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

Norfork Lake along with the majority of the country, in my opinion, is in constant weather change. After a frontal system rolls through our area it typically takes a day or two for the fish to get active again. Once this happens the fish feed with a frenzy, but then we have a new system roll through to start the cycle all over again. I will be the first to admit that I am really ready for spring to get here. I am totally tired of the cold weather and need a little consistent warmth for my fishing days. :-)  Last Saturday, I found fish feeding heavily in 44 - 48 feet of water on a large flat in the Cranfield area. I did not get out until late morning due to the below freezing temperature early, but once it reached around 29 degrees I headed out. The fish stuck around until mid afternoon and I got to land well over 40 fish between hybrid bass, striped bass and white bass. Vertical jigging with a 1/2 to a 1 ounce spoon was my bait of choice. I was also casting out a 1/2 ounce blade bait with a feather trailer and landed some nice fish with it. Once the fish leave the flats they tend to scatter through out the deeper water, staying suspended 30 - 50 feet down. You will still catch fish, but not necessarily the numbers.

Crappie fishing has been fairly good as of late, but still the frontal systems have affected their bite. I have landed some really nice slabs 30 feet down near the sunken brush piles. I typically use a 1/4 ounce spoon and jig it very slowly in and around the brush piles on the bottom. Live bait with a slip float or a minnow tipped to a small curly or paddle tail grub will work great.

The big white bass that I have been catching are full of eggs. I would assume they are staging for their upcoming spawn, which will happen shortly. The males should be way back in the creeks or up river in the shallower water awaiting the right timing and water temperature. Bennett's Bayou is a great place to get into the white bass run or up river around the AR/MO border. They also tend to head back into some of the larger creeks and coves.

Walleye should also be gearing up for their spawn. February is usually the time for this to occur. The AR/MO border area is a good area to find the spawning and pre-spawning fish. If we can get some nice weather, the first hour before sunrise and an hour before and after sunset are great times to fish for walleye in shallow water. Throw a suspending rogue or use soft plastic swim baits.

Norfork Lake level is on a slow rise and currently sits at 561.92 feet. This is approximately 8 feet over normal seasonal pool. The surface water temperature ranges from 43 - 46 degrees depending on your location and time of day. The main lake has a greenish stain along with most of creeks and coves. The water clarity heading up in the Bennett's area is stained brown as is up river once you're past the Cranfield area. A lot of the brown water has dropped out and the remainder will follow suit quickly.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

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

It has been a while since I have posted a report on Norfork Lake, but after another visit to see the grandkids, I am back fishing and the fishing has been pretty good. One of the best things about Norfork Lake is the diversity in fish species. If you have followed my reports you know I love to fish for striped bass, hybrid bass and white bass, but if the bite is slow for these species you can switch up and go bass fishing, crappie fishing, walleye fishing or catfishing.

The white bass bite continues to be outstanding. You can find white bass on the large flats. A couple flats I have fished over the last week are the Cranfield Island flat and the flat east of Howard Cove (locally named Big Sandy) and at times the 101 bridge flat. The best depths have been from 35 - 55 feet of water and the fish are at all depths. Feeding with the whites are hybrid bass and striped bass. Vertical jigging a spoon or casting out a blade type bait, such as a Kastmaster, are both working well for me. Most days you can catch a boat full, but of course the changing weather patterns affect the bite of all species. I have also had luck finding and catching a few nice striped bass in deeper water. I have found scattered stripers on the deep flats outside of deep water channels. These fish have been 40 - 50 deep and I typically only see a few fish at a time. Several nice size stripers have been caught by jigging a spoon, as well as, by trolling an umbrella rig.

The crappie bite has also been good over the last week. The best location for crappie are inside one of the newly refurbished Arkansas Game & Fish Commission's fish attractors. I don't remember the exact number, but this group did an incredible job of refurbishing roughly 180 sites on Norfork Lake. I can personally attest that these new brush piles are holding big fish and not just crappie. The crappie that I have caught have been at the bottom of the brush in about 30 feet of water. They do tend to come up off the bottom in the late afternoon following the bait. I have been using a 1/4 spoon to catch my crappie, but small grubs (you can tip it with a crappie minnow) are working as well. You can also use live bait with a slip float to catch your fish.

The largemouth and spotted bass bite has also been very good over the last week. The bass I have caught are also buried in the brush. The depth of the fish changes daily and lately 40 feet has been the magic number, but this afternoon I caught several 30 feet down on the bottom. Deep diving crank baits, as well as, plastics are working well. Lure action has been the best on the points of bluff line walls or where the bluff wall changes to chunk rock.

Norfork Lake level is falling slowly when the dam is generating and currently sits at 553.98. This level is slightly higher than the current normal seasonal pool. Most of the lake is somewhat stained, but I can see that the main lake is starting to clear nicely. The surface water temperature this morning ranged from 45 to 47 degrees depending on where I was fishing. I covered a lot of water this morning. I started in the Cranfield area then headed back to the Howard Cove area, then moved farther back into Bennents by Fouts Marina. I caught some fish everywhere I fished, mainly white bass and largemouth bass.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

Norfork Lake Fishing Report by Lou of Hummingbird Hideaway Resort

Happy New Year to all. I hope the fantastic weather we have been having is allowing you to get out on the lake and do a little fishing. Norfork Lake is one of the best lakes I have had the opportunity to fish and I enjoy it most every day. Even though I have been out of pocket for the last couple of weeks I am back out on the lake finding and catching fish. Yesterday (1/7) was my first day out on the lake for 2019 and I spent the day traveling to different parts of the lake, doing a lot of graphing and looking for striped bass with very little fishing. Today was a different story. I retraced my travels from yesterday to the spots where I found fish. My first area at about 8AM was the Cranfield and Pigeon Creek area. I found bait and fish, but very few takers. I fished this area for about an hour with little luck then headed to a mid-lake creek that the wind was blowing into. Again I found scattered bait with fish following, and this time they were feeding. The fish were 40 to 60 feet down. The hybrids and whites were in the 40 - 50 foot range and the deeper fish were stripers. I was vertical jigging with a spoon and caught many big whites, a hybrid and 2 striped bass. I was jigging for the suspended fish 60 feet down and a small school of big fish came under me on the bottom at 80 feet so I dropped my spoon to the bottom. The spoon did not have a chance to hit the bottom as a striper just inhaled the spoon and the fight was on. The fish in this area were scattered though out the deeper water so I had to keep moving around until I located them. I finally decided to move to my next location and was pleasantly surprised to find a lot of active fish. I was in between the two bridges in 90 to 100 feet of water. This time I found schools of fish only 20 to 40 down, but lots of them. They would not hit my spoon jigging, but when I dropped it though the fish and reeled up fast though them they hammered it before the spoon got to the surface. One of the striped bass caught here hit the spoon almost on the surface then took a straight down dive to about 60 feet before I could turn its head. It ended up being a nice 14 pound fish. I ended up catching fish all the way up to 2PM, when I decided it was time to go home, but the fish were still there.

Winter time fishing can be a blast. The fish, as you have read, can be at any depth from surface all the way down to the bottom, located in very deep water. I did have a couple of live baits out part of the time and never got a bite on them, but they liked my spoon. Each place that I fished today are typical winter time locations based on prior years experience. It does take some time to locate the fish, but when you do, hang on. I still only use 8 pound test monofilament line so I do have my drag set a little loose. What is a little different this year, so far, is that the fish and bait typically move into the deep channels, but I am finding them near the channel or on very deep flats, but not in the channel.

Nothing to report on other species at this time as I am just getting back into the groove. But winter time bass and crappie fishing are both typically very good and lots of fun.

Norfork Lake has risen about 3 feet since my last report and currently sits at 556.34, which is less than 3 feet over the normal seasonal pool. The main lake is clear. Some coves and back in the creeks are stained. The water temperature this morning at 7:30 AM was 48 degrees and by the time I headed back to the dock it was slightly over 49 degrees. The lake is in great shape and the fishing is looking to be a lot of fun.

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 been exciting as always. There have been fantastic days of catching along with some mediocre days, but it is always a great day to just be able to be out on the water. If you have been following my blog, I am sure you have noticed that I enjoy fishing for striped and hybrid bass the most whether they are located in deep water or shallow water, but I do fish for other species in order to keep up with their movements and patterns.

The striped and hybrid bass bite is really starting to improve. They are being caught in several different types of locations at varying depths. Yesterday (12/10) I spent the day checking out various areas, but mainly concentrated on the deep water channels. Bait is starting to move into the 80+ feet channels on the main lake and the stripers are either buried inside of the bait balls or are following. This is a typical winter pattern and as the water continues to cool, more and more bait will move into the deep water and suspend 40 - 60 down with the striped and hybrid bass hanging out close by. I did end up finding several large schools of fish following bait, which were suspended 50 - 60 feet down. I managed to land a nice hybrid and broke off a second fish. I was vertical jigging with a 1 ounce spoon. Another good fishing method at this time to target these suspended fish is to troll with umbrella / Alabama rigs or with just a single large swim bait. The main key is to be able to get your bait down to the fish at 50 - 55 feet. Using live bait has also been very productive. Today I was checking out various flats on the lake. I started at the 101 bridge flat and worked my way west to the Cranfield area, then headed northward to the Seward Point and Briar Creek flats. I found fish on all the flats, but it was mainly scattered white bass. At about 10:30 I was checking out a final flat and found a few arcs in 48 feet of water. I stopped and started to fish and my fish finder screen lit up like a Christmas tree with all kinds of fish. For the next 2 hours I vertical jigged with my 1 ounce spoon and also casted out a 1/2 ounce Kastmaster. I ended up landing a couple nice striped bass, a few hybrids, flat head catfish, largemouth bass and lots of jumbo sized white bass. I dropped my spoon and let it sit about 1 foot off of the bottom then place it in the rod holder, I then would cast out my Kastmaster and let it sink to the bottom and then retrieved it slowly with a stop, jerk and reel retrieval method. I would glance at my spooning rod on occasion and find that it was buried with a fish on. I had a great time with a great big grin on my face. :-)

The largemouth bass are also starting to move towards deeper water as the water continues to cool. This is normal for this species, as well as, for all the species in the lake. I have been catching some nice fat largemouth while vertical jigging for stripers in 50 feet of water. You can also jig around sunken brush piles in 30 - 40 feet of water and catch some nice fish. The third location is along the rock bluff walls. Cast out a worm, crawdad or a jig & pig to the shoreline and let it sink down the bluff wall. Most of the fish caught on plastics are in the 20 - 30 foot deep range. There are still a few fish up shallow, but most are deep following the bait, which is going deeper.

Crappie are still in their normal habitat for this time of year and will be found buried in brush during the morning and daytime in 30 - 40 feet of water. In the evening they will come up in the water column and may be only 8 - 15 feet down. You need to test different depths until you find that magic area where they are feeding. I have actually caught a few nice keepers on 50 foot deep brush piles over the last week, so don't hesitate to check out the deep areas for crappie.

Norfork Lake level is holding fairly stable. Generation has been sporadic. The current depth is 552.94. The main lake surface water temperature this morning ranged from 48.5 degree - 51.5 degrees. The lake cooled as I traveled northward. The main lake is clear with a very slight stain and most coves and creeks are stained. The lake is in excellent condition as are the fish.

If you would like to see a more frequent update on fishing activity on Norfork Lake, follow Hummingbird Hideaway Resort on Facebook.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

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

Norfork Lake's fall fishing pattern is slowly moving toward the winter pattern. As the water continues to cool the fish go deeper following the bait. Over the last week I have noticed the bait moving from around 28 feet of water to anywhere from 35 to 50 feet of water. The bite over the last week has been good for most species. There have been continuous cold fronts, then warm air then back to cold fronts. Each time a system moves through the area the bite is affected.

The best bite on the lake, in my opinion, is as follows: white bass, largemouth and spotted bass, crappie, but the hybrid bass and striped bass bite are starting to pick up. Walleye and catfish have both been sporadic, but I have seen good signs that both are ready to improve.

I have been having a lot of fun over the holiday week fishing with family members. Our resort was partially filled with my wife's side of the family and the remainder of the resort was filled with guests fishing for all types of species. I was really impressed that the cold weather didn't stop many of our Texas, Florida and South Carolina family members and they all were able to catch a fish.

White bass have schooled and are located on flats in 35 - 50 feet of water depending on time of day. Early in the morning they are typically in the shallowest. As the day wears on they move to deeper water on the bottom and also have been found in very deep water, but suspended in the same 35 to 50 foot range. In the afternoons, look in the mouths of deep coves for this species. Within these schools of whites are hybrid bass and striped bass. Most of the stripers and hybrids are still suspended from 15 - 35 feet down. I have been fishing flats and mouths of coves from our resort up towards the Red Bank area, as well as, from the 101 bridge flat up to Bennetts Bayou area. The best striped bass bite has been up in the Bennetts area, but stripers have been caught in Pigeon Creek, Cranfield area and the mid lake major creeks, Float, Fall and Panther. Vertical jigging a spoon, casting out Kastmasaters and live shiners have been the best baits for whites, hybrids and stripers.


Largemouth and spotted bass are being caught in many different types of areas and structures and are being caught on different types of baits. I have a lot of fun looking for schools of bass on the flats and they are currently being found in 35 to 48 feet of water. If you can find a slight drop off out on the flat it will be holding fish. When I find these schools I vertical jig with a spoon and at times will catch one after another. They are also located on the bluffs and close to the transition areas from bluff to chuck rock. Most will be suspended on the bluff, so casting rattle traps, spinner baits and crank baits will catch you some nice fish. They will also be on the drop offs along the bluffs so throw a jig & pig, Texas rigged worm or a crawdad, all will pick up some nice fish. Work the bottom along the bluffs 20 to 30 feet deep. The bite has been very light, so if you see your line start to move set the hook, or if you feel a slight heaviness set the hook.

Walleye are starting to show up on the flats in about 40 feet of water, with the other species and some really nice fish are being caught jigging a spoon.

The crappie bite has been very good. Look at brush in 30 - 40 feet of water, on the main lake, as well as, part way back into the creeks. Early in the morning and mid day the fish have typically been buried inside of the brush. Late in the afternoon after the water has warmed a bit, they have a tendency to move up in the water column above the brush. Live bait is the best, but jigging small spoons or paddle tail grub are picking up some nice 13 - 14 inch slabs.

Norfork Lake level is currently fairly stable with a slight fall one day then a slight rise the next and currently sits at 552.65 feet above sea level. The lake surface water temperature is falling slowly and currently is 53 - 55 degrees. The main lake is fairly clear with some of the creeks and coves slightly stained.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

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

Norfork Lake fall fishing sure can be a lot of fun. I will admit that if you want striped bass, hybrid bass and white bass you will spend some time looking for them, but once you find them it is well worth the time. Large schools of white bass are currently roaming the flats in the morning hours and during the day. They tend to move into deeper water late in the day and start to relate to points in the mouths of coves. I tend to fish many different areas of the lake looking for fish in order to try to help our fishing guests find and catch fish. I tell my wife that this is part of my job as a resort owner, which is why I need to be on the lake so much. :

White bass fishing, largemouth bass fishing and crappie fishing are the better bites on the lake as of today. I do expect the striped bass bite to improve very shortly, if what I saw this morning is any indication. I found schooling and feeding fish in 22 feet of water and at around 7AM the striped bass were all high up in the water column. Casting out a 1/4 ounce silver Kastmaster landed a nice striper for me. Then the whites showed up at all depths. Vertical jigging a spoon or Kastmaster was giving me many hookups. As the sun came up the fish continued to move deeper on the same flat. I finally lost the fish in about 35 feet of water. Top water action for white bass and hybrids is sporadic. I have not been fortunate enough to find this action, but several of my guests have gotten into some nice topwater action over the last week. Topwater action is happening somewhere on the lake, but you need to be in the right place at the right time! This will become more frequent based on past years experience.

The largemouth bite has been very good for me over the week. In the mid to late mornings I have found schooling bass in 30 - 40 feet of water on large flats. Vertical jigging for the bass has worked great. The schools that I have found have stuck around for well over 45 minutes so you can catch your limit very quickly. In the late afternoon I have changed tactics a little and moved into the secondary creeks. I have located large schools of bass as far back in the creeks as you can go, but still being in 27 - 30 feet of water. Secondary points in the small creeks have been productive locations, especially if the creek channel swings in close to the deeper shoreline. Jigging for these fish is working. I have also located some nice bass on the bluff lines where the bluff starts to transition to chunk rock. Crank baits on calm days and spinner baits on windy days are good baits to try. Jig and pigs are also working very well.

Crappie fishing has been good. Look for brush in 30 - 40 feet of water and the fish will be somewhere around the brush. At times they are buried inside of the brush and other times they will be suspended on top of the brush. Live bait is working great, but small spinners, jigs and crank baits are also producing some nice fish.

Norfork Lake's level is slowing rising with very little power generation coupled with rain for several days in a row. The lake level currently sits at 552.37. (Basically normal pool) The main lake is fairly clear and most creeks and coves are somewhat stained. The surface water temperature this morning was 62.5 to 63.5 degrees.

Happy fishing and see you on the lake.

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

Fall fishing on Norfork Lake is gearing up to be a great bite. Most species are biting really well, with big numbers being caught. You can have some great fishing times on Norfork Lake in October, November and December. Give Hummingbird Hideaway Resort a call to make your fall fishing vacation reservations at 870-492-5113.

I am kind of up in the air on what the best bite is, because crappie, largemouth, catfish and white bass are all biting really well. The slowest bite, at this time, is for striped bass, but today I did land 2 nice hybrids and 2 good striped bass on a nearby flat. Fishing is looking up for all species.

This time of year you are going to hear me talk a lot about vertical jigging with a spoon. I really enjoy this type of fishing because you can catch any of the species on the lake with the same bait and many times in the same area. I tend to use a 1/4 ounce spoon for crappie in and around brush piles with 4 pound test line. When I get into 20 - 30 feet of water I switch to a 1/2 ounce spoon with 6 pound test line. Then when I am fishing in 30+ feet of water I use a 3/4 ounce spoon on 8 pound test. I am a creature of habit and only use monofilament line, but I am hearing great things about P-line. When you find schooling, feeding fish, color of the spoon really does not matter (in my opinion) as long as the predominant color on the spoon is white. I tend to use spoons that are all white, white with a chartreuse back, white with a green back or white with a little red under the head.

White bass have started to school and feed heavily on some of the nearby flats. At daybreak I am finding this species in 17 feet of water and as the sun rises they move into deeper water. Today I was catching whites in 17 feet of water at 7AM, but by 9AM I was catching them in 48 feet of water, but still in the same general area. I was vertical jigging with a spoon. I am not sure if it was luck or by chance, but at 8AM I was fishing in 42 feet of water and the hybrids and stripers started to show up. I ended up landing 4 of them over the next hour along with many whites. I released all but 1 hybrid and a few white bass. As the water continues to cool all the species will move to the 30 - 50 feet depth even at daybreak. You will start to find the stripers in very shallow water in the dark as the water cools. Look for a night bite for stripers and hybrids once the water temperature gets into the low 60's.

The bass bite continues to be good. All types of bait are working in different types of areas. You can still catch some very nice fish on crawlers in very shallow water. If you like to fish bluff lines, jig and pigs, as well as, worms are working by letting the bait fall down the rocks from 10 - 20 feet of water. Spinner baits are working along the bluff lines up very close to the rock. Bass are also coming up for top water baits along the shallow sloping backs. I have caught a few nice bass 42 feet deep suspended in 70 feet of water close to a bluff. Most bass fisherman are telling me the ratio from short fish to keepers is about 60% shorts to 40% keepers, not bad!

The crappie bite is also continuing to be very good. They are in brush from 25 feet to 40 feet of water. One day they might be buried in the brush, then the next day they are 10 -20 feet down on top of the brush. Jigs are working with a spoon or a grub. I do like to tip a grub with a small minnow to increase the bite frequency.

Catfish are also biting very well. Over the last week, I had guests setting 5 jugs a night and on several occasions they had a nice fish on each. They were using cut bluegills for their bait and catching nice blues. While dock fishing for their bait a 10 pound blue hammered their small hook with a piece of nightcrawler.

I am getting a lot of inquiries about the turnover of the lake. Based on the Norfork Lake's Striper Club temperature and dissolved oxygen readings done on October 20th, the thermocline had dropped to somewhere between 55 - 60 feet. It will not be much longer until the total lake has turned over at all depths. This means the oxygen level is basically the same from surface to bottom, as is the water temperature. Norfork Lake's surface water temperature this morning was 68.5 degrees. The lake level is fairly stable and currently sits at 551.34 feet. The main lake is clear and some of the creeks and coves are somewhat stained.

Happy Fishing and see you on the lake.