Norfork Lake Fishing Report

What a great day on Norfork Lake in the Arkansas Ozarks! The temperature this morning was just fantastic. It was in the mid 60's and with the lake being warmer there was light fog lifting up from the lake, a gorgeous morning.

It was also a fun morning fishing. I caught white bass, smallmouth, largemouth, Kentuckys and walleye. I was in a slight predicament though, the fish were breaking the surface all around me plus I was marking fish on the bottom. I didn't know what to do first! (What a terrible situation to have!) I ended up starting to fish top water. I caught several largemouth and Kentuckys, but most were 1.5 pounds or less. I switched to a spoon and immediately landed a nice 3 pound largemouth, then another, all the while other fish were breaking the surface around me. I hooked a nice 3 pound walleye. I actually had another walleye, but while I was trying to get my net, the fish flopped on the surface and came off the spoon. I was fishing a main lake point in the Five Fingers area. The top water fish were being caught anywhere from the shore out to 100 feet of water. My spooning fish were caught in 30 - 35 feet of water. The fish are starting to go deeper, last week I was spooning fish out of 20 - 25 feet of water. If the weather stays warm we should be in our normal summer pattern of most fish being around the 40 foot mark. Vertical jigging with a spoon is the way I typically fish during the summer months.

I did try to find some deep striped bass at sun -up without luck. I fished Tick Point, then at the number 2 marker, and then the bluffs a little farther south-east of number 2. I caught several smallmouth, but did not mark any striper. White Bass are still coming up early in the morning and later in the afternoon. You can throw a small spinner or use your favorite top water bait. The whites are coming up in the Cranfield area as well as at Bennetts area. Crappie are still being caught in about 15 - 25 feet of water over brush. Live crappie minnows are working best. Blue gill are still hitting very well all over the lake. Nightcrawlers and crickets work the best, just be prepared for a lot of action. Catfish are still being caught on jug lines as well as trot lines. Live shiners and cut bait are working well.

The Norfork Lake level is falling about 2 - 3 inches per day and is currently at 561.6 feet, one foot below last week. The Corps. has estimated that the lake will be back to normal pool towards the end of July. The Norfork Lake surface water temperature is in the mid 80s. The lake is clear all over.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake fishing report

Another beautiful morning on Norfork Lake in the Arkansas Ozarks. Slight to no ripple on the water. The surface temp was in the low 80's and will climb steadily during the day. The Norfork Lake level is at 562.7 and holding steady. Water is getting back to gin clear.

I spent the first hour of fishing just boating around trying to find some striped bass in deep water. No luck today with the stripers. The guides are catching a few stripers and hybrids from the Bennetts to dam area. The fish are still scattered and just starting to school up, at least that's what I am hoping. I headed back to the Bennetts area around 6:30AM and found a huge school of white bass busting the surface. There were two of us in the boat and we started throwing Zara spooks and had a blast. We were catching a fish almost every cast for about 45 minutes. None of the whites were huge, but they were a lot of fun to catch. My friend had a nice 2.5 - 3 pound largemouth on but decided to release it before he got it into the boat. It was a nice fish, I saw it swim away.

Until next time have a great time fishing and boating.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

For those heat and sun worshippers, summer has arrived to Hummingbird Hideaway Resort on Norfork Lake, Arkansas. The weather has been just gorgeous, evenings in the 70's and daytime temps in the 90's with little to no wind and bluebird skies. We have a great group of guests this week, many are with a large family reunion and others are repeat guests that visit often. Tonight will be our first "dive-in" movie of the season. Spiderwich Chronicles will be playing poolside on a large screen.

This young lady out fished me. In a few weeks she and her family will be back for another visit. I think she will be able to show her grandpa a thing or two about fishing. I had a tough day yesterday morning and just caught a few white bass and several largemouth bass. The top water bite early and late seems to be slowing quickly, but it is still there if you're in the right spot at the right time. I'm not sure what level the thermocline is at, but with this heat it won't be long until it settles at 40 ft. When this happens spooning becomes my choice of fishing techniques. The striped bass, white bass, walleye and crappie will all be close to the thermocline level. The bluegill still can be caught at all depths.

My fishing excursions will slow some in the summer months since I have more day to day work at the resort, but hopefully I will still be able to get out several times a week.

The Norfork Lake level is holding steady at 562.7. The lake water temp is from the low 80's early to upper 80's late. The lake is getting back to gin clear with a green tint in the coves and creeks, but still good visibility.

Until next time happy fishing and boating.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

Top water action is still active on Norfork Lake. Last evening I went out and bottom bounced a crawler harness. I caught all the blue gill that I wanted, but the walleye eluded me. When the sun started to set I moved to a main lake point near our resort. The whites, Kentucky's and stripers started to erupt as soon as the sun was low enough to be hidden by the trees. I kept this 8 pound striped bass and released a 10 pound striper.Both were caught on a Zara spook junior. (white/chartreuse) I also caught 6 medium size white bass. The stripers didn't stick around long, but the white bass kept coming up until dark. I headed out this morning before sunrise and sat on the same point as last evening. As the sun came up the white bass started coming up all over from shallow water to 80 ft of water. I caught my fair share, but decided to leave and see if I could find some striped bass. I went back into Bennett's and this time the Kentuckys were coming up near one point. I caught 6 bass with 4 that were 15 inches long. They do give a good fight. Again no striper. I headed home about 8AM since Linda wanted to go shopping. I guess this is only fair.

The lake level is rising slowly with the rain that we have had the last couple of days and is currently at 562.6. The Corps is running 1 generator about 12 hours per day. The water temp this morning was in the upper 70's and last evening it was in the low to mid 80's. The water is clear in the main lake and still stained in the creeks and coves.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Walleye Fishing

It was rainy and windy this morning on Norfork Lake, so I elected to sleep-in. It felt really good to get up at 7AM instead of 4:30, but I am itching to get out on Norfork Lake. I have been out the last couple of days and have started walleye fishing. Sunday evening I dragged a crawler harness with a bottom bouncing weight. I caught two slightly undersized walleye and several blue gill. I think that the walleye fishing would be great if it wasn't for the blue gill stealing the worms. I am going to try the Gulp worms and leaches next time. They are suppose to last longer and blue gill will have a harder time pulling them off. I have a friend that has been using shiners Carolina rigged and has been picking up a few walleye. The fish I caught were in 17 - 25 ft of water. I was dragging nightcrawlers next to the buck brush. I tried the points without luck. I also picked up a few 15 inch smallmouth on the crawler harnesses. The smallmouth are on the points at about 20 feet deep.

Largemouth and spotted bass are still coming up early in the morning and late in the afternoon. I caught 5 keeper size Kentucky bass yesterday morning on a spook back in the Bennetts area. I cleaned the Kentucky's and last night Linda made a fabulous fish cake appetizer with spicy tomatilla sauce. The striped bass are coming up early and late in the day. I have seen them in deep water, usually in the channel. When I get close enough to cast into them they go down and come up a different area. It looks like the striper top water action is coming to a close until the fall. The striped bass will start coming back up in September and/or October, when the water temp gets back in the mid 70's to mid 60's. I am still hopeful that I will be out and have them erupt around me. Spooning for stripers or trolling will start to work in 30 - 40 ft of water. Watch for a large school and drop the spoon on top of them and start jigging up and down. Be erratic with your jigging technique until you find the speed and action they are looking for.

The Norfork Lake level is at 562.44 and rising slowing. The Corps has forecast that the lake will stabilize at this level for a few days. (Of course if we get more rain it will rise.) The Norfork Lake water temperature is in the upper 70's to low 80's. The water is clear in the main channel and stained in the creeks and coves. Fish should start to hold at the edge between the stained and clear water.

Have a great day and happy fishing.

Norfork Lake crappie catch

Here's a happy couple just back from crappie fishing on Norfork Lake. They have had just a fantastic week of fishing. This stringer and the smiles on their faces testifies to that. They ended up fishing the same hole as yesterday and caught twenty fish with 10 keepers. Check out that 14 inch slab! They were using crappie minnows with a small weight and also used twister tail grubs. They started fishing this morning before the sun came up, but found that the fish did not start to bite until the sun had warmed up things a little. There bite started around 8AM. In addition to the crappie they played with a Zara spook and caught many largemouth and Kentucky bass.

I fished awhile this morning and got into some top water action. I caught several Kentucky bass as well as white bass. It was non-stop action for about 1 1/2 hours. The whites were in the 1.5 - 2 pound range and many of the bass were keeper size. I put them back so they're here if you want to come and catch them!

The Norfork Lake conditions are the same as I wrote yesterday, except for the clarity in creeks and coves. We had a quick 1/2 inch rain today which made the creeks flow quickly. It should take a couple of days for the creeks and coves to clear.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

Two guests from Hummingbird Hideaway Resort had a great morning crappie fishing on Norfork Lake. They headed to one of my favorite holes at about 9AM and ended up catching almost twenty fish with 8keepers. One was 14 inches and two others were 13 1/2 inches long. This is going to be some good eating. Yesterday evening they had a fish fry with their prior catch. I truly enjoyed the plate they brought over. Most of the fish were caught on a crappie minnow with a 1/16 oz split shot. They are using 4 pound test line, casting to the edge of the brush and letting their bait sink. The fish hit the minnow while it's free falling. They were sitting in 40 ft of water casting to brush that was 20 - 30 feet deep. They also used a twister tail grub with some success.

I went out this morning. The striped bass were coming up sporadically. White bass, largemouth and spotted bass were also pushing the shad to the surface. The stripers were coming up in deep water toward the center of the channel while the white and black bass were coming up closer to shore. I had better luck with the white and black bass than I did with the stripers. I caught a couple of nice size largemouth bass and several nice whites. I caught all fish on my white and chartreuse head Zara spook. The guides are catching their limits of stripers using live shad. The fish are being caught both on a free swimming shad as well as on a down pole in 20 - 40 feet of water. Thread Fin and Gizzard shad are being used with great success. The white bass are schooling big time in the back of creeks and coves. Use a Rooster tail spinner or a Road Runner. You can either cast and retrieve or slow troll with your trolling motor. Once you find them, stop trolling and start casting.

Walleye fishing has been picking up. Walleye are being caught in 15 - 20 ft of water outside of the buck brush and on flats. Slow troll a crawler harness with a bottom bouncing weight or drift with live shiners Carolina rigged. Some fish are being caught suspended at 10 ft as well as on the bottom.

Norfork Lake level is falling slowly and is currently sitting at 562.15. The Corp. has been generating at least one generator for the last 30 hours. Norfork Lake water temp is ranging from the mid to up 70's. The water is still gin clear even after the rain showers from last evening.

We have a lot of families vacationing with us at this time. During the heat of the day they are playing in the water (skiing, tubing, swimming, ect..) and in the morning and evening they are fishing. What a great way to spend time as a family and have a great vacation.

See you on the lake and happy fishing.