Norfork Lake Bass Fishing Report

Black bass fishing on Norfork Lake contiunues to be awesome this winter, along with the air temperature that is currently 65 degrees, I'm having a great winter. Amazing January weather! In the last two days I have caught over 40 largemouth and spotted bass, in just a couple of hours per morning. This morning's big fish was 5 pounds and yesterday I got a 4.5 and a 3 pounder. The high water over the last several years is starting to show its impact on the black bass and crappie population and size. I have found the best bite starts at sunrise and is lasting for me until about 10:30AM. It has been working out well since that's time to head back to the resort anyway. During this time the fish are feeding heavily on teeny tiny shad. This morning there was a lot of top water action in the cove I was fishing, but they wouldn't touch any top water bait I thew at them. I think the size was just too big. I ended up throwing a Zara Spook puppy, but even this bait is 10 times the size of what they are feeding on. All the fish I caught came from vertical jigging a white and a white/green 1/4 ounce spoon. I have also found that the spoon does not need to move quickly, slow twitches and slow falls are working the best. I have also downsized my equipment to 4 pound test on a light action spinning rod and reel. Yesterday most fish were caught in 25 - 30 feet of water and today they were a little shallower 20 - 25 feet of water. I have been fishing coves back in East Pigeon Creek that have brush near by. The bait has been thick and so has the bass. I also caught 2 walleye, but both were just a 1/2 inch under size.

All the fish that I have caught the last couple of days have been released at my dock or where I was fishing.

The Norfork Lake level is falling slowly and currently sits at 552.25. The Corps is generating a little more frequently causing the lake to drop slowly. The main lake is clear and the creeks and coves are still stained from the rain we had last week, but they are starting to clear. The Norfork Lake surface water temperature this morning was 46.5 degrees.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Crappie Fishing Report

Norfork Lake has been outstanding for winter Crappie fishing. The fish are hanging around brush piles that are sitting in 25 - 35 feet of water. The crappie that I found this morning were suspended from 15 - 25 feet down and would hit almost anything I threw at them. No live bait was used just artificial. I was in the back of Float Creek where the water was really stained. The mud line has dissipated and left the water in great fishing condition. Color in the water is not normal for Norfork Lake. It is typically gin clear, but I will take this stained water when I can get it. One good reason that I like the murky water is that the fish don't get spooked as easily. You can sit on one brush pile and catch many fish without moving to another brush pile. I first started vertical jigging with a 1/8 oz. spoon (white) and caught two immediately. I decided to experiment with different tackle that I sell in our store. I switched to a Bobby Garland double silver rainbow baby shad and caught two more. I then switched out to a curly tail Roadrunner (white/chartreuse) and caught two more. I was very slowly vertical jigging the spoon and the Baby Shad and the fish hit the bait when it was motionless. They would pick it up and just start to move slowly. The hook needed to be set quickly because the bite was light. If I waited they would spit out the hook. I found this out the hard way on several bites :-( I cast the Roadrunner beyond the brush and let it sink, then retrieved slowly, then stopped to let it sink and retrieved again. With this the bites were much more aggressive, it may have to do with the spinner getting a reaction bite. I switched out to a 3/4 ounce spoon when I got into 40 feet of water and picked up several nice size spotted bass. I fished one brush pile for about an hour before the bite stopped. The crappie and bass were caught between 9 and 10AM, but I was on the lake by about 6:30AM looking for striper without much luck! I did fish the mouth of our cove first thing this morning. As I was heading out I was graphing in about 50 feet of water and marked bait and a lot of arcs. I tossed out a couple of live shiners and also started to vertical jig with a spoon. The live baits were attacked quickly by largemouth bass. I caught 3 very quickly then headed out on my quest for stripers.

The 2.5 inch + rainfall we had the other day has caused the lake to rise almost 1 1/2 feet since Wednesday. This just takes us to a little above normal pool.

The Norfork Lake level is rising and currently sits at 552.33. The surface water temperature was 46 - 47 degrees this morning. The main lake is still clear, but the creeks and coves are very stained. Generation is happening very sporadically during the day.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Bass Fishing Report

The weather and the fishing on Norfork Lake has been very good. Largemouth and spotted bass fishing has been really good this winter. The fish are in their winter pattern so you will need to slow down your retrieval methods. With the colder water the fish have slowed down so you need to slow down as well. Yesterday I was using two methods to fish for bass; vertical jigging a spoon, and  throwing a 2.5 inch grub/swimming minnow. I found that after lifting the spoon off of the bottom to let it fall, most of my hits came when the spoon was on the bottom motionless for a few seconds. I then would start to pull up and the fish would be on the line. Basically I found that I had to slow down my jigging speed. I was jigging in and around brush piles in 30 - 40 feet of water and the best fish were found on both main lake and creek points. My second method of fishing was with a 2.5 inch Berkley Powerbait with a T tail with a 1/4ounce jig head. I have found this bait to be very versatile. I can work it on the bottom as if it was a worm or I can let is sink to a certain depth and retrieve slowly working it as a swimming minnow. With this bait you can fish for the bottom feeding fish as well as the bass that are suspended. I was using the T tail minnow around the same areas as I was vertical jigging. Yesterday I caught bigger fish jigging and the smaller ones came on the T tail minnow.
I caught well over 20 bass yesterday between my morning and late afternoon outings. I usually only fish once a day, but yesterday was so beautiful and warm that I had to go out again. The above photo shows the average size that I was catching, but of course there were the little guys in the mix. I have gotten reports from a few friends that they have been using wiggle warts and doing well casting along the deep bluff lines.

Today the weather has changed to lots of rain. This may be a very good thing for Norfork Lake. So far today we have had close to 2 inches of rain and have more in the forecast for this evening. The lake will be on the rise and the off color water will increase back in the creeks. One good rule of thumb is to find where the muddy water line and the clear water line meets. Fish in this area and you will find fish.

Norfork Lake has risen over 4 inches since last evening and should rise more unless generation increases a lot.The lake level currently sits at 551.37. Sporadic power generation, just a few hours at a time. The lake surface temperature was 47 - 48 degrees yesterday evening and was 46 degrees in the morning. The main lake was very clear and the creeks and coves getting clearer. This will change over the next couple of days due to the run-off.

If you like Cajun food, gumbo in particular, check out the blog on our website. Linda made seafood gumbo today with Norfork Lake striped bass. It really hit the spot. The recipe can be found at http://hummingbird-hideaway.com/

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

The black bass and crappie bite on Norfork Lake has been outstanding. Even though most people in the area hated the high water that we had in 2008 and 2011, it appears the fish in Norfork Lake benefited. It appears that the high water years have increased the population of bass and crappie and has also increased the size of the fish. This winter I have caught more big bass and big crappie on a routine basis then I have in prior years. Maybe I'm just becoming a better fisherman. (lol) I haven't fished much since my last report, but when I did get out I did well. I have had the best luck on the morning bite verses the afternoon bite, but still am catching fish both times.Today I landed this nice 6.05 pound largemouth with a white 3 inch Berkley's paddletail grub (similar to a swimming minnow). I was using a 1/4 chartreuse jig head on the grub and casting the bait toward the shore line, then working it slowly back to the boat along the bottom. This big boy hit when the bait was roughly in 25 - 30 feet of water. I thought I had a very large catfish on the line because it was fighting so hard to stay on the bottom and not come up. I also spooned up several nice bass from the bottom in 30 - 40 feet of water. Along with the grub and spoon I casted a wiggle wart and caught 4 bass, but all were undersized. Today I fished Float Creek along bluff lines and around brush piles. A week ago I fished in the Diamond Bay area and caught many bass right at sunrise. The bite lasted over an hour in one area. Photo 3 above is an example of the size of fish caught that day. I typically release all fish, but today I cleaned the Kentucky bass and two of my crappie for dinner.

Crappie have also been hitting. Today I caught 5 crappie, all in the 11 - 13 inch range and kept two to eat. I was using a 3/4 ounce spoon fishing for bass and a big crappie slammed my bait in 41 feet of water. I decided to downsize the spoon to a 1/4 ounce spoon to see if the crappie bite would improve and it did.  I was fishing in brush in 35 - 45 feet of water and the fish caught were inside of the brush. I have also caught nice crappie using a small curly tail grub as well as my Berkley's paddle tail grub. Retrieval methods that I use are to cast and slowly retrieve with stops along the way to let the baits drop and I also work the grubs vertically like the spoon.

Striper fishing has been another story. The stripers have outsmarted me for the last several weeks. It appears they have moved out to the main lake in deep water chasing shad. I usually start each of my fishing trips targeting stripers but if I can't find them in an hour or two I tend to switch to other species. That was the story today, but I will take a 6+ pound largemouth any day:-) I think all the various fronts, cold, warm then more cold and warm fronts have gotten the stripers confused. Hopefully things will stabilize this week and the striper bite will start to happen again.

Linda and I attended the Collinsville Fishing show in Collinsville, IL a week ago. We met many new fishing men and women that want to try their fishing expertise in Norfork Lake. We also welcomed the chance to renew friendships with past and current guests. Our next show will be in Tinley Park, IL (a little south of Chicago). This fishing show is held at the Tinley Park High School and is being held February 11, 12th. If your in the area stop by and say Hey.

The Norfork Lake level is fairly stable and currently sits at 551.67. The surface water temperature was 46 - 48 degrees this AM. The main lake is clear and the creeks and coves are still a little stained, but starting to clear. The Corp of Engineer is running generators sporadically during the day and maintaining lake level.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Happy New Year from Hummingbird Hideaway Resort

Happy New Years to all of our fishing blog friends. We hope 2012 brings many memorable fishing trips, good health and prosperity. Be safe. See you on Norfork Lake!

Lou and Linda Gabric
Hummingbird Hideaway Resort

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

Norfork Lake is always open. Today it is 61 degrees with the sun shining. Don't you just love this type of winter weather! The fish are feeding heavily and hitting very hard. No light bites today. Linda and I were in Houston, Texas over the Christmas holiday visiting family and friends. It was very enjoyable, but I still couldn't stop thinking about all the fish that I wasn't catching. I fished the last two mornings with success and had a ball.

Yesterday I caught one striper and missed two others and also landed several nice largemouth bass. I started fishing the beach area around Bidwell Point then headed to Float Creek. I caught bass at Bidwell and the striper bites were in Float. I was using medium to large size thread fin shad, but shiners have also been working. I found the bass in 25 - 35 feet of water suspended 10 - 20 feet down. The striper bites came 40 feet down in 70 feet of water off of a bluff line.

Today was much more exciting. I left my dock around 6AM and headed over to the Henderson bluffs. I graphed for a while, but decided to leave since the wind was blowing about 12 mph straight into the bank. I am sure it would have been a great place to start fishing, but I didn't want to fight the wind. It is also very hard for me to fish live bait alone in strong winds. I headed to the Diamond Bay area along a bluff line that I knew would be protected from the wind. I got there before daylight and marked plenty of bait on the surface, but no fish. I decided to fish for a while to see what would happen once the bait started to drop into deeper water. Once the sun came up the bait dropped to 30 - 40 feet and I started marking many fish slashing through the bait balls. I had 4 poles down with live shad and was casting a 3 inch green paddle tail grub with a 1/8 oz jig head. I started catching black bass immediately, both close to the bank and also in deeper water. I started the grub on the bottom close to shore and retrieved it slowly to the boat. Then the live bait started to get active. I had two poles down at 20feet and 2 poles down at 40feet.  I had poles going off one after the other. At one point I had 4 bass lying on the floor of the boat. Action was non-stop for about an hour. I landed 12 fish and missed many more. 7 of the 12 were keeper size. The photo above was and example of my catch. All bass were released. Once the bite slowed I headed to Float Creek. The wind was blowing hard straight into the creek, but I decided to fish anyway. I set out 4 poles with live bait, 2 at 30feet and 2 at 40feet. I fished the same bluff line as yesterday staying in 70 - 75 feet of water. I started marking big arcs down 60feet so I dropped a 1/2oz spoon right on the head of this one big arc and when I went to jig it upwards the fish was hooked. I knew immediately that is was a big fish as it was having its way with me. I think the fight lasted 20 minutes. Over half of this time the fish sat in 20 feet of water and would not budge. Half way though the fight one of my live bait poles took off. I didn't want to loose the fish I was fighting so I just left the pole in the rod holder. I kept an eye on the reel and finally could see the silver metal of the spool. The fish spooled me in less than one minute. I had at least 140 yds of line on that reel. I guess it was a good size fish and it must have known I needed new line.

I still haven't been crappie fishing myself, but friends and guests that have been crappie fishing have been doing well. Live bait is working the best, but small grubs tipped with a minnow is also working well. The fish are still on the brush in shallow water early and late in the day and go to deeper brush in mid day. You can also find them at all depths. From 6 - 10 feet down over the brush as well as closer to the shore line. They can also be found directly inside of the brush pile. Find brush in 20 - 40 feet of water and start fishing at different depths until you find them.

The Norfork Lake level is holding fairly steady at 552.26. The Corps is running both generators a good portion of the day and this is maintaining the level. The surface water temperature this morning was a little above 50 degrees. The main lake is clear with the creeks and coves stained. The upcoming weather forecast is calling for daytime temps in the 50 - 60's with evenings dropping into the 30's & 40's. Great winter weather. We brought our granddaughter from Texas home with us for a week and she is hoping for snow. This is one wish I hope is not granted:-)

Happy fishing and see you on the water.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report

Merry Christmas to all my fishing friends. I am not on the lake but should be back to fishing in the next several days.

Have a very Merry Christmas with your family and friends. I hope that the New Year brings many memorable fishing trips and that trophy size Norfork Lake fish whether it be striped bass, walleye, black bass, crappie, ect.

Happy fishing and see you soon out on the lake.