I made it out on the lake this morning, but a little later than I wanted. I did not start fishing until about 5AM, but the bait and fish were waiting for me. There were whites from the surface down to about 40 feet. The stripers were 35 to 70 feet deep. I was using a key lime Tater Shad with a 1/2 ounce chartreuse big eye jig head. The first striper that I caught was sitting at 50 feet. When he took the bait, he dove straight for the bottom. All I could do was hold on. What a fun battle. The next 2 stripers hit the bait on a semi-fast reel up. They probably hit the bait only 10 feet under the boat. The first one almost jerked the pole out of my hands as I was not expecting a striper to chase the bait. I was ready for the next one. I hooked into a 4th striper, but the hook popped out during his first run as he was coming straight for the surface. I left this area around 6:30 when the fog started to lift, and I could see again. I checked a few other areas but didn’t find anything exciting. I started heading back towards the resort and stopped to check out a nearby flat on the way. In 35 feet of water, I found lots of bait and fish from 15ft to the bottom. There were some whites starting to feed on the surface. For the next hour I caught a ton of big white bass along with baby striped bass and 3-4 pound hybrids. I had fun catching these fish casting out my 1/2 ounce Kastmaster with white feather trailer. I let the bait sink about 8 seconds. I found they wanted a steady mediiun speed retrieval. All fish got their freedom today to be caught another day.
The surface water temperature this morning was around 78 degrees. The lake level is 558.77 ft msl. The lake is rising slowly due to the recent rains.
Hummingbird Hideaway Resort still has cabins available during June and July. Summer family vacation fun time is here. Give us a call with any questions or for reservations at 870-492-5113. If you have not been to Norfork Lake before you will absolutely fall in love with it!
Enjoy Norfork Lake in the Arkansas Ozark.
