I was able to fish Norfork Lake the last 2 mornings with success for both walleye and white bass. This morning I added a few crappie to the mix. The walleye and some of the whites were caught by casting my 3.5 inch sexy shad swimbait with a 3/8 ounce chartreuse jig head. The largest numbers of whites were caught on a Key Lime Tater Shad with a Chartreuse 1/2 ounce Big Eye jig head. The best bite for me was during the night in the dark. The fish seem to be suspended 20 to 40 feet down from the shoreline out to 70+ feet of water. I have five different spots I like to check out and typically one of them is productive, but not necessarily the same area day after day. You need to look around until you find the fish. Striped bass have not shown up in these areas yet, but they will soon, as the water continues to warm. Lately I have needed to be back to the resort early so fishing in the dark is working the best for me. The resort is busy with people checking in and out and all the related springtime resort work is keeping me very busy. After the sun rose, the fish disappeared so I headed to a nearby small creek to see if crappie would bite my Berkley Flicker Minnows. I had about 45 minutes more to play. I started to troll 4 Flicker Minnows, 2 size 9 and 2 size 7. I tried to stay in 18 to 30 feet of water. The creek I was in has plenty of brush throughout the creek. I managed to pick up 3 nice size crappie, which all hit the size 7 baits. This was a good sign since this is the first time I have caught crappie trolling this year. This method of fishing for crappie will only get better and better. I have not really looked for striped bass lately, but the word through the grapevine is they are hiding back in the creeks and coves. Find creeks/coves the wind is howling into, and you should find bait. If you find bait, more than likely you will find striped bass. Hopefully tomorrow morning I will be able to do some striped bass searching. The last cold front that rolled through a few days ago dropped the lake temp 3 to 5 degrees. We are in a warming trend so this temp will rise quickly. The surface temp this morning ranged from 56 to 58 degrees. The Norfork Lake water level is currently hold fairly stable and sits at 553.90 ft msl.
If you are wanting or needing a relaxing fishing or family vacation, we still have some cabins available for spring and summer. You can check out what Hummingbird Hideaway Resort has to offer by clicking on one of the icons above the start of my fishing report on Norfork Lake. Give us a call at 870-492-5113 with questions or for reservations.
Enjoy Norfork Lake!
