Norfork Lake Fishing Report

Linda and I got home from our Collinsville Sport Show Sunday evening. We met several of our old friends and made many new ones. Overall the show was a big success. I will be at the St. Charles, MO sport show this weekend. If you're in the area please stop by and talk about the your vacation needs for this year and of course get the latest fishing report on the lake.

The weather has greatly improved on Norfork Lake and the future forecast shows it is only going to get better. The freeze is over, finally! I have fished the last couple of afternoons and have been successful in catching largemouth bass and Kentucky (spotted) bass. I have been vertical jigging with a small spoon and also casting a small grub tipped with a minnow. The bass have been hanging out in my sunken brush piles in 30 - 45 feet of water. My guest from WI has also been doing well with bass. He has had his luck casting a jig head tipped with a Gulp smelt flavored minnow. He has been casting the rock bluffs. The bass seem to be hanging on ledges where there is a drop off from 20 to 30 feet.

I fished awhile this morning for stripers and only had 4 short bites. I was marking plenty of bait fish in the 40 - 60 feet range with some occasional big arcs. No big bites today. I fished Float Creek and Panther Creek. The fish were there, but I guess I wasn't presenting my bait the way they wanted today.

The Norfork Lake level has fallen to 554.11. The lake surface water temperature ranged from 42.5 to 44 degrees. The main lake is clear and the creeks and coves are clearing somewhat, but still stained.

Have a great day and see you on the lake next week.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

What a difference a year can make in the weather conditions on Norfork Lake. Last year on 1/3/09 I was out fishing and catching crappie and small mouth in just a light weight tee shirt. This year I am stuck in the house with cold temps and snow on the ground. The fish are still biting well so when the weather breaks get out on Norfork Lake. Yesterday a fisherman was fishing for striped bass on Cow Point and limited out in 20 minutes. He had a heater in his boat, but when he tried to pull his boat out of the water he had to be towed out.

For those people in the St. Louis area, Linda and I will be at the Collinsville Fishing Show at the Gateway Center this coming weekend. The Show starts on Friday at noon and lasts until Sunday at 5PM. Come by and visit with us or come by to book your vacation for this season. We do offer a sport show special if you can book at the show.

The Norfork Lake water level is 558.4 and falling around 4 - 5 inches per day. The Corps has all generators running full blast. The lake surface temp is 47 - 48 degrees. The main lake is clear with the creeks and coves stained. The creeks and coves will clear once the lake stabilized and a constant level.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

Happy New Year to all and may the new year bring you many exciting memories of catching fish on Norfork Lake. The sun is shining with no clouds in sight. What a gorgeous day to start the first day of 2010 at Hummingbird Hideaway Resort.

The winter bite for striped bass, white bass, Kentucky bass, largemouth bass, and crappie is in full swing. Some undersized walleye have been caught recently, hopefully we'll see the larger ones soon. The striper bite has been fantastic. Since so many species are biting well it makes it difficult to decide what to fish for. I decided for my final catch of the year, I would striper fish. I headed out yesterday around 10AM to the same area my guests caught fish the day before. (check out the blog from 12/30/09, nice fish!)I ended up landing 2 - 10 pound stripers, broke off one other and had 4 - 5 short bites. I also caught several nice white bass spooning. The Stripers were caught on live shiners. I had the boat in 60 - 70 feet of water and the stripers were on the bottom to 25 feet down. When I drifted over a school of shad I started to vertical jig and found that the whites were feeding under the ball of shad. All fish were released except for this stiper in the photo. The white bass was released after he had his picture taken. The striper will make it to the frying or baking pan. Another striper fisherman, fishing near the same area pulled in several nice stripers and a monster Blue Catfish that weighed 41 pounds. I could hear him screaming during the fight that he had a monster. It was a monster!

Crappie, walleye, Kentucky bass, and largemouth bass are are hanging in the same areas. They are around brush piles on the rock bluff lines, in 30 - 45 feet of water. At least that is where I have been fishing and catching. I have been vertical jigging with a 3/4 ounce spoon, and I also use a small grub with a twister tail tipped with a crappie minnow on a 1/16 ounce jig head. The bite is light so pay close attention to your line.

We will see what today brings. The sun is shining and the wind is light. Who knows, I may be able to catch my first fish of 2010 today. What to fish for?? Decisions, decisions!

Norfork Lake is clear in the main lake and stained in the creeks and coves. The Lake level is starting to fall slowly and is sitting at 559.75 above sea level with normal pool at 552. The Corps is starting to run all generators again. The lake surface temperature is around 47 degrees.

Happy New year and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

If you can brave the cooler air temperature the fish are really biting well this winter on Norfork Lake. This is the time of year the trophies are caught.

What a fantastic and exciting day these three Hummingbird Hideaway Resort guests had today on Norfork Lake. They ended up with 3 limits of striped bass and released 6 others. These fish were all about 11 - 12 pounds but fought like 40 pound fish. They were all caught in 60 feet depths suspended 25 - 40 feet down. Large live shiners were the bait of choice. The best part is that they only had to travel 5 - 10 minutes away from the resort.

The Kentucky bass are schooling on the bluff line points in 30 - 45 feet of water and biting well on shiners. Vertical jigging with a spoon is also working for the Kentucky bass. Find brush piles in the same areas and the bite will even be better. Walleye and crappie are in the same area. Yesterday afternoon I ended up with 4 nice Kentucky's and lost 2 others. Today another guest visiting from Wisconsin, caught a nice crappie, two under size walleye and several nice bass.

The Winter bite has started!!

The Norfork Lake level is 559.8 and fairly stable. The Corps is starting to generate again with one generator intermittantly throughout the day. The lake surface water temperature is 47 - 49 degrees. The main lake is clear and the creeks and coves are stained.

Happy fishing, dress warmly and I'll see you on the lake!

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

I want to wish all a MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR. Hope your fishing trips are frequent and full of big fish.

Bass fishing has been great lately. Norfork Lake is becoming a premier bass lake. I think the last several years of high water during the spawn has improved the quality and quantity of fish in this lake. The bass are still in deep water, 35 - 45 feet, and close to brush piles. The photo is of my yesterday catch. I missed more bites than I caught. They are hitting real light. When you check in, ask where I have placed large cedar trees. I have been vertical jigging with a spoon and also using live shiners. One of my guests was using a Berkley Gulp minnow on a jig and caught several nice largemouth and Kentucky bass. He also hooked into a couple of nice catfish.

Winter striper fishing has been going good. A few of my guide friends have been limiting out with nice fish. They are currently located near the 62 bridge to the Bidwell area. This is winter so the fish are moving, but it does seem that they are staying on this end of the lake. Live shiners are working well and you can also catch them with spoons once you find the school.

Crappie are starting to bite. I have spooned up a few and a friend is using live minnows and starting to have luck catching crappie during various times of the day. The best bite seems to be close to dark. My favorite crappie bait, a 2 - 3 inch twister tail grub tipped with a live minnow should start working soon. Winter crappie fishing is really fun, but of course I try and wait until the afternoons are in the 40 degree range.

The Norfork Lake level is still falling and currently is at 558.38. The surface temperature water has risen slightly and is at 51.5 degrees. The main lake is clear and the creeks and coves are still stained.

Happy holiday to all and have a safe and Merry Christmas.

Norfork Lake Fishing Reprt

The weather has been really nice the last couple of afternoons. Today and tomorrow are supposed to be even nicer. I fished yesterday afternoon until dark. I started in our cove looking for crappie but had no luck at all. For an hour I tried all the tricks I know, but could not get them to bite. I moved over a few coves closer to the bridges and fished the main lake points where I have sunken brush. I started to vertical jig with a 1 ounce green and white spoon with no luck. I tied on a 3/4 ounce white spoon and this was the ticket. I didn't get crappie, but wasn't really expecting them at this spot. I caught 5 bass, mixed largemouth and Kentucky. Two were keeper size. I also caught the largest white bass that I have caught on Norfork Lake. When I first saw its football shaped body I thought it was a hybrid. My fish were caught in 30 - 40 feet of water bouncing the spoon off the bottom. If you see suspended fish reel up though them real fast and usually the fish will attack the spoon. As for the crappie, I was marking fish over the brush, but couldn't get them to bite. I think it is only a matter of time until the winter crappie bite starts. The water temp is almost there.

The striped bass are still scattered. This is their normal winter pattern. They are located anywhere from Bidwell area to 6A and also from the 101 bridge to the Red Bank area. You can usually find them suspended at 40 feet in 60 to 120 feet of water.

The surface water temperature on Norfork Lake is in the 50 - 51 degree range. I am looking for the high forties to help the crappie bite. The water is clear in the main lake and still stained in the creeks due to the quick draw down of the lake. The Norfork Lake water level is 559.4 and falling about 5 inches per day. They have the flood gates closed and are only generating. It should take another couple of weeks for the lake to be at normal pool.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

The forecasted weather indicates that it's going to warm up a bit on Norfork Lake. I went out fishing this morning and found that it was a little colder than I thought it would be. I guess I better layer my clothes a little more for early morning fishing trips. I started out fishing for striped bass and marked many big arcs, but nothing hit my baits. I had two shiners down and was also vertical jigging. I was fishing in the Bidwell area. One of my neighbors caught an 8 pounder this morning, just shortly after I left. I headed back to the 101 area and was fishing a point leading into the boat dock. I caught one nice Kentucky bass along with a smaller one, both were keeper size. I also caught two undersized largemouth bass, a 14 inch walleye and two white bass. This was the forth walleye I've caught over the last week and this is the biggest so far. I guess I am working my way up to the keeper size fish.

The striped bass are anywhere from 50 feet of water to the deep channel, but they are suspended at about 40 feet. The Kentucky's and largemouth were caught in 30 - 40 feet of water sitting on the bottom. The white bass are in the same areas up to 50 feet down and also on the bottom.

The Norfork Lake surface temperature was 54 - 56 degrees. The Norfork Lake level was 565.9, falling about 6 - 10 inches per day. The Corp. has dropped the lake about 6 feet since the first of December. They are attempting to bring the lake back to normal pool of 552. The main lake is clear and the coves and creeks are stained due to the rapid decline of the lake.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.