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

Spring is coming, I promise!. The weather is still playing games with us, and the fishing seems to be effected for a day or so after each frontal system. In between systems the fishing gets good and people catch all species for a couple of days. Then the cycle begins again. Over the last week many fish were caught including striped bass, hybrid bass, white bass, walleye, crappie, spotted bass and largemouth bass.

It appears that over the last couple of days, largemouth and spotted bass fishing has gotten really good. Baitfish have moved into the sunken buck brush and the bass have followed suit. Plastics and hard baits are both working. Unweighted flukes or bass assassins cast into the brush with slight twitches have made the bass go crazy. They are right inside of the brush so once you get hammered you will have a fun time getting the fish out. Lots of 14 - 17 inch fish have been caught and released with lots of smiles on the fisherman's face. Try out a jerk bait doing the similar routine. Find an opening in the brush and cast in a Zara spook and walk the dog out of the brush and watch the bass erupt on your bait. It will not be long until the smallies start to get real active.

Walleye fishing has also been good. They are inside of the brush, same as the bass, or right at the outside edge of the brush. A 5 inch swim bait has been working well with a 1/4 - 3/8 ounce jig head. Cast the swim bait to the edge of the brush and let it sink a little, then retrieve the bait slowly back to the boat. Early morning and right before sunset are two great times to catch walleye close to shore. Casting out a suspending jerk bait at sunset to a little after dark will also produce some nice fish. Make sure when you are retrieving the jerk bait you do it slowly with barely making a wiggle with bait.

Striped bass, hybrid bass and white bass fishing has had its ups and downs over the last week. The fish are chasing the shad and the shad are continuing to move. One day you find them in the backs of coves in 15 - 20 feet of water and the next day they are on main lake points or large flats in 20 - 35 feet of water. Vertical jigging or casting out a spoon has been the best method of catching many fish. The hardest part is finding their current feeding location. I have a 4 mile stretch that my guests have been fishing over the last week with some great results and other times a very tough time. They have typically been found on the shallow side of the cove or lake not the bluff line side. Casting out a 5 inch swim bait has also been picking up some nice stripers. There are a few stripers that are feeding in close to the sunken buck brush. If things happen as prior years, we will soon see schools of stripers up close to the brush feeding early and late in the day. This is what I am hoping will happen, the sooner the better.

The lake is currently on the rise after a slight rain a few days ago. We are currently sitting at 561.70 ft. above sea level with sporadic power generation though out the day. The surface water temperature is around 58 degrees on the main lake and close to 60 degrees back in the creeks and coves. The main lake is clearing nicely, but still slightly stained. You can see your bait at least 8 - 10 feet down. Some of the creeks and coves are stained, but are clearing.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

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

The beginning stages of Norfork Lake's spring fishing season have begun. It is a little behind prior years due to the continual unseasonable cool fronts, but it is coming. Forecasts for the next few days is great, but another cool front is possible later in the week. The bait fish are moving toward shallow water to get to warmer water, and the predators are following to feed. Shad will be going though a spawn very shortly. The cool fronts do affect the fish, but if you adjust a little and move out to a little deeper water you will find the feeding fish.










I have had a very good week of fishing. Today was outstanding. I caught well over 30 fish this morning. The majority were the monster 2.5 - 3.5 pound white bass. I caught one that went over 4 pounds. Mixed in with the whites were the medium sized hybrids going about 5 - 6 pounds. I ended up landing 5 hybrids. All of my fish were either released on site or at my dock after the photo op. I was finding fish on main lake points in 18 - 25 feet of water. My method of fishing this morning was vertical jigging a 3/4 ounce white colored spoon.  I was fishing northwest of Hummingbird Hideaway Resort's cove.The striped bass I have caught by either casting out a 5 inch swim bait with a 3/8 ounce jig head or with live bait. The stripers have been in 15 - 30 feet of water and suspended at all depths. I have caught fish on down lines set at 15 and 20 feet, as well as with free swimming baits with a small split shot or no split shot. Most of the stripers  are 8 - 12 pounds on the average. I am finding striped bass northeast of my resort.

I would like to welcome all of the Bass Cat boat owners that are arriving to Mountain Home, AR to fish in the Bass Cat Owners Invitational Tournament. The warm weather forecast for the rest of the week should make for a great bass bite. Some of the larger bass had moved off of the shore, but will be returning very shortly. There are signs that some of the bass are starting to make their beds.  Have a great tournament.

Norfork Lake level is falling slowly with one generator running full time and spillways partially open, releasing enough of water to equal using  a second generator. The current level is 559.74. The lake surface water temperature this morning on the main lake was 53.5 degrees and back in a creek was 55.5 degrees. These temperatures will be increasing though out the week. Most of the areas I fished this morning were a greenish stained.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

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

Norfork Lake's spring fishing season is slowly moving in the right direction. You know fishermen, nothing moves fast enough when you want to get into some top water action. :-) The fish have started to move to the banks and are feeding heavily on shad and crawdads. I have found a little bit of top water action, but it is still very sporadic. If we could just get some consistently warm days and nights to warm the water, then the bite will really take off. The shad that I have been netting at my dock are starting to get very fat, telling me they are not far off from their fist spawn. All species will get very active during a shad spawn.

Striped bass fishing is getting better, but it is different ever day due to the ups and downs of the weather patterns. I fished Easter Sunday and landed 5 nice striped bass and hybrid bass and released all. Today I fish the same area as Sunday and only landed 3 stripers/hybrids, but one was a 14 pound fish. The bigger females are finally starting to move in and feed. Live bait is working great. I set out 2 down lines at 15 feet deep and threw out 2 free swimming baits with a small split shot or no weight at all. If you find the fish schooled up, use no weight and sit still over the top of them. Sunday I saw sporadic top water action with stripers or hybrids coming up and feeding. However, every time I saw them I was too far away to get my Zara Spook close enough. A few of the feeding fish were coming up in only 3 feet of water. This also tells me the stripers will be feeding at night, if you want a little slow rolling a suspending stick bait action. Five inch long swim baits are also working to catch this species. I am using a 3/8 ounce jig head on the swim bait, casting it out and letting it sink to about 15 feet, then making a slow steady retrieval to the boat.


Fishing for largemouth and spotted bass is getting to be very good. Over the holiday we had some bass fishing guests do very well. They caught all of their bass on 3 different baits. A shad colored swim bait, same as I am using for stripers, a bone colored Zara Spook, and a red crank bait. Yes, they did get into some top water action for the bass. Look back in the main lake coves concentrating on the first and second secondary points in the cove. If you find shad in tight to shore the fish will come up for the spook.

Crappie fishing is also very good. They started to move into shallow water, but moved back to deeper water when the cold fronts moved though. I am sure a few have spawned already, but the majority still needs to finish their annual task. There are some good sized fish being caught under docks as well as on brush in 20 feet of water. Work the tops of the brush during most of the day, but move up higher in the late afternoon. On occasion the crappie are moving between the brush and the shore.

The majority of walleye have finished their spawning activities and are starting to get active over the entire lake. One of the best times I have found for walleye is right before sunset. Throw out a wally diver close to the bank back in coves and off of gravelly points. Cranfield area has always been a good place to catch walleye this time of year. You can also fish after dark with a suspending stick bait. Work the bait slowly and you will pick up walleye, stripers, hybrids and bass.

Big white bass are also showing up on flats and back in coves off of the main lake. You will catch many small whites along with those big 2 - 3 pound fish. I have caught them vertical jigging a spoon and casting out a blade type bait. Currently I have been finding most of the whites in 15 - 20 feet of water lying on the bottom.

Norfork Lake level is rising slowly at the moment and currently sits at 559.44, which is 5.6 feet above normal pool. The lake surface temperature was 54 degrees this morning in the main lake and increased 1 - 2 degrees as you head back into the creeks. The main lake is clearing, but still stained and most of the creeks are stained. Overall the lake is in great shape for fishing. The buck brush is covered with water, which is a great place for the predators to ambush the unsuspecting baitfish.

Follow Hummingbird Hideaway Resort's Facebook page for a frequent update of what is going on in Norfork Lake.

If you have not made your spring fishing trip plans, now is the time. April and May are two of the best months to fish Norfork Lake for all species. Call us at 870-492-5113

Happy Fishing and see you on the lake.

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

Norfork Lake fishing is still trying to get to a consistent spring fishing pattern. Not a lot has changed over the last week except for the ups and downs of the weather. Everyday brings different weather. But on a positive note the crappie and bass bites are good and the striped bass bite is fair.

Striped bass are still located back in the creeks heading towards the warmer water. In the late afternoon they tend to head out a short distance, but are still in the creeks. Most of the stripers that I have caught over the week have been on live bait, threadfin, gizzard shad and shiners. They have mainly been hitting free swimming baits (with no weights) or baits with just a small split shot. If you're fishing with no weight, do not move much, and let the bait swim free. They will go to the depth that the fish are looking for. If you use a small split shot move slowly with your trolling motor so as to keep the baits farther up in the water column. If you want to use down poles with a larger weight set your depth at about 15 feet deep. I am doing both, but am getting most of my strikes on a small split shot rig. The cold fronts do affect how the fish bite, but the fronts have not chased them out of the creeks. Artificial baits are working as well. If you like to troll, use an umbrella or Alabama rig. Your bait needs to be between 10 and 20 feet deep. The other day on my way back to the resort, I was checking out a few deep bluff lines located back in the creeks and found big hybrids on the bottom in 25 feet of water. I was able to drop a spoon and vertical jig and caught a really big hybrid. Early in the morning the fish can be in really shallow water then as the day wears on they tend to move out to 30 - 40 feet deep water.

Crappie fishing has picked up. They are still on the brush piles and have not moved onto the banks to spawn at this time. I believe they really want to, but the cooler weather is keeping them from proceeding. A few warm days and nights should get the crappie heading to shallow water. One of our guests found crappie on 25 feet deep brush piles. The fish were near the top of the brush 15 - 20 feet down. It seemed to him that if he went deeper he only caught smaller fish. Vertical jigging a small 1/4 ounce spoon was working great, but using a small grub with a 1/8 to 1/4 ounce jig head will work as well. Of course, live minnows on a slip float will work wonders with the crappie, as it does with all species. When they move to the banks cast out a small spinner bait, such as a Roadrunner, or a small crank bait or a small grub to catch some of these shallow fish.

The largemouth and spotted bass bite is still good. The pattern is basically the same as a week ago. Head about half way back into coves and cast out a red crank bait. The red color is working best in the stained water, but if you are working in browner water try a lighter color, such as white and chartreuse.

Norfork Lake level has risen slightly, about 4 inches, over the last week and currently sits at 553.51 ft. The surface water temperature has stayed about the same from a week ago and currently ranges from 49 - 53 degrees, depending on your location on the water. Parts of the main lake, as well as, some of the creeks are clear and others are stained. I have fished most areas of the lake from the mid lake creeks to the Bennetts area, and up to the Red Bank area. All species of fish are scattered throughout.

Hummingbird Hideaway Resort's annual fishing derby has commenced. Win large cash prize for the longest fish in three different species, along with a chance to win a free week stay. Give us a call at 870-492-5113 to make your cabin reservation and to join the derby. Go to our web site for further details at www.hummingbird-hideaway.com.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

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

Norfork Lake fishing is getting better and better. Spring is in the air and the fish have sensed it! Walleye should be spawning. White bass are at the beginning stage of their spawn. The crappie spawn will not be far off. Largemouth will start to stage with a little increase in water temperature. Norfork Lake is in great shape and the fishing patterns are becoming similar to prior years.

Striped bass and hybrid bass fishing is picking up daily. Various baits are working, with live bait (shiners or shad) being one of the better types of baits. You will be able to catch fish on A-rigs by either casting or trolling, casting out a Kastmaster, casting or trolling a 5 inch swim bait, or vertical jigging with a spoon. I am finding most of my fish from 35 feet of water to all the way up to the shore line. The fish are suspended from the surface down to 15 or 20 feet deep. The majority of the bait  I am finding is

suspended up in the water column. The warmest water is typically holding the most active fish. Bennetts Bayou, and all the major creeks should be holding fish, as well as, Big Creek in the southern portion of the lake. As you head into the creeks the water will gradually get warmer the farther back you go. Today I had a guest with his two grandsons land some nice hybrids, using shiners back in Bennetts. He then went into shallower water and started to cast out an A-Rig and landed both hybrids and big white bass. Two days ago I was fishing the same area and landed 3 nice striped bass all on shad. As the water continues to warm the fish will get more active and fishing will get real exciting.

White bass are really close to their spawn if not already doing it. I have been catching the small males in the backs of creeks for the last week, but the catch today of the larger females tells me the white bass run should be in or close to full swing. The upcoming warmer weather, towards the end of the week should have the whites going crazy. Small spinners and blade type baits are two very good baits to catch the whites this time of year. Fish the backs of creeks and up river in the Calamity to Udall area.

The bass bite has been really good for my guests over the last week. The pattern that they found was to go about halfway back into coves off of the main lake and fish the banks with a crank bait. Red was the color they had the most luck with and they found lipless, square bill and regular bills were all catching fish. They were landing over 10 - 12 keeper size fish each day. There were alot of smaller ones being caught as well, but this is very normal.The best area for my guests was from Cranfield to past Red Bank. The color of water really did not matter.

Crappie fishing is in transition. I found some nice crappie back in Fall Creek yesterday in about 25 feet of water lying on the bottom. I had to keep one since it wouldn't swim away but otherwise was releasing my fish. When the sun comes out they move up in the water column. Spoons, small jigs and live minnows are all working. The crappie I cleaned was full of eggs and you could tell it was very close to spawn. I will hazard a guess and say that in the next week or so you can start working the banks with a small Roadrunner and will catch some nice fish. This is also assuming the weather is stable and the water temperature continues to rise.

Norfork Lake level is holding fairly stable and currently sits at 553.21 feet above sea level. The surface lake temperature ranges from 49 degrees up to 53 degrees depending on where you are on the lake. The water clarity varies depending on your locations. The water is still slightly light brown from Hummingbird's cove to around Red Bank area. Most other areas that I have been to are stained to clear. The mid lake creeks yesterday were as clear as I have seen in quite a while.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report by Lou of Hummingbird Hideaway Resort

Norfork Lake is in the midst of change from the cold water winter fishing pattern to the beginning of the spring fishing season. When the water temperature reaches the mid to low 40's during the winter season most species go to deep water and go into somewhat of a dormant state. As the water warms the fish start to get active and move up in the water column and begin to feed heavily. From past experience the mid 50's seem to be a magic temperature to get the fish going. We are almost there! Over the last week, after our heavy rains, I have seen many changes to the fish patterns. I am starting to find bigger shad moving off the bottom and am starting to mark some bigger arcs in or near these bait balls. I have also netted thread fin shad at my dock, which is a great sign for the bass fisherman. Typically I have found that shad move off of my dock when the water temperature drops below 50 degrees. I've caught a few bass up in shallow water and have found the big whites are starting to move out of the deep cold water. Hybrids are beginning to school up and are feeding heavily once you find them. The striped bass are one of the last species to move out of the deep water, but I have seen a few caught over the last week.

With the heavy rains and the fast rise in the lake level, parts of the lake has turned brown, but this will start to drop out very soon. The lake is still roughly 2 feet below normal pool so we are in great shape for this time of year. Today I headed up to Missouri waters graphing various spots as I went. I found the water to be brown from the mouth of my cove to just north of the Red Bank area. The water is stained in the Calamity area and continued to clear the farther north I went. I fished with live shiners from the Calamity to Cane Creek. I got lots and lots of bites, but very few fish. I believe most of my bites were white bass and walleye. It was breezy and I was drifting up river, probably faster than I should have been to catch the walleye. Yesterday I fished the 3 mid lake major creeks, found a lot of bait in 30 feet of water, but could only catch small whites. The water in these creeks are stained and in great shape. One of my guests fished in Float Creek this morning and hooked into several bigger fish and had great battles for 10 minutes or so each, but for various reasons lost each before getting to see them. Several days ago I headed into the Bennetts Bayou area where the water was brown with lots of floating debris. Yesterday a friend fished in the Bayou area and said the water is still brown, but there wasn't much floating debris. He ended up landing 3 nice hybrids on live shiners in the brown water. The fish were in 30 feet of water and suspended down 10 - 20 feet. I was fishing on the Cranfield flats a few days after the heavy rain and found large schools of hybrids and big white bass. You could tell the whites had just moved out of deep cold water as their coloring was really light and they were still very lethargic. The hybrids I have caught are very aggressive and give a great fight.

Some walleye have already moved to their spawning areas and others are staging and will soon follow. The walleye spawn typically lasts into April. White bass are starting to stage for their spawn. I am finding many of the males up the creeks, but the females are still waiting for the perfect conditions.  Assuming we don't get any severe cold fronts, the white bass spawn will be in full swing very shortly. The largemouth, spots and smallmouth will be on their beds typically during April & May.

I will continue being out on the lake looking and fishing most days of the week. I am a early riser so I am typically fishing in the mornings, but on occasion I do go out in the afternoon. I also like the after dark bite for stripers and walleye. I have not been out yet after dark as I really don't like fishing after dark when the air temp is in the 30's. As soon as things warm up a bit more I will start seeing what's biting after dark. It is a blast hooking into a 15 pound fish when you can't see anything and all your fishing is by feel.

The Norfork Lake temperature varies from 48 - 55 degrees depending on where you are fishing. The farther up river and up creeks you go the warmer it gets. The water is brown from Red Bank to the 101 bridge, brown from Bennetts Bayou to Bidwell, and stained most other areas. As you head south in the main lake the water clarity gets better and better. The current lake level is 552.56 and rising very slowly.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report by Lou of Hummingbird Hideaway Resort

Winter time fishing is slowly coming to an end and I am looking forward to the warmer weather fishing of spring. The lake surface water temperature is rising slowly which will help make all species more active.

At this time bass fishing has been good and walleye fishing is starting to pick up. I have been catching some nice sized spotted bass and largemouth bass with many shorts among the keeper sized fish. Yesterday morning I tried out a tube jig, working it in about 25 - 30 feet of water with good success. The slower I worked the bait along the bottom the better. I have also been picking up some nice fish vertical jigging a spoon in 30 - 45 feet of water. Brush piles are also holding some nice fish.

Walleye are starting their spawning run. Some of the fish are staging out in 20 - 30 feet of water and others are heading into shallower water. Gravel banks will be some of the best areas to find these spawning fish. One of the well known spots to fish for walleye is up river in the Calamity area and farther north into Missouri. Berkley's Flicker Shad and Smithwick's Rogues are a couple of good baits to cast out for those shallow spawning fish. For the deeper walleye drag a crawler harness or a live shiner on the bottom at a very slow speed. Remember with live bait you may need to feed line out once you get a strike to let the walleye take the whole bait into it mouth. Other areas that will be holding walleye are back in the major creeks. Also look for those gravel banks.

The last several mornings (not including today) I was out looking for striped bass in the Cranfield area. I am finally marking a few big fish following bait balls, but every time I find a few fish I am graphing and not fishing. When I start to fish I lose site of them. The good sign is that I am starting to mark bait balls suspended down 20 - 40 feet in 50 - 60 feet of water. As the water warms the larger bait will continue coming off the bottom and the fish will follow.

What I have found in the bait balls is white bass. This is telling me the whites are starting to move towards their spawning areas. It will not be long before the Bennetts and Calamity areas will be filled with spawning whites.

Hummingbird Hideaway Resort's 4th annual fishing derby commences on March 1st. Last year produced some really nice fish and the winners won nice monetary prizes for the longest striped bass, crappie and large/smallmouth bass. All of our guests can enter for a chance to win the longest fish categories, as well as, a drawing for a free week stay.

The Norfork Lake level is currently starting to rise with the current rains we are having and sits at 545.56. If we get the rain that is forecast I can see a substantial rise in the lake level over the next couple of days. Norfork Lake is currently 8 feet below normal pool. The surface water temperature is also on the rise and currently is in the mid 40's. The main lake is clearing as well as the creeks and coves. The lake is still not as clear as it typically is this time of year. Norfork Lake is shaping up to be in great condition for spring fishing.

Happy fishing a see you on the lake.