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

Norfork Lake water temperature is finally starting to cool and the fishing is heating up. (Kind of corny, ha-ha) In all seriousness, fishing for several species on the lake has been very good and is improving daily.


The crappie bite continues to be excellent and the larger slabs are starting to move into the brush. Same places as my last report and same methods of fishing. Brush in 30 to 40 feet of water has been the best, as long as the top of the brush comes up to at least 20 – 25 feet of water. Vertical jigging a small ¼ spoon has still been working great. If you like to live bait fish, set up your rod with a slip float and cast to the brush with your live minnow. Small curly or paddle tail grubs tipped with a live minnow are also working very well. Best colors have been pink and white, green and white or a fire tiger type color.  Brush in coves, as well as, main lake brush are both holding some nice fish.


The bass bite has also been excellent. There has been very good topwater action at sunrise and sunset. You will find large and smallmouth bass, spotted bass and white bass all chasing shad. Cast your favorite topwater bait, such as, a Zara Spook or a Whopper Plopper and you will have a blast. Once the fish go

down, work the shoreline, pitching a 10 inch, dark colored worm right up into the sunken buck brush.
(2 to 5 feet of water) If you like to vertical jig with a spoon for bass, they are starting to school up on deep water flats in 35 – 45 feet of water. Some of my guests fishing out of our new Lowe fishing tri-toon found a large school of feeding fish in 40 feet of water off a small ledge. They landed 8 nice largemouth bass with the biggest one 18 to 19 inches long. It will not be long until the jerkbait bite starts working. We just need the water to cool down a little more for the jerkbait bite to really get going.


The striped bass are finally starting to show up, but very slowly. The heavy rains last weekend pushed the stripers back into the major creeks that had some cooler flowing water. As the water continues to cool the stripers will move out into the main lake and onto the big deep flats.


Norfork Lake level is dropping slowly, with some power generation and gate releases. The current depth is 557.16 feet MSL. The lake is currently dropping about 1 – 2 inches per day. The surface water temperature is slowly falling and is currently around 73 degrees. The main lake is clear to slightly stained with some of the creeks and coves stained. Overall Norfork Lake is in great fishing condition.


Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

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

Summer like weather is hanging on longer this year than normal. I’m really getting anxious waiting for the fall fishing season to begin. Even with the warm water temperature, my fishing guests and I have been doing pretty well fishing for a variety of species in Norfork Lake. Crappie, largemouth, smallmouth, bluegill, catfish and walleye are all being caught.

The crappie bite is still one of the better bites at this time, with several of the big slabs starting to show up. Crappie are being caught from 15 feet down to 35 feet, suspended and on the bottom in and around large brush piles. The best areas have brush from 22 feet of water out to 35 feet of water. You will be able to stay in one area longer with the brush covering such a large depth range. What I try to do is start in the shallow part of the brush and fish close to the bottom. As the sun gets to the tree tops, I move a little deeper and will start to find fish suspended toward the top of the brush. But once the sun gets high in the sky the fish seem to move   I currently have several guests fishing for pan fish with live minnows and crickets. They are doing quite well catching big blue gills, along with some nice crappie and bass. The best depth so far for my guests have been 25 – 30 feet towards the bottom close to or inside of brush piles. If you are not getting bites you need to move to another brush pile. The bite may stop after you catch several fish and if it does, make the move then come back to this brush after you give it some time to rest. I have been using a ¼ ounce white with chartreuse back spoon, as well as, ones with a pink and green back. These colors seem to be my go-to colors, but if the bite seems to be slow, I do switch out to other colors until I find one that the fish are wanting.

I currently have another fishing guest that is strictly fishing for bass. The bite has been good for him, but he does have to work for them. He has been fishing a dark colored 10 inch worm and working it in shallow water. His best areas have buck brush that is still under water or large under water rocks close to the shore. Yesterday he did land a nice 5.5 pound largemouth bass, but most fish he has caught are in the 2 – 3.5 pound range. A few days ago, another guest was crappie fishing and saw topwater action occurring along a deep bluff line across the lake from him. He headed that way and started to throw a Zara Spook and landed several nice 16 to 17 inch largemouth bass. These fish were out in 80 feet of water chasing shad at about 9AM on a sunny day.

I have also been spending quite a bit of time looking for striped bass and walleye. The striped bass have totally eluded me at this time, but I am finding walleye, but all have been short. My best areas for walleye have been on points off the rock bluff walls in 20 to 30 feet of water. I have caught these fish vertical jigging a ¾ ounce spoon off the bottom.

Norfork Lake continues to drop about 2 inches a day. The lake is currently at 558.36 feet MSL. The lake is currently 4.6 feet above normal seasonal pool. The lake surface water temperature this morning ranged from 79.6 degrees to 81.5 degrees. The main lake in our area is slightly stained to clear and most of the creeks and coves are also slightly stained. Great fishing color.

From what I can see on my depth finder the thermocline has dropped to somewhere between 35 and 40 feet. Over the last several days I have found many fish on the bottom at this depth. This is one of the main reasons I have started checking out deeper brush and have actually caught crappie 35 + feet deep on the bottom. The better bite for crappie is still on 25 to 30 feet deep brush. As the lake continues to cool, what we call a lake turn over will happen and fish will then have the freedom to move around at any depth. Basically, this means the oxygen level will be high at all levels and the water temperature will become more consistent from top to bottom.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

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

Norfork Lake is on the tail end of its summer pattern with many species still in very deep water. As the weather starts to cool, the fish will become much more active and start to feed heavily. According to the long range forecast we are expected to start getting cooler weather here very shortly.

The best bite on the lake for me has been for crappie. The crappie bite has been fantastic. I have been vertical jigging a ¼ ounce spoon and a 1 ounce spoon. The best color has been a white spoon with a chartreuse back. The fish have been aggressive and are hammering the spoon as it is falling. Find brush piles that are in 30 to 35 feet of water that come up to around 15 feet. The crappie have been suspended on the top of the brush around 15 feet as well as being buried in the brush all the way to the bottom. I have been catching the larger fish toward the bottom. Most of the crappie that I have been catching are in the 9 to 11 inch range. The bigger slabs are still out roaming away from the brush, but will be heading into the brush as the water cools. Norfork Lake has a 10 inch size limit, but I have been catching many keeper size fish.

The bass bite has also been very good. Again, many smaller fish

are feeding up toward the surface early in the morning, with the larger ones hanging around in deeper cooler water. I have been catching spotted bass that have been in the 13 – 15 inch range. The best areas I have found are on main lake points with lots of buck brush still partially submerged. I have been casting a swimbait up next to or even inside of the brush and letting it sink and the spots are hammering it on the fall. The fun part is trying to get them out of the brush. I have also marked many bigger fish along deep bluff lines suspended down 10 to 15 feet deep.

The striped bass bite has slowed, which is very typical for this time of year especially with higher than normal water levels. The stripers that head down toward the dam area should be moving away from the dam area and are scattering throughout the lake. As the water cools, they will again start to school and become very aggressive.

Norfork Lake’s surface water temperature is holding in the mid 80’s, but should start to drop with the upcoming cooler weather. The lake continues to drop 1 to 3 inches per day depending on how much power generation is going on. The current water

depth is 560.94, which is only about 5 feet above normal seasonal pool. The main lake is clear with a slight stain, with some of the creeks and coves a little more stained.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

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

Fishing on Norfork Lake continues the summertime pattern with no dramatic change over the last week. The water temperature is on the rise with the unseasonably warm air temperatures. The thermocline may have dropped a foot or two, but is still in the 25 foot range +/- a foot or two.

Striped bass fishing is still the best in the dam area. You can find many of the stripers 70 to 90 feet deep on the bottom or very close to it. I have noticed that they seem to have moved a little deeper since last week. I fished for striped bass last Sunday (8/18) and Monday (8/19) and caught a few and missed a few, but most were 80 to 90 feet down on the bottom. Live bait is working, but you will need to change out your baits often as they are not surviving long in this deep and cold water. Vertical jigging with a spoon is picking up a few fish and trolling with down riggers or a lot of in-line weight is also picking up some fish. I am hearing that the fishermen trolling swim baits or umbrella rigs are catching a few stripers suspended 40 feet down, but the fish that I am finding are mainly very deep.

Today (8/20) I headed toward the Cranfield area and upriver a short way and fished in 20 – 35 feet of water. I was vertical jigging a spoon, casting deeper diving crankbaits and slow trolling deep diving crankbaits. I caught crappie, bluegills and bass. Crappie have moved into brush that is in 25 – 30 feet of water. I started out vertical jigging a ¼ ounce spoon with light weight line. I was marking fish at the tops of the brush, about 15 feet down. I received no bites. I switch to my 1 ounce spoon and on my first drop it was hammered by a 10.5 inch crappie. I fished this brush with the 1 ounce spoon for about 30 minutes and landed 5 more in the 10 inch range. Why they liked the bigger bait over my normal go to size, I have no idea, but they were aggressive. I switched methods of fishing and started casting a deep diving crankbait over the tops of some brush where I was marking fish and landed a nice 12 crappie and a few bass. You can also troll with deep diving crankbaits in 18 – 30 feet of water and catch many different species of fish. You will need to have your bait reach around 15 to 20 feet deep. I have in the past added some big split shots about 6 feet or so from the bait to help it get deeper.

Norfork Lake surface water temperature is on the rise and was 87 degrees this morning. The lake is somewhat stained, but clearer in the main lake. The water depth continues to drop 2 – 3 inches per day due to the Corps of Engineers keeping the power generators on for part of the day. The current depth of Norfork Lake is 565.5 feet MSL.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

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

Norfork Lake fishing has not really changed much over the last couple of weeks. The fish are still in the summertime pattern and should remain in this pattern for the next 4 weeks. The only thing that might change is that the thermocline should start to drop from its current level of 20 – 25 feet down to 30+ feet.

The best bite for striped bass is within a mile or so of the dam. Stripers are hanging around in the 60 to 90 feet water depth and are typically very close to the bottom. Hybrids will be with the stripers, but will also be up towards the thermocline as they handle the warmer water much better than striped bass do. You will be able to find stripers on points near the dam including Thumb, Koso, Long Point and Point 1. At times you may find them roaming out on the deeper flats in the same area. I fished for striped bass on Sunday and Monday of this week. On Sunday I found a lot of fish, but they were not very energetic. I got bites, but very light and they let go of the bait quickly. Monday was a different story. I fished the same area and again lots of fish, but this time they were hungry. When they hit the bait, they took off running. It was a lot of fun. Live shad or shiners are the best baits to use at this time, but vertical jigging a spoon or trolling may pick up some nice fish.

Most other species of fish are hanging around the thermocline. The thermocline is currently at approximately 25 feet. The last couple of days I fished for shallower fish and caught almost every species in the lake. This morning, August 13^th, I spent my time looking at different types of areas within several miles of our resort. (Hummingbird Hideaway Resort) This morning I only used one bait which was a Bink’s Many Shad, 1oz. spoon. I was vertical jigging in 20 to 30 feet of water. The best depth this morning seemed to be around 25 feet. I caught and released walleye, bass, bluegills, crappie, and catfish. I believe I boated over 20 fish, but only the spotted bass and a few crappie were keeper size.  The best areas seemed to be on main lake points. I marked some nice size bass suspended 10 to 15 feet down near bluff line points. I checked out the back of one cove where I knew there were some shallow brush piles. The brush was in 24 to 27 feet of water and came up to about 15 feet. I found crappie just stacked at the top of the brush. I still only had the 1-ounce spoon tied on, but the crappie were aggressive. Several of the crappie were 10 – 11 inches, but most were on the short side.

Norfork Lake continues to drop about 2 inches per day with about a half of day of full power generation. The current level is at 567.01 MSL. The coves are slightly stained with the main lake clear. The surface water temperature this morning was 85 to 87 degrees.

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 in its summertime fishing pattern. This means that the fish have gone deep and will stay deep until the lake starts to cool. My fishing time has greatly been reduced this summer.  I have only been able to get out once or twice a week. I will get back to my every day fishing habit shortly. I will try my best to start doing more frequent fishing reports, as well.

Most species of fish are at or around the thermocline, 25 to 35 feet deep. I spent yesterday morning fishing at this water depth. I was casting swimbaits, letting them sink to the bottom, jigging spoons off the bottom and at the same time dragging several live shad on the bottom. I moved around slowly in 25 to 35 feet of water and caught many different species of fish. I was mainly fishing the shallow sloping banks. I was looking for walleye, but catfish and bass were hanging around and liking the live shad. I did land many walleye, but I could only find the nursery fish. The walleye that I caught were only 12 – 15 inches long. The catfish were nice size and really fought hard. I actually broke off two, but not before seeing them several times before they dove for the bottom again. All the cats that I have caught have been well over 8 pounds. My live bait caught the most fish, but jigging the spoon caught all the walleye.

Striped bass fishing has been a little difficult. This time of year, once the water temperature gets into the upper 80’s, many of the striped bass head toward the dam ^th, I headed out before light to search. I looked at several typical areas, but found very few fish. In the 4th area I started to mark fish 60 feet down and deeper. It was about 6AM and was getting light. I set our 4 live shad rods 2 at 60 feet and the other 2 at 70 feet and was moving around in 60 to 90 feet of water. It was not long until a fish hammered one of the baits and then once I landed this fish a second rod took off. I thought that the bite was on! I continued to mark lots of scattered fish, but it took another hour before I caught my limit. The stripers that I have caught over the last couple of weeks have mainly been feeding on crawdad. Stripers need to go deep to get to the cooler water which takes them away from the shad, as most of the shad are staying around the thermocline.
area. I fished for striped bass on Monday, July 29

Norfork Lake surface water temperature has been in the mid 80’s in the mornings and rising slightly in the heat of the day. The water level is dropping about 2 inches per day with both generators being run 50% of the time. The current lake depth is at 569.48 MSL. The main lake is clear and some the creeks and coves are slight stained.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

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

Happy Fourth of July to all. Have a safe and enjoyable holiday period. Norfork Lake is mainly in its summertime pattern. This means fish are starting to go deep. Most fish species are hanging out in the 20 – 30 feet range. Norfork Lake has formed a thermocline at about 20 – 25 feet and the fish are hanging very cl

The best bite on the lake at this time, is for largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass. At sunrise, you can find some topwater action up close to the shoreline and out on long shallower points. Yesterday my daughter and I had fun throwing Zara Spooks and Whopper Ploppers. The fish are very aggressive. When you see a small swirl in the water cast your bait at the swirl and give it a twitch, the fish will hammer it. As the sun gets over the tree line the fish start to go deeper.  Once they go deep start looking just outside of the sunken buck brush on the wind blown points, which will be in about 20 – 25 feet of water. Start throwing a grub or just about any dark plastic, and work it along the bottom. You don’t need to work it fast, but you will need to pay attention as the bite at this time has been very light.

The striped bass have gone deep earlier this year than normal. You will find stripers anywhere from 30 – 70 feet, either suspended or on the bottom.  I have been having difficulty in finding large numbers of stripers in any one area. They are scattered throughout the lake. Live bait has been working the best, but you have to work at it. When you find the fish, you can also vertical jig a spoon and you will pick up a few nice fish. Trolling large swimbaits is also picking up some nice fish keeping the bait at about 50 feet deep back in some of the major creeks. The best locations to start looking for this species are from the Robinson area down to the dam and also back to the Big Creek area. They will be up in the 30 feet range early in the morning, then head deeper as the sun comes up.


Norfork Lake has risen to 573.78, but currently is starting to drop with both of the generators running constantly. Both generators running for the entire day will drop the lake about 3 inches per day. The main lake is fairly clear, with the creeks and coves slightly stained. The current surface water temperature is in the mid 80’s.