lake level has risen slightly and currently sits at 552.86 The surface water temperature is falling slowly and is currently 59 - 60 degrees. Most of the lake is stained with the main lake the clearest. I believe the lake has finally finalized its turnover so the lake clearing will begin.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report by Lou of Hummingbird Hideaway Resort

Norfork Lake's summer fishing pattern is showing signs that it is starting to change. Typically around beginning to the middle of September the striped bass move from the south end of the lake and scatter thoughout the lake with a tendency to move up river to the cooler water. This year appears to be a little different to prior years. The lake has great oxygenated water down to and a little past the thermocline and then the oxygen level drops to a very low level. This is keeping all species of fish above 40 feet with most concentrating around the 30 - 35 feet level, regardless of the water depth. The lake surface water temperature has cooled off a bit and currently is in the low 80's down from the 90 degree water temperature of a week ago. I am sure the cooler water is a big relief to the striped bass as they prefer temperatures in the 60's and low 70's. Because of the change that is occurring, I am starting to find feeding striped bass up in the mid to northern parts of the lake which is a little earlier than normal.

Two weeks ago I was fishing the south part of the lake with my granddaughter using thread fin shad and we were limiting out most days with stripers and hybrids. After she went back home, I changed my tactics and have switched from live bait fishing to vertical jigging with a spoon and to casting lures for largemouth bass. I have mainly been fishing within 6 miles in all directions from Hummingbird Hideaway Resort. My best bite has been in the late afternoon. I am finding large schools of fish feeding in 25 - 35 feet of water mainly on large flats. If you find the bait there will be fish not far away. The south end of the lake continues to be very productive for striped bass early in the morning with live bait in the same 30 - 35 feet of water. Look for stripers off of points within 0 - 2 miles of the dam and you should find some nice fish.

The walleye, white bass, catfish and spotted bass bite has been improving and I am finding them in the same type of areas as the stripers and hybrids. One great thing about vertical jigging with a spoon is that they will catch all species. Yesterday I caught every species int the lake except crappie by vertical jigging. I also like to horizontal jig by casting out a Kastmaster type of blade bait, letting it sink to the bottom then jerk it back to the boat bouncing it along the bottom. I have used my spoons the same way, but have had more success with the blade type baits. I have caught most of my walleye using a 3/4 ounce spoon, but instead of vertical jigging I have been moving slowly with my trolling motor and dragging the spoon along the bottom and jerking it as I am moving. Most times they attack it as it hits the bottom after a jerk.

Crappie appear to be scattered out on the same flats as all the other fish. They have not moved into the brush as of yet, but will do very soon. I am picking up a few while jigging my spoon and the ones I catch have been the 15 + inch monsters.

I am also picking up some nice largemouth mixed in with all the other species in the same areas, but have had more luck on rocky points going into a creek or cove. Most of the fish I have caught have been suspended 10 - 20 feet down and a wiggle wart has worked great for me. I have also found some sporadic top water action and used a Zara Spook puppy since they wanted a smaller bait. For you night time bass fisher people, work the bottom with a jig and pig along the bluff lines or use a tube jig or dark spinner bait by docks after dark.

Lake Norfork level is rising very slowly and currently sits at 554.29. Minimal power generation is occurring to allow this rise. The lake surface water temperature has fallen to around 83 - 84 degrees, but I am sure it will rise once the air temperature warms up again. The main lake is clear with the creeks and coves stained.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

 

Norfork Lake Fishing Report by Lou of Hummingbird Hideaway Resort

Happy Thanksgiving to all.



Norfork Lake has gone through a lot of changes over the last week, but the fish have seemed to adjust very quickly. The lake has risen over 4 feet and we have had some really cool nights. The lake temperature has finally hit 59 degrees and should continue to fall slowly. Over the last week I have mainly fished for stripers, hybrids and white bass. I have had success with all these species.

I am still finding stripers, hybrids and whites on the large deep flats from 30 to 50 feet of water. Vertical jigging with a spoon is working the best for me, but live shad, as well as shiners should also work. Today I was graphing in 50 feet of water and not finding anything, but then
I looked in toward the shoreline and saw that fish were starting to bust the surface. I moved into 30 - 35 feet of water and found a lot of whites on the bottom with stripers hitting the surface. I starting to cast out a 1/2 ounce Kastmaster with a feather on the hook and landed a small but legal striper. My daughter and granddaughter were jigging with spoons on the bottom and the whites started to hammer their spoons. That was it for me with casting :-) We all caught whites. Trolling has also been very productive for a couple of our guests. They had their downriggers set at 30 and 50 ft and were catching nice size fish on a 6 inch swim bait at both depths. They were mainly trolling the deeper water close to the old river channels. I have not been able to check out the major checks, but typically the stripers move back into the creeks especially after a rise in the lake level. I will check it out over the next day or so.

Catfish are also feeding heavily. My guests were catching lots of cats on worms and chicken livers. They would check them in the morning and usually land 5 or 6 cats then they would rebait and check right before dark and catch a bunch more. They lost one of their floats, and on Sunday afternoon I was fishing out on the Mallard flats and saw a float out in the middle of the lake. I checked it and found their name on the float, pulled it up and there was a nice channel cat on the end. I released the fish and will save the float until they return next spring.

I have not been bass or crappie fishing over the last week so not much news on that from here. I will let you know once I have a chance.

Norfork Lake level has risen to 558.0 over the last week, but power generation is starting to occur so I would suspect the Corp. will start dropping the lake level. The lake surface water temperature has fallen to 59 degrees and should continue to fall slowly with our cool nights. The creeks and coves are stained (a great fishing color) and the main lake is semi clear.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

Temperatures in the 70's for the past several days has really made the fish active on Norfork Lake. I had two different guests fishing, one up river past Cranfield and the other fishing in the Bennett's area. Walleye, smallmouth and largemouth bass were the catches of the day up river. My guest was using a 3 inch paddle tail with a small jig head. He was finding fish on points. When he got off of the points, he got no bites. He ended up catching 6 walleye, only one keeper size and as many bass. He caught all his fish in 7 - 20 feet of water dragging the bottom. The water temperature up river was in the mid 40's. (hopefully I will be able to get the walleye photo tomorrow)

My other guest was striper fishing in the Bennett's area and using live shiners. The stripers were active and chasing shad to the surface. The water temperature was near 50 degrees. The big fish was 27 pounds and was caught on a free swimming shiner (no weights). He told me the striper came clear out of the water when it attacked the bait. (I just love spring time fishing!!!) They also caught this nice 15 inch crappie and several nice bass.

I have been homebound with the flu, but hopefully I will feel up to fishing in the next day or so. It seems like I haven't fished in forever with all the bad weather, our winter sport shows and now this yukky flu. I am really starting to get anxious to get back to fishing. The 10 day forecast shows that the temps will fall a little, but still should be great for fishing. Forecast is calling for highs in the 50's & 60's and lows in the 30's and 40's.

The Norfork Lake level is rising very slowly and currently sits at 541.35. No current generators are being run. The lake temp is in the mid to upper 40's. The main lake is clear, with the creeks slightly stained.

Happy Fishing. Hope to see you on the lake soon.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

Happy belated July 4th to all. It has been pretty busy around the resort and my fishing boat has been rented for skiing and tubing. I did finally get out fishing the last two days and did OK but not great. The black bass are still coming up somewhat early in the morning, by 8AM they have gone down deep. Today I caught 6 largemouth all 15 inches and all caught on a spook. I was also vertical jigging with a spoon. A large school of striper went under me and I hooked one momentarily while reeling up quickly though the school.It buried my rod tip in the water and when I set the hook the fish came unhooked! I immediately dropped the spoon and when it hit about 35 feet I felt my line go slack. I set the hook and the fish just took off. It ran across the bow of my boat and the line snapped. I think the line must have been cut by the fish's gill plate. I had another rod rigged with a spoon and dropped it and again the line went slack, I set the hook and the fish dove and as quickly as it dove the lure came unhooked. I did notice one of the hooks was bent out. I guess I have forgotten how to land a fish. I will get them the next time, which may not be until next week. I am finding white bass and black bass on the bottom in 30 - 40 feet of water. The stripers are suspended in 30 - 40 feet of water. I have been fishing back in the major creeks and fishing the secondary points especially where there is a channel swing.

The Norfork Lake level is at 554.16 and holding steady. The main lake is clear and the creeks are clearing. The surface water temperature was at 87 degrees this morning a few degrees lower than last week.

Happy fishing and see you on the water.

PS: The top photo's are some black bass spooned up by my brother-in-law John over the 4th and the second photo is of Chuck Pate and his client. Chuck is a very dedicated striper guide on Norfork Lake. His client hooked into this 33 pound striper on the 101 bridge columns. The fish took off between the columns and under the support brace. Chuck grabbed the rod and dove into the water and took the pole under the support bracing so the line would not be cut by the concrete. Once on the other side Chuck handed the rod back to his 13 year old client who continued to land this monster.

A foggy morning fishing on Lake Norfork

I finally made it out onto NorforkLake fishing today. I wasn't able to make it to all the spots I hoped to because of the heavy fog. It was even difficult to see the front of my boat. Without a GPS it would have been impossible to find my way around. I've been out in the fog before (without a GPS) and ended up going in circles and having to just stop the boat and wait for the fog to lift. I made it to Cranfield Island and stopped on the land side point and started to throw a rogue with no success. I switched to a white and chartreuse Zara spook and the largemouth and spotted bass started hitting on the first cast. I just caught little ones on this point then moved over to the island. I probably caught 15 bass around the island with 3 being keeper size. I headed out in the fog again and made it across the lake from the island. I fished in a cove and caught two really nice keepers. I took pictures with our phone, but I guess I don't know what I'm doing since they are not there. The fog finally lifted so I headed home. If there was any striper top water action I couldn't see it for the fog. I plan on going out in the morning unless torrential rains keep me in. Hopefully the storm headed our way passes us before 5:30AM.

The lake temp has fallen and the water is on the rise. The temp is in the low 60's and the lake level is currently 556.22 (4 1/4 ft above normal) The forecast is starting to look a little better with our normal 20 - 30% chance of thunderstorms. The buck brush is fully in the water, so if this water level remains constant, it should be really good for the spawns and fishing. The major problem with the submerged brush is that you will loose more fish to the twigs. That's fishing!

Catfishing is starting to take off on limb lines and trot lines. I have seen several really nice channels and flatheads come into the dock. The crappie are over the brush piles in shallow water and are biting good. Small curly tail jigs and road runners (both tipped with minnows) are working really well. Bluegill are hitting well on crickets. My guide contacts are catching many stripers using live shad. The fish are on points all over the lake. The bite is starting to heat up. Hopefully I will be able to talk about stripers first hand tomorrow.

See you all on the lake and happy fishing.